{"id":152855,"date":"2025-06-16T22:16:49","date_gmt":"2025-06-17T03:16:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/?p=152855"},"modified":"2025-06-17T13:45:14","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T18:45:14","slug":"sacred-sites-face-renewed-threats-amid-political-shifts-in-washington","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2025\/06\/16\/sacred-sites-face-renewed-threats-amid-political-shifts-in-washington\/","title":{"rendered":"Sacred sites face renewed threats amid political shifts in Washington"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\n\t\t\t‘Sacred, protected sites’: Rep. Teresa Leger Fern\u00e1ndez (D-New Mexico)\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t
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Rep. Teresa Leger Fern\u00e1ndez (D-New Mexico) discusses efforts to protect sacred sites with Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum.At a hearing on June 12, 2025…<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

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Indianz.Com Video: ‘Sacred, protected sites’: Rep. Teresa Leger Fern\u00e1ndez (D-New Mexico)<\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n
Sacred sites face renewed threats amid political shifts in Washington<\/div>\r\n
Monday, June 16, 2025<\/div>\r\n
By Acee Agoyo<\/div>\r\n
Indianz.Com<\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nThe movement to protect sacred sites is once again drawing attention in the nation’s capital as President Donald Trump and his administration push to open more federal lands to development.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nAt a hearing last Thursday, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum<\/a> confirmed that he’s been looking at energy development at Chaco Canyon in New Mexico. He has already met with leaders of the Navajo Nation<\/a> to discuss a buffer zone that currently restricts oil and gas drilling on public lands around the sacred site.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n“One of the first groups that came to visit me as Secretary of Interior was the Navajo,” Burgum said at the hearing before the House Committee on Natural Resources<\/a>. “And the Navajo felt that they weren’t consulted — particularly related to the buffer zone and the impingement on Navajo allottee rights relative to the buffer zone around Chaco.”\r\n

<\/P>\r\nThe buffer zone, which was put in place by the Joe Biden administration<\/a>, does not prohibit drilling on lands allotted to approximately 4,000 Navajo citizens. Still, Navajo leaders say communities near Chaco have been hindered by the broader ban on development.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n\u201cOur homes, our roads, and our ability to thrive are now locked behind a decision we were not included in,\u201d Navajo Nation Council<\/a> Delegate Brenda Jesus said after meeting with Burgum<\/a> in Washington, D.C., in April.\r\n

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Delegates from the Navajo Nation Council meet with Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, fifth from right, in Washington, D.C. on April 14, 2025. Photo courtesy Navajo Nation Council<\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nBut while Burgum has already sat down with Navajo officials, other tribal nations have felt left in the dark. Last month, Pueblo tribes who support the development ban in Chaco Canyon were invited to a consultation about the buffer zone — but not with the leader of the Department of the Interior, the federal agency with the most trust and treaty responsibilities in Indian Country.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nInstead, the Pueblo tribes were told to meet with the Bureau of Land Management<\/a>, a sub-agency of Interior. And they were given only 20 days notice of the consultation about an area that plays an important role in their cultures and histories.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n“The BLM’s consultation process must honor the government-to-government relationship and provide adequate time for proper tribal input,” Governor Charles Riley of the Pueblo of Acoma<\/a> said in response to the hastily-called meeting.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n “Our ancestors built Chaco over a thousand years ago, and Pueblo people have been its stewards ever since,” Riley continued<\/a>. “Any decision affecting this sacred landscape requires the full participation and consent of tribes.”\r\n

<\/p>\r\nAdding to the slight was the fact that the BLM meeting was scheduled to take place virtually, instead of face-to-face with Pueblo leaders. Rep. Teresa Leger Fern\u00e1ndez<\/a> (D-New Mexico) pushed Burgum to engage in more meaningful ways with Indian Country.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n“I want you to commit to sending somebody with decision-making authority to conduct in-person, individual tribal consultations with each tribe that has an interest in Chaco Canyon,” Fernandez said at the hearing last week. “Can you commit to that?”\r\n

<\/p>\r\n“Absolutely,” Burgum responded.\r\n

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