[Ethereal music playing] Right now, our view is water is
more valuable than oil and gas. It's a precious gift. And the main aspect in our work, we're trying to keep the mega corporations accountable. This-this-what they're doing now, taking the oil and the gas, it's short-term. It won't sustain them, as is
being demonstrated right now. The privilege folks come. Well, why don't you just move? Why don't they just move? This is our homeland. We're following instructions from the holy people. Time o
f emergence. This is your land. The sacred mountains. Sisnaajini. Tsoodzil. Doko'o'osliid. Dibe nit'saa. Dzil na'oodilii. Ch'oolii. That's your hogan. That's your home. And we want to stay here. Some of the statements we've said, is oh yeah, these development
companies, they'll come and go. But you know what? The Navajo people will still be here. And that's the part that has to be understood. [Contemplative music playing] The greater Chaco is a vast
landscape in the four corners region of what h
as come to
be known as the United States. This is the sacred homeland
of the pueblo and diné people, whose ancestors thrived
here before colonization. For centuries, the people of Chaco developed extensive road systems. At the heart of these routes was Chaco Canyon, a remarkable central destination
for trade and connection amongst Indigenous peoples, who would gather to share goods, knowledge, ceremony, and community. Here, the ancestors of Indigenous groups in the southwest built architectural
wonders. The great houses and kivas that align with cycles of the moon and sun. Nestled in the high desert
of Northwestern new Mexico, Chaco and the living landscape
that surrounds it remain profoundly sacred to pueblo and
diné people throughout the region. Today, Chaco culture National historical park is a unesco world heritage site that protects the living center of
both ancient and contemporary. Indigenous cultures in the region. These lands are the
center of our living traditions. There are
countless sacred sites that do not fall within the park boundaries. These extend tens of thousands
of miles across the southwest. Some are on modern maps, many are not. These sites are of utmost importance to the Indigenous people who call this place home. But many of these sites have long endured looting and vandalism, and now they are often surrounded by extractive industries. Once these places are
destroyed, they cannot be rebuilt. More than 91% of the available
lands in the greater Chaco hav
e already been leased for oil and gas extraction. Right now, we are fighting to save the last 9%. One wonderful thing for
Indigenous people that has come out of this Chaco coalition is
the diné and pueblo solidarity. It's interesting, because at
one point in our histories there was definite tension and even
adversarial tension between. Pueblo and diné people. And in this moment in time,
that old historic beef, so to speak, has totally been squashed. [Non-English speech] My name is kitupa, which
means village flower. I am from the green Reed
place, and my clan is the sun clan. I love being from sandia. It's my home forever. It's otherworldly. I've spent most of my life on the rez, but I'm also a city girl. I work in the city and I go to school in the city. But sometimes, when I'm driving north to sandia from Albuquerque and I see the mountains, I imagine that time when
my homelands were thriving and the city wasn't there. Only tiwa people. [Non-English speech] Hi my name is Kendra pinto
, and I am a member of the Navajo Nation. It's a funny thing trying to describe home. We see the land. We see it with love. We see it with pride. This place cannot be recreated. This place is an area where my great grandfather rode his horse through. My home was isolated. My home is invisible to many. For me, home is seeing the trees. Home is seeing the cactus. Home is picking Navajo tea. It's my responsibility to take care of this place. This area is a tricky place
to want to support and protec
t because of the checkerboard issue. It's really a strange and weird issue to talk about checkerboard. I don't think very many people
think about boundaries that are created around our homes, and that they want us to stay on the reservation, and only to speak about the reservation. It's pretty interesting the power struggles that happen with the jurisdictions. We have to deal with that. The 1868 treaty between the
United States and the Navajo. Nation carved out a small piece of the diné people's
traditional homelands
bound by the sacred mountains. As you move east towards
the center of the greater Chaco, diné lands are even more fragmented. These tribal trust and allotment lands are now crisscrossed by a hodgepodge of legal jurisdictions that have
been imposed upon the region. These include the bureau of
land management, the state of new Mexico, the National park
service, privately owned lands, and lands managed by the National forest service. And of course, over 40,000 oil and gas wel
ls. The result is a bureaucratic
nightmare for communities as they fight to protect the greater Chaco region for the health and well-being of their communities, and for a just transition away from extractive industries. In 2014, impacted communities
decided enough was enough, and founded the greater
Chaco coalition, a collaboration formed between more than 200 Indigenous, environmental, and community groups to fight political battles and to tell their stories for the protection
of the greater Ch
aco landscape. I know I have been quoted as
to say that I want a moratorium, and I'm pushing for a moratorium
with all the development, which is true. Is it really going to happen
with the way everything is going? With all the development of
the pump jacks and pipelines, and you kind of think, is it going to stop? Is it going to slow down? It seems like no matter what we say, it just continues and continues. A lot of the community people can tend to rely a lot on springs, spring water and that's
