Edge of Morning: Native Voices Speak for the Bears Ears

In support of tribal efforts to protect the Bears Ears, Native writers bear testimony to the fragile and essential nature of this sacred landscape in America’s remote red rock country. Through poem and essay, these often-ignored voices explore the ways many native people derive tradition, sustenance, and cultural history from the Bears Ears.

"To us, these places represent more than grass, hills, mountains, and trees...they hold the links to our past and our future." —Martie Simmons, Ho-Chunk

The fifteen contributors are multi-generational writers, poets, activists, teachers, students, and public officials, each with a strong tie to landscape and a particular story to tell. Willie Grayeyes, Chairman of Utah Diné Bikéyah, shares his ancestral ties to the Bears Ears. Klee Benally, Diné activsit, musician, and filmmaker, asks, “What part of sacred don’t you understand?” Morning Star Gali, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer at Pit River Tribe, speaks to the fight for cultural preservation. The fifteen contributors speak for the Bears Ears and elevate the conversation around tribal sovereignty and sacred places across the U.S.

Jacqueline Keeler, editor of Edge of Morning, is a Navajo/Dakota writer who lives in Portland, Oregon. She is co-founder of Eradicating Offensive Native Mascotry, which seeks to end the use of racial groups as mascots, as well as the use of other stereotypical representations in popular culture. Her work has appeared in The Nation, Indian Country Today, Earth Island Journal, Salon.com, and elsewhere.

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• Voices from Bears Ears: Seeking Common Ground on Sacred Land
• Red Rock Stories: Three Generations of Writers Speak on Behalf of Utah's Public Lands
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• Downriver: Into the Future of Water in the West
• The Colors of Nature: Culture, Identity, and the Natural World
• Dwellings: A Spiritual History of the Living World
• Desert Cabal: A New Season in the Wilderness
• Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants
• The Best Bears Ears National Monument Hikes (Colorado Mountain Club Pack Guide)