To Reconnect
For thousands of years, Indigenous people have identified and sustainably harvested, hunted, and utilized resources at springs throughout the desert. Long distance runners, family groups traveling for ceremony and for gathering supplies, regularly visited and settled in and near them. These sacred areas have seen Native people less since the displacement of tribes and subsequent land loss.
Reconnection begins with interest and recognition of the natural environment around us. Fostering this relationship takes elders, culture bearers, language-keepers, alongside advocates to come together with shared love of the desert to guide a new generation of water-protectors and land managers.
Though public lands are not held by Indigenous people, the connection they have with each other can never be severed.
To Protect
Spring ecosystems rely on the availability of water deep underground. Birds, other animals, and plants all use the natural resources these places have offered for thousands of years. Yet as the demand for water presses more and more toward natural areas, these sacred waters are threatened by interests that would see them extracted, sold, and piped to other parts of the state. A temporary solution to this man-made problem cannot be allowed to destroy these natural landscapes and the species who call them home.
