Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland, members of Nevada’s congressional delegation and tribal leaders celebrated the designation of Avi Kwa Ame as a National Monument in Las Vegas April 14, the Interior Department reported at the time.
“Today, I was blessed to visit Avi Kwa Ame, one of our nation’s newest national monuments. For the Tribes that have called this region home for millennia, Avi Kwa Ame isn’t just a place. It’s the source of life that is sacred,” Haaland said in a tweet on April 14.
In March, President Joe Biden proclaimed Avi Kwa Ame a national monument, stating that the area offers a “distinctive lens” through which Tribal nations experience spiritual traditions and sacred lands, and that power emanates from the mountain through these traditions to create spiritual and visual connections. The monument has also been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Located in the desert mountain region in southern Nevada, the Avi Kwa Ame landscape includes the McCullough and Lucy Gray mountains in the west; the Piute and Eldorado valleys, split by the Highland Mountains, in the center; the Castle and Dead mountains in the south; and the Eldorado mountains and Avi Kwa Ame, part of the Newberry Mountains, in the east. The landscape is an object of historic and scientific interest requiring protection Section 320301 of Title 54, United States Code (Antiquities Act) as an object of historic and scientific interest, according to the White House proclamation.
The landscape is significant and unique, and contains many individual geologic features, archaeological sites, and havens for sensitive and threatened species, including the Mojave desert tortoise, Gila monster and desert bighorn sheep. It provides habitat for centuries-old Joshua trees and other objects that independently are of historic or scientific interest and require protection under the Antiquities Act. Some of these are sacred to Tribal Nations; are sensitive, rare, or vulnerable to vandalism and theft; or are dangerous to visit, the BLM reports.
Mojave, Chemehuevi and some Southern Paiute people consider Avi Kwa Ame, also known as Spirit Mountain, one of the most sacred places on Earth, according to the BLM, and it is central to many Tribal Nations’ creation stories. Designation as a national monument protects sacred space for spiritual uses, the BLM states.
“I was struck by the power and presence of the ancestors in tribal communities who have prayed on, protected and drawn strength from this special place for thousands of years,” Haaland said at an event attended by tribal leaders and members of Congress, MyNews4 reported.
Hunting, camping, hiking, OHV use, photography and other recreational activities will continue, as will trapping, wildlife watching, aerial surveys, and wildlife infrastructure installation, the agency reports. The BLM, Bureau of Reclamation and National Park Service manage the 506,814 acres; the land included in the designation is owned by the federal government, state and privately owned land is not included in the monument.
Haaland, a member of the Pueblo of Laguna and a 35th-generation New Mexican, is the first Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary, according to her bio. After running for New Mexico lieutenant governor in 2014, she became the first Native American woman elected to lead a state party. She is one of the first Native American women to serve in Congress, where she focused on environmental justice, climate change, missing and murdered indigenous women, and family-friendly policies.
