PHOENIX (AP) — Tribal leaders in Arizona said Tuesday they hope to build on the momentum of President Joe Biden’s recent designation of a national monument in neighboring Nevada to persuade the administration to create similar protections for areas adjacent to the Grand Canyon, which they consider sacred.
“This designation is of the highest priority to the Hopi people,” said Timothy Nuvangyaoma, chairman of the tribe in northern Arizona. “We have to protect the beauty and grandeur of this place many tribes call home.”
Tribes in Arizona are looking to persuade Biden to use his authority under the Antiquities Act of 1906 to make the designation for a little more than 1 million acres (404,686 hectares), or about 1,560 square miles (4,000 square kilometers).
The announcement during a virtual news conference came days before Interior Secretary Deb Haaland is scheduled to visit Nevada. The state is home to Avi Kwa Ame, a newly designated monument on a desert mountain northwest of Laughlin — the largest community in the remote southern tip of the state — that some Native Americans consider sacred.
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