Last month, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland traveled to southern Nevada to meet with the Tribal Council of the Mojave Tribe and local community leaders, including stops at sites of significant cultural and religious importance to several federally recognized Tribes. One of the sites visited by Secretary Haaland, Rep. Susie Lee, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Laura Daniels-Davis, and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Nevada State Director Jon Raby, was Spirit Mountain, which is called Avi Kwa Ame by the Mojave Tribe. Check out some of the photos of Secretary Deb Haaland’s visit here.
For the Yuman tribes, like the Mojave, Hualapai, Yavapai, Havasupai, Quechan, Maricopa, Pai Pai, Halchidhoma, Cocopah and Kumeyaay, the area is tied to their creation, cosmology, and well-being. Part of the area is also the traditional and ancestral lands of the Southern Paiute Peoples(Nuwu) and part of their Salt Song Trails. The Salt Songs are a cycle of songs of over 140 pieces that tells of the Southern Paiutes travels throughout various areas of present-day California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah. The songs are sung at funerals and memorials and literally tell the story of the Salt Song Trail sharing the location of springs, salt and mineral deposits, as well as the location of other resources and culturally significant sites. Avi Kwa Ame was designated a Traditional Cultural Property on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999 in recognition of its religious and cultural importance.
The proposed Avi Kwa Ame (Spirit Mountain) National Monument is a proposal to establish a new national monument on roughly 450,0,000 acres of public land in southern Clark County. The lands would be managed to conserve their outstanding ecological, cultural, recreational, scenic, and other values and would be preserved for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations.
The proposed monument is a hotspot of botanical diversity, providing habitat for a wide range of plant and animal diversity, including many species found nowhere else on Earth. The Joshua Tree forests within the proposed monument are among the most significant ones on the planet. The proposed monument includes the eastern edge of the world’s largest Joshua tree forest, which is home to some of the oldest and largest Joshua trees in existence. The oldest of these ancient wonders have survived for over 900 years. Please help us protect this ecologically important section of the Mojave Desert by signing our petition to protect the proposed Avi Kwa Ame National Monument here: https://sc.org/AviKwaAme
And if you feel passionate about protecting this beautiful area, please help us by writing a letter to the editor urging President Biden Protect the area. Here is our Letter to the editor guide: http://bit.ly/akasclte
In response to Secretary Deb Haaland’s Visit we issued a press release with the following statement:
“We are pleased that Secretary Haaland made a point of visiting Avi Kwa Ame and seeing in person the landscapes that help define Spirit Mountain.
The Biden Administration has set the goal of protecting 30% of lands and waters by 2030 to mitigate the worst effects of the climate crisis. Permanently protecting Avi Kwa Ame through the president’s powers under the Antiquities Act gets us closer to achieving that goal.
Designating Avi Kwa Ame as a national monument would protect fragile desert ecology, provide vulnerable species with critical habitat corridors, preserve access to the outdoors for many communities, and preserve the rich cultural landscape central to the spiritual beliefs of the Mojave, Southern Paiute, and other indigenous peoples.”
Again please help us protect this ecologically important section of the Mojave Desert by signing our petition to protect the proposed Avi Kwa Ame National Monument here: https://sc.org/AviKwaAme Or maybe even consider helping us by writing a letter to the editor urging President Biden Protect the area. Here is our Letter to the editor guide: http://bit.ly/akasclte