what we worry about. In the community, some of those springs are probably about a mile and 1/2 to two miles away from developed pump jacks and fracking areas. And that's what really worries us now, is sooner or later, something's
going to happen to the aquifer, like getting contaminated by
all the fracking that's going on. We've always warned the blm
is that if you mess, contaminate our aquifer in any way, the gloves come off. The greater Chaco landscape is in a state of persistent drought. An
average of less than 10 inches of rain falls here each year. Widespread water shortages are the norm here. And with those shortages
comes the widespread loss of crops and pastures. The groundwater and delicate aquifers that support all of the life in this area have already been impacted by climate change. It is not an exaggeration to
say that surviving and thriving here requires a special kind of genius. Indigenous people here have always been innovative and careful stewards of water, and this i
s still true today. But control of this precious life source has been largely stripped from
local Indigenous communities. An estimated 1/3 of diné
families do not have access to running water and have
to travel for miles to find and haul water to their homes. My name is Ernie platero. And my mother's clan is northern paiute. My father's clan is bitter
water and I live here in torrio, new Mexico, which is about
40 miles east of Chaco Canyon. Day to day, we don't have
any running water or electric
ity. So my day starts early. Every day I have to get water. But we've been living this way for since I remember. We've never had running water. It's a lengthy process which I have to do every day, because we need water every day. We can get by with this a little, which we've done for years and years. My ancestors did it, my
father did it, my grandma did it. It's work, it's a lot of work. We have to. Got no choice. Where are we going to turn to? There's nobody to turn to. My father, when he passe
d,
he left me with a lot of sheep to take care of, which was good. But now I don't have them. I got one. When people come around now, they say, where's all your sheep? Sheep need water. We need water. And when the water table goes low, I can't provide for the sheep and provide for myself. Therefore, I have to sell off the sheep, which I don't want to do. But, you know, if I had running
water then problem solved. But that water down there, I'm really depending on it. I'll be doing this for the re
st of my life, most likely. Would you support oil and
gas development in this area? No. If they were to come back, I believe they would... No. They would-something's
going to happen again, oil spills. As far as the oil and stuff, no, I don't believe they're going to help in any way. It takes millions of gallons of water to frack a single well in the greater Chaco. For every barrel of oil, an average of four to seven barrels of
toxic wastewater are produced. This produced wastewater is a
combinat
ion of the water used to drill a well and the toxic waste that comes up from underground. It tends to be salty, muddy, laced with chemicals, and even radioactive. It is misleading to continue to refer to this toxic waste as water. Much of this toxic liquid is injected into underground wells, threatening the already delicate aquifers
that local communities depend on. While oil and gas companies
are free to pump as much water as they want out of
underground aquifers for fracking, more than 1/3 of
Navajo Nation members do not have access to clean water. This is my ancestral homeland, Chaco Canyon. I feel compelled to always honor and respect the legacy that my ancestors
left for me and our people. And in doing so, that means
protecting the land, protecting the mountains, and every
animal that lives on this land to ensure that we are always putting the people and the greater good first. I'm disheartened to see that so
much development has happened without any real benefits to the people wh
o
are giving up the land. Being here it definitely summons
a lot of emotions, like excitement. Also cautious, because I have a lot
of respect for my ancestors. I want to make sure I'm respecting everything here. Touching the walls, even just putting prayers down this morning. Thank you for allowing me to be here, you know. And I'm just passing through, I'm not trying to disrupt anything. The main thing that I feel is
definitely the strong presence of history and my culture. When you're in these
rooms,
you just think, my ancestors used to live in here and trade
with other Indigenous people from all over the world. You can't help but just try and re-imagine what it was like in its prime. I don't know if that happens
to everybody, but for me, being a descendant of this place,
some sort of memory is triggered. I think that's the frustration behind everything. How do you explain to somebody that doesn't feel or have some
kind of connection to this place, how can you tell them that you don't
want more extraction encroaching in on this area, desecrating the health and
safety of the living culture here? To me, it's just like we're always in the way. We're always in the way of the
state or the federal government just making money. I mean, I was always told
that I lived two separate lives. You live your white life, they would
say, like your outsider life. And then you have your life at home. But there is a lot of emphasis on
being educated and getting a good job. And doing all that def
initely takes you away from some of the traditional
stuff that we do at home. Albuquerque isn't just on the border of sandia. It's literally sitting on top of it. There used to be 13 tiwa-speaking pueblos that were scattered throughout what
