Bears Ears: Landscape of Refuge and Resistance

Bears Ears National Monument, designated in 2016 and reduced by President Trump, is a flash point of conflict between ranchers, miners, environmental groups, states rights advocates, and Native American activists. Andrew Gulliford's book synthesizes 11,000 years of the region's history to illustrate its significance to Native Americans and Mormon families.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 512 pages
Publication date: 31 October 2022
Publisher: University of Utah Press,U.S.

Bears Ears National Monument, designated in 2016 by President Obama and reduced to 85 percent of its original size one year later by President Trump, remains a contentious issue between ranchers, miners, environmental groups, states rights advocates, and Native American activists. In this comprehensive volume, Andrew Gulliford delves into 11,000 years of the region's history to shed light on the underlying stakes in this conflict. He presents the geography of Bears Ears as a sanctuary and a place of resistance for Native Americans who seek to preserve their ancestral homes, as well as for the descendants of Mormon families who arrived by wagon train in 1880.

Gulliford's engaging narrative explores prehistoric Pueblo villages, cliff dwellings, Navajo and Ute history, the impacts of the Atomic Age, uranium mining, and the pothunting and looting of Native graves that led to the passage of the Antiquities Act over a century ago. The book provides a detailed account of how the national monument came into existence and its profound significance to five Native tribes.

Bears Ears National Monument serves as a litmus test for public land issues in the American West. Its recognition will continue to be a relevant topic for years to come.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781647690779