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GOAL - a coalition of 39 tribes (and counting) to protect sacred, endangered grizzly bears
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    Guardians of Our Ancestors Legacy 

    GOAL - a coalition of 29 tribes (and counting) to protect sacred, endangered grizzly bears

    "What they did

    to the grizzly, 

    they then did to us, 

    and now they are going to do it

    again" 

    Motse'oo'e (Sweetgrass Woman) 

    Northern Cheyenne

    THIS IS GOAL COUNTRY !

    29 tribes opposing delisting grizzly bears

    The heart of Turtle Island (shaded in red) is GOAL Tribal Coalition Country : thirty-nine Tribal Nations united in a common cause - the protection of the sacred grizzly bear, the defense of tribal sovereignty, and the preservation of indigenous spiritual and religious rights. "Preserving the grizzly equates to cultural preservation,"

    Chairman Robert Flyng Hawk, Yankton Sioux Tribe 

    BLACKFEET SPIRITUAL LEADER NOLAN YELLOW KIDNEY SPEAKS OUT AGAINST DELISTING THE GRIZZLY BEAR

     

    PLEASE SHARE  - https://www.facebook.com/HeyBear.GOAL

    Read and download

    Chief Arvol Looking Horse's statement

    opposing grizzly delisting

    and trophy hunting grizzlies 

    FWS to announce grizzly delisting this June, attempts to dupe Tribal Nations?

     

    GOAL Tribal Coalition has learned that the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) long expected announcement to issue a new rule to remove Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections from the Yellowstone grizzly bear will be made in June.

     

    By Richie Richards (Oglala Lakota) - Native Sun News

    Read more here 

     

    GOAL'S POSITION ON DELISTING THE GRIZZLY BEAR

    Putting aside the questionable science, the egregious manipulation of data, and the lack of transparency in the process, the federal government’s determination to remove the Yellowstone grizzly bear from Endangered Species Act (ESA) protection currently contravenes the American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA. PUBLIC LAW 95-341--AUG. 11, 1978), Executive Orders, and Secretarial Orders.

     

    The delisting of the grizzly is pertinent, but not limited to, the AIRFA in the following manner:

     

    “Whereas such laws were designed for such worthwhile purposes as conservation and preservation of natural species and resources but were never intended to relate to Indian religious practices and, therefore, were passed without consideration of their effect on traditional American Indian religions.”

     

    The US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) articulates the federal government’s position that the future of the grizzly bear should be transferred to state game agencies, all of which advocate and encourage trophy hunting of the grizzly, and are historically hostile not only towards predators, but to tribes and their inherent sovereign rights.

     

    The government and the states of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho intend to limit the present genetically isolated Greater Yellowstone grizzly population to core habitat, ostensibly Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park.

     

    The grizzly is to be kept on what amounts to reservations because FWS and the tri-state governors claim that it is not “socially acceptable” for the Great Bear to return to vast areas of biologically suitable habitat that once comprised its homeland. The same thing was once said about tribal people, and it was not so long ago that it wasn’t “socially acceptable” for Indians to leave the reservation either.

     

    The grizzly now exists on less than 2% of the range it inhabited prior to the Lewis and Clark Expedition. This 2% is largely comprised of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem. The Yellowstone grizzly is genetically isolated, rapidly losing keystone staples of its diet (whitebark pine and cutthroat trout), and survives as an island population.

     

    Albeit over a hundred and forty-years late, the federal government now acknowledges that twenty-six federally recognized tribes have an ancestral connection to Yellowstone, but throughout the present delisting process, there has been no discussion related to the impact delisting the grizzly, and the subsequent trophy hunting of the bear, will have on American Indian spirituality, namely the religious practices of traditional tribal people supposedly protected by PL-95-341.

     

    Federal government agencies, including FWS, have a duty to consult with tribes regarding policies that have tribal implications. This duty has been embodied in a variety of executive orders, secretarial orders, and memoranda. Executive Order 13175, issued by President Clinton in 2000, was written “to establish regular and meaningful consultation and collaboration with tribal officials in the development of Federal policies that have tribal implications.” Such policies include “regulations … and other policy statements or actions that have substantial direct effects on one or more Indian tribes,” such as ESA listing and delisting decisions.

     

    A 2009 memorandum issued by President Obama emphasized the importance of President Clinton’s Executive Order, noting “consultation is a critical ingredient of a sound and productive Federal-tribal relationship” and affirming the Administration’s “commitment to regular and meaningful consultation and collaboration with tribal officials in policy decisions that have tribal implications.”  President Obama’s 2013 Executive Order Establishing the White House Council on Native American Affairs further recognizes that “greater engagement and meaningful consultation with tribes is of paramount importance in developing any policies affecting tribal nations.”

