Τhe Utah-based Ute Indian Tribe says the Biden administration failed to formally consult their government before designating Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument in Colorado this week—a process required by federal law.
In a news release Wednesday, tribal leaders called the decision “an act of genocide to attempt to erase the history and connection of the tribe to these lands.”
“These new monuments are an abomination and demonstrate manifest disregard and disrespect of the Ute Indian Tribe’s treaty rights and sovereign status as a federally recognized Indian Tribe,” said Shaun Chapoose, chairman of the tribe’s business committee and an Uncompahgre Band member.
Biden used his authority under the Antiquities Act to designate the new 53,804-acre monument, which includes Camp Hale, a former Army base where the 10th Mountain Division trained to fight in World War II. It is located within the homelands of the tribe’s Uncompahgre Band, who were forced out of the area by the U.S. in 1880.
The Ute Indian Tribe is one of three Ute Nation tribes in the western U.S. with ancestral ties to the land. Both the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute have spoken in favor of the monument and attended the proclamation ceremony on Wednesday.
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Chapoose told the Associated Press that the White House only called his tribe about a potential monument at Camp Hale a week ago.
“What frustrated us is that they didn’t want us there to comment, they wanted us there for the photo opp,” Chapoose told the AP, adding that he was invited to the event, but left out of frustration. “I don’t expect them to roll out a red carpet, but I expect a little common courtesy. If I’m just going to be one of the Indians that you want to photograph, I’m the wrong Indian to call.”
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