are now considered the city limits. Our homes and cultures were and still are considered just something in the way. Everywhere you go in new Mexico, there are symbols and statues that celebrate the perpetrators of atrocities committed in the name of colonial
expansion. Spanish conquest is celebrated
throughout new Mexico, and it's something that
pueblo people just can't ignore. It hurts knowing that our land is up for grabs. Like just, no respect, no respect for our things, our way of life, is what hurts. I thank our spirits every day that I'm Indigenous, and that I possess this gift. And just seeing this
imperialist, violent pressure to exploit things that are just way older and have existed here longer
than man has ever existed here, just to be to
tally commodified
and have a dollar sign placed on them is what hurts. [Non-English speech] By the 1960s, the us was no longer able to satisfy American demands for energy
from domestic sources. With these growing demands for energy, extraction boomed across
the western United States. Foreseeing the disruptive
nature of energy development in the west, the National academy of sciences produced a report that
concluded that restoring arid desert lands like those of greater Chaco so that they could b
e used safely
again would not be feasible. Because extraction would cause
such irreparable damage here, the National academy of sciences warned that pursuing energy development was tantamount to declaring these
lands national sacrifice areas, signaling that domestic
energy production is more important to federal agencies than the people
and places that are sacrificed in the process. Those practices, established in the 1970s,
are still reflected in the federal leasing and permitting practices on
tribal
homelands throughout the southwest. And the people that live here are still forced to live with the impacts of those policies. The designation of our homelands, our cultural homelands,
and all of the heritage that exists within that as a sacrifice zone, means that we were written off for the benefit of American empire and the American economy, with no regard and no concern for the impacts to our lands, our waters, our soils, and our people. And with no concern with the impacts that the le
gacy of this contamination
is going to have on our future generations. That is one of the true injustices
around the building of American power and American infrastructure. Environmental racism is when
they choose a certain people and put all the known dangerous environmental
and health impacts on those people. They put all the dangerous
chemicals on that one people and keep it away from another people,
because they know it's dangerous. That's as simple as you can get, I think. The energy domina
nce agenda
of the trump administration... Good riddance... was that very idea. In order to become the
world leading producer of oil, they tried to cut out all kinds of safety nets to protect communities for oil and gas. Over the last decade, there
has been an average of one oil and gas related spill every two days
in the greater Chaco region. Toxic releases like these
exacerbate the daily chemical exposures that residents
already face from living so close to fracking operations. These chemicals
include
volatile organic compounds and known carcinogens, like benzene and toluene, and deadly gases like hydrogen sulfide. Meanwhile, methane, the
primary component of natural gas, is a notoriously outsized
contributor to climate change. This invisible, odorless gas can trap up to 86% times more heat than carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere. It leaks out of poorly maintained oil and gas infrastructure,
and sometimes operators purposefully vent or flare it, wasting
hundreds of millions of dollars.
Members of the greater Chaco coalition have long advocated for the
adoption of strong methane regulations to keep this pollutant out
of the atmosphere. But methane is just one of many toxins that are regularly released
from oil and gas operations, contributing to the region's
smog and water problems, and posing a threat to public health. One educational tactic the
coalition developed early on was the fracking is fracking reality tour, led by longtime advocate Navajo
Nation council delegate Danie
l tsosie. Tsosie has taken countless groups of students, legislators, and anyone wanting
to learn through the back roads of diné communities, where
they witness firsthand the sounds, smells, and destructive impacts
of fracking on the landscape. We as the diné people, we have
our own way with regards to how we want to keep in balance and in
Harmony with our natural environment. The way things are going, it's just like all for the purpose of getting more money, more money out of whatever extractio
n can be made. And they're not really concerned
about the health of individual. And so this where I think is something that needs to really be taken seriously, because we're talking about
the health of our people. We're talking about the
health of our grandchildren. Our great grandchildren,
and the future generation. And some of the medicine people that I've talked to over in eastern Navajo are saying that they would like to at least leave something for their children
and their grandchildren. An
d with all the land that where
the extraction is happening, the pollution that is occurring out there
is basically killing the land. And they don't really feel
comfortable about giving something that's not really productive. The land that is not productive,
that cannot be used to raise corn, or even provide vegetation to the livestock. They don't really feel comfortable
in passing that onto their children. In a community-led survey, the vast majority of residents in the heart of greater Chaco re
ported sore throat and
sinus problems, chronic coughs, headaches, itchy eyes, joint pain, and fatigue. And 70% reported nosebleeds and wheezing. A growing number of studies
