FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — The Navajo Nation is seeking full control of one of the only national monuments entirely on reservation land, the majestic Canyon de Chelly and its hundreds of ancient rock carvings and paintings.
Since 1931, the National Park Service has been charged with preserving artifacts and ruins within the monument’s red sandstone walls, while the land revered by the Navajos as sacred remained tribally owned.
Now the Tribal Council wants full control of the 131- square-mile monument in northeastern Arizona and the more than $1.8 million in federal funding that goes with it. Doing so would strengthen the tribe’s sovereignty and demonstrate its expertise and competence in administering tribal land and resources to benefit Navajo people, supporters say.
Patricia L. Parker, chief of the Park Service’s American Indian Liaison Office in Washington, D.C., said tribes are encouraged to take a more active role in managing their lands. But no national monument has been completely turned over to a tribe, she said.