     

    The US Departments of Interior and Commerce issued an order on June 5, 1997, specifically regarding tribal consultation obligations in the context of the Endangered Species Act, which sets forth the framework to be followed when actions taken under authority of the ESA affect tribes.

     

    The American Indian Tribal Rights, Federal-Tribal Trust Responsibilities, and the Endangered Species Act Order state, among other significant clauses:

     

    “The Departments shall take into consideration the impacts of their actions and policies under the Act on Indian use of listed species for cultural and religious purposes (Sec. 5 #4).”

     

    The Order directs the US Fish and Wildlife Service to “solicit traditional knowledge, and comments from, and utilize the expertise of, affected Indian tribes” during the consultation process, and “cooperate with affected tribes to develop and implement Recovery Plans in a manner that minimizes” social and cultural impacts on tribal people.

     

    Ignoring these Acts and Orders contradicts the basis of the government-to-government relationship that exists between the federal government and all of the Tribal Nations impacted by this issue, a situation that must be remedied.

     

    It is undeniable that the grizzly bear holds a unique position in the traditional cultures and ceremonial life-ways of the traditional spiritual practitioners of tribes identified by the federal government as possessing centuries old, and in some instances, millennia-long connections to the lands where the grizzly now survives. These are landscapes where, if delisting occurs, the grizzly may be extirpated from swathes of the environment such as segments of the Wind River Mountains and the Upper Green.

     

    Like the grizzly now, there was no consideration given to the psychological impact and spiritual devastation caused to tribal people by the decimation of the buffalo. Quite the contrary, the federal government advocated the buffalo be managed at the barrels of hide hunters and “sportsmen’s” guns. If the federal and tri-state governments of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho have their collective way, the grizzly is destined to share a similar fate a little more than a century later. One only needs to consider what has happened to the wolf population in the aforementioned states since it was delisted to see the recent past as a prelude.

     

    With its determination to delist the grizzly, the federal government once again seeks to pass legislation, “without consideration of their effect on traditional American Indian religions (PL-95-341/AIRFA).”

     

    Not honoring these commitments is one more echo of the government’s historic abrogation of its treaty responsibilities.

    Yellowstone National Park name changes gains momentum

       

    "America's first national park sould no longer have features named after the proponents and exponants of genocide, as is the case with Hayden Valley and Mount Doane." 

    Montana & Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council Official Resolution

    Longmire author Craig Johnson and Longmire cast members support tribes' fight for the grizzly

     

     “I believe in this,” said Craig Johnson, the New York Times bestselling author and creator of the Longmire mystery series . . .

    Robert Taylor and Longmire cast members support bears
    Robert Taylor and Longmire cast members support bears
    Robert Taylor and Longmire cast members support bears

    Robert Taylor (Walt Longmire), Craig Johnson (author), Zahn McClarnon (Mathias) 

    TRIBAL DECLARATIONS & RESOLUTIONS 

    A total of 35 Tribal Nations have now passed official declarations, resolutions, or issued letters denouncing delisting to Secretary of the Interior, Sally Jewell, or Director of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Dan Ashe.

     

    Read and download copies of those official communications here: Make A Stand

    Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Declaration against delisting endangered grizzly bears
    Spirit Lake Tribe declaration against delisting endangered grizzly bears
    Eastern Shoshone tribal declaration against delisting endangered grizzly bears
    Crow tribal declaration against delisting endangered grizzly bears

    LATEST !

    Tribes “disrespected” by federal and state officials in grizzly fight 

    “This has never happened before,” said James Walks Along, THPO for the Northern Cheyenne Nation. “I was shocked by the disrespect I was shown.”

     

    click here to see video

    Cherokee Nation “urges” Secretary Jewell and Fish and Wildlife Service

    to “commence tribal consultation“

    and warns of impacts

    on the grizzly’s survival if delisted.

     

    click here to read the 

    critical update

     

    TRIBAL LEADERS CONCERNED THAT FWS “GRIZZLY CZAR” IS “BELITTLING”

    TRIBAL OPPOSITION 

    TO DELISTING 

     

    click here to read the 

    critical update

    FWS SET TO ANNOUNCE 

    GRIZZLY DELISTING

    IN JUNE

    click here to read the 

    critical update

    Pawnee Nation "means business" fighting grizzly delisting!

    Native Sun News:

    Tribes unfazed by Feds'

    grizzly doubletalk.

    "Those that massacred our people also wiped out the Wámakaškaŋ – they wiped out the buffalo, the grizzlies and the wolves – and today that mindset is still there, that ‘disease of the mind’" - Chief Arvol Looking Horse.

    One of Native America's  longest serving and most respected leaders tells US Fish & Wildlife Service Director Ashe he must consult and it must be "meaningful."