show that front line communities like these are at significant risk of chronic and acute respiratory and
reproductive health problems. One of the important things
that we need to remember is we've inherited so much from the Indigenous woman, the matriarchs
that have led these struggles from the community level all
the way to
the international level, and really uphold their leadership. Because so much of what we're fighting against is rooted in hetero-normative patriarchy. We have to be able to confront those institutions and work within those institutions
with the wisdom of our matriarchs, and remember that no matter how overwhelming those systems of power can
be, they can never take away our right and our ability to love and to lead with compassion and with commitment to healing. At those times when I feel like
thi
ngs get really overwhelming, and really depressing and
heartbreaking, in those times I just reflect on people like Hazel,
and their mothers that they came from, and the prayers that they carry, and the things that they have fought
against throughout their lives. And stand in awe at how these women still carry, at the forefront of everything they do, this profound sense of love. When you walk into the
hogan, it's a really special feeling, especially if it's a ceremonial hogan
that sits aside just
, for ceremonies. You know you're going into the womb of mother earth. And that's where your place is at. I've noticed that more and more people want to have a ceremony
in the most traditional setting. And so people have come here to get healed. And this is a healing place, and it's our church. People call their church "church." Well, maybe this is equal to it. So let's, you know, understand the fact that we have our churches and that we live right in them. There are so many teachings in this ho
gan. It represents the six sacred mountains, and it also represents the four directions. It represents male and female. It represents all these beautiful teachings of [non-English speech]. And I'm proud to say that we
can actually practice that here. As a matriarch, there's so much responsibility. I got to have a life experience with my aunts and my grandmothers, and then
also some of the warrior women from big mountain area, which inspired me to do the work that I'm doing right now today. The y
oung women that are in
the front lines defending the land, it's really an honor to watch these
young women present themselves. They are learning both ways, the
western way, and then the traditional way. And using those two different thoughts of mine, you can actually defend
your people and have a victory. To others out there who are facing the same or similar situation as mine or the Chaco region, what I can say is it's tough. It sucks. It's a message you'll have to
repeat over and over and over
. The preparation for a hearing takes weeks. And when those five minutes are there, what do you say to make them
feel how important this land is to you? And thank all the people from
tribes whose homeland we're sitting on right now for coming
today and being here with us. I feel like I ran for congress because I
wanted to be a voice for people like you, because I feel like I know what's important to you. And the thing that was different about yesterday
was the camera, was the infrared camera. I
had never looked through a camera to see pollution like that just spewing out
of pipes in my life. I've never seen that before. So I feel like that one thing
helped me tremendously to further my knowledge about what
my charge is as a congressman. So thank you. [Applause] Thank you for the opportunity to share with you the efforts being done at the
eastern agency of the Navajo Nation. My name is Kendra Pinto, and I live near
Chaco culture National historical park. It is a sacred site now under
at
tack by air, noise, and light pollution associated with
local resource extraction. How will the federal government
guarantee the protection of culture resources if they continue to ignore tribal consultation
in the leasing process? Today there are thousands
of cultural resources and sites that have not been accounted for by the blm. This sends a clear message. Federal agencies are not properly consulting with tribes on the potential impacts to historic properties and cultural resources. In July
2016, a site owned by
WPX exploded and 36 storage tanks holding oil and produced water caught fire. Had the Bureau of Land Management thoroughly analyzed the
impacts of approving development in this location, and the potential impacts to public health, safety, the air, and surrounding environment, then maybe residents could have been spared that traumatic
night of having to evacuate their homes. We can smell the pollution, see the flares, and hear the methane being released every day. We cannot
continue to adopt a wait and see approach to methane regulations,
especially when we know there are already commonsense
steps industries can take to stop venting, leaking, and flaring
if they are held accountable. The regulations needed to protect me and my family go beyond fines and violations. They must ensure that all generations now and in the future are considered and treated with respect and the right
to clean air and clean water. Thank you. [Applause] Right now, a lot of these places, you
know, it's in a state of equilibrium. Took years to be in that state of balance. Nature thrives by dynamic process. It's an old traditional knowledge. Sa'ah naaghái, they call it. You disturb that balance,
it's not without consequences. So it's a whole system. It's organic. That's how the traditional mind works. So taking that into consideration and talking to your American-trained business people, sometimes very difficult to do. A lot of times, people just
don't care from the beginning. They'l
