WHOSE Land is This?

There is a double standard going on in Utah.  Legislators want control of the land to be “given back” to Utah:

Utah to Washington: This land is my land!  Resolution suggests D.C. cede 35,000 square miles of state

“Be it resolved, that the Legislature of the state of Utah calls on the United States, through their agent, Congress, to relinquish to the state of Utah all right, title, and jurisdiction in those lands that were committed to the purposes of this state by terms of its Enabling act compact with them and that now reside within the state as public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management that were reserved by Congress after the date of Utah statehood,” says theState Jurisdiction of Federally Managed Lands Joint Resolution.

WHOSE land is this?  Hint: It’s NOT the Federal Government’s and it is NOT the Utah Government. If ANYONE is going to get their land back, it must be to be the RIGHTFUL guardians of the land : The Newe (Utes, Piutes, Goshutes, Shoshoni) and Diné (Navajo) People.

Utah Indian tribes--Utes, Goshutes, Navajo, and Shoshone

If Utah’s Legislators are really interested in insisting that the reigns on the land be released from the hands of government, they need to get it straight.  This land does not “belong” to anyone.   The control of the land should be  restored to the ancestors of the original Natives of the land, from whom the control was stolen.

Oh but wait.  Back to the double standard going on in Utah.  The governor of Utah has taken control of Indian Affairs in Utah. It looks like Utah’s Government will stay in control of Native Affairs for the foreseeable future.

(cross-posted to Utah Legislature Watch)