    Gov Anoatubby of the Chickasaw Nation supports GOAL

    Montana Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council against delisting grizzly bears

    It's Official!

     

    Montana and Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council issues resolution against grizzly delisting and calling for YNP

    name changes

    This story went from the

     

    to the 

    President Obama at Standing Rock Indian Reservation

    Standing Rock Sioux Tribe calls for FWS to honor Obama's pledge

    UNDERSTAND THE ISSUES:

    The politics of colonialism and greed fueling delisting:

    Whitebark Pine - Keystone to Afterthought in the Drive to Delist

     

    Fuzzy Math: How FWS and the tri-states made a 35% increase in the Yellowstone grizzly population in 12-months . . .

    No-Bear's-Land

    Paper Grizzlies vs. Real Bears

     

    Nits Make Lice Again -

    The genesis of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation

     

    The foundation of Yellowstone National Park was nothing more than an act of imperialism inspired by Manifest Destiny:

    Yellowstone National Park: A Glimpse Behind the Myth

           

    Read more essays here

    Our First Grizzly by Gen. Custer

    and Dr Servheen   

    Our First Grizzly by General Custer

    The first in a  series of articles on the grizzly in history. 

     

    Part 1:    The grizzly presently hangs by a thread on between two to four percent of its historic range pre-European contact, which, not even somebody as prone to creative interpretation as Custer was, should be able to sell as “recovered.”

    CLICK HERE TO READ MORE . . .

    ALERT!  

    What the POST-DELISTING world will look like

    If this is what you want to see when you come into the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and the environs of Yellowstone National Park, then do nothing... but if you find these images abhorrent  

    JOIN WITH US TO STOP DELISTING

     

     

    Guardians of Our Ancestors' Legacy (GOAL) Tribal Coalition is commended  by: 

    Earth Justice against delisting endangered grizzly bears
    The Sierra Club against delisting endangered grizzly bears
    Chairman Nathan Small, Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of Idaho against delisting endangered grizzly bears

    Chairman Nathan Small of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of Idaho reflects on delisting issues. 

    Click here to download the GOAL newspaper Chairman Small is reading.

    GOAL'S MISSION STATEMENT

    Guardians of Our Ancestors’ Legacy (GOAL) is committed to reconnecting tribal people to the ancestral landscape that is Yellowstone, reclaiming that heritage, and preserving the grizzly bear – our most powerful symbol of spiritual regeneration and renewal.

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    HoChunk Tribe
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    Spirit Lake tribe
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    northern arapaho
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    Salish Kootenai tribes
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    Chippewa Cree Tribes
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    Crow tribe
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    Oglala Sioux Tribe
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    fort peck tribe
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    HoChunk Tribe
    Spirit Lake tribe
    Spirit Lake tribe
    northern arapaho
    northern arapaho
    mtwy-tlc
    mtwy-tlc
    Yankton Sioux tribe transp
    Yankton Sioux tribe transp
    Salish Kootenai tribes
    Salish Kootenai tribes
    HoChunk Tribe
    HoChunk Tribe
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    santee-sioux-nation-logo-195x193
    Kiowa tribe logo
    Kiowa tribe logo
    Ponca Tribe Nebraska
    Ponca Tribe Nebraska
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    CrowCreekSiouxTribe
    CrowCreekSiouxTribe
    Chippewa Cree Tribes
    Chippewa Cree Tribes
    Sisseton Wahpeton transp
    Sisseton Wahpeton transp
    northernCheyenneSeal
    northernCheyenneSeal
    Crow tribe
    Crow tribe
    Flandreau tribe logo
    Flandreau tribe logo
    turtle mountain band of chippewa
    turtle mountain band of chippewa
    Oglala Sioux Tribe
    Oglala Sioux Tribe
    Lower Brule - transp
    Lower Brule - transp
    ShoBans
    ShoBans
    omaha-tribe
    omaha-tribe
    fort peck tribe
    fort peck tribe
    Standing Rock Sioux Tribe
    Standing Rock Sioux Tribe
    blackfeet seal
    blackfeet seal
    Cheyenne-river-sioux
    Cheyenne-river-sioux
    mandan hidatsa arikara-logo
    mandan hidatsa arikara-logo
    fort belknap tribe
    fort belknap tribe
    little shell tribe
    little shell tribe
    hopi tribe logo
    hopi tribe logo
    navajo nation logo
    navajo nation logo
    San Carlos Apache tribe logo
    San Carlos Apache tribe logo
    zuni pueblo logo
    zuni pueblo logo
    AFN logo
    AFN logo
    Southern Ute logo
    Southern Ute logo
    ute mountain ute logo
    ute mountain ute logo

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