l sit in, but really don't listen. But if we're going to go the next step, if we're going to have a
negotiated settlement where everybody wins to the extent that they can benefit without harming too many things, then they have to come together, because
their belief system is different. Ours is different. And so to negotiate with those, you know, differences that do truly cross
communication, that takes some time. You have to go beyond being nice to each other, and kind of like pretend like you
u
nderstand each other, and nod your head. You got to go beyond that. You got to go into real negotiation,
really understanding each other. Then you're on equal terms. Thank you, Mr. Chair. [Non-English speech] My name is Debra Haaland. I'm from the Turquoise Clan, and an
enrolled member of Laguna Pueblo. Chaco Canyon and the greater Chaco region have been home to my people for centuries. As a 35th generation New Mexican and a
descendant of the Indigenous inhabitants of what is now the Southwest U
nited States, I can say that there are few places
more exceptional than the Chaco region. 90% of the Federal Lands in this region are already open to oil and gas extraction, and New Mexicans are all too
familiar with the toxic impacts it has on clean air, clean water, and their
health, and the health of their children. This proposal is about respecting
our history, and protecting our culture. We owe it to tribal communities,
to the people of new Mexico, and to people the world over to
permanentl
y protect the Chaco region. Getting Secretary Haaland confirmed as the first Indigenous woman,
the first Indigenous person to hold the position of
the Secretary of the Interior is important, particularly because she carries those values as an Indigenous Matriarch. Our leaders, our movement leaders, and our other Matriarchs,
and our traditional knowledge holders, can hold her accountable to that and remind her who she is and
where her mandate comes from. And it's not from just one place or people
s, her mandate comes from our natural laws, comes from the earth, comes from holding at the forefront of everything
she does consideration for how do we protect all of sacred life. This moment is profound when we consider the
fact that a former Secretary of the Interior once proclaimed his goal to
quote "civilize or exterminate" us. I'm a living testament to the failure
of that horrific ideology. We know that climate change can only be solved with participation of every department and of every c
ommunity coming
together in a common purpose. This country can and will tackle this challenge. I'll be fierce for all of us, for our
planet, and all of our protected land. And I'm honored and ready to serve. It's been a real uphill battle that we've been fighting with regards
to oil companies coming in and just doing whatever they want to do. And one of the things that I'm hoping is that we're able to make recommendations to our government, the Navajo
Nation government, and then also the state g
overnment, the federal government. And hopefully with that haaland there, she can be an integral part of this whole process. And I know that within her heart she sees the need to preserve our land, our people. Because our people were really closely interconnected with the
earth and the environment. And so for the preservation of our people, I think she's got her heart in the right places for us addressing a lot of the things that we're faced with that's
a detriment to our people. In 2021, the Pr
esident of the United States
says, let's protect the greater Chaco landscape. We're thankful for the many, many
organizations that helped us get to this point. And certainly, we appreciate
the congressional leadership to agree that there needs to be these protections. Certainly today's
acknowledgment is to be acclaimed, but in the way to say it's a celebration, it's not. Because we recognize that the work continues. It's going to have to continue. Thank you, madam secretary. This process could e
ssentially set precedents for how to protect
other cultural landscapes. It could be this example for other
Indigenous Nations, and communities. This is a global struggle,
because all Indigenous people across the entire earth are fighting to protect their inherent sovereignty from extractive industries. We have to be in solidarity in order for us to adapt to changing climate, because that's ultimately what this is. Oil and gas is changing our climate. And honoring Chaco is a way
for us to also cr
eate and shape processes that haven't
ever really been done before, but that ensures tribe's
sovereign Nations, communities, frontline communities, grassroots movements, that they're included in this process. Because our values really are
to make this world a better place. And if there's avenues and opportunities for us to be included in that, then that's the next step that we're going to take. You know, I'm so pleased that I feel like this fight to keep fracking out of Chaco Canyon has brought
the pueblos together. It's brought the pueblos and
the Navajo Nation together. All the communities who
share this beautiful land of new Mexico, they've all come together to work toward protecting this area. And that makes me very happy. We're going to collaborate, and we're going to make sure that we're working hard to protect this beautiful
landscape, this living landscape. Generations and generations of Navajo people existed on the land. We have the ecological knowledge. We're brought up with
it. We want to be at the table. Not in consultation, but to be a full-fledged voice, to be a full-fledged partner in the discussion for just transition for those
aspects of climate change. We stand ready to participate in this discussion. We are the voice. The community is the voice. And that's-that's the purpose of our work. [Hopeful music playing]
Comments