Tribes join forces to guard land

Unprecedented coalition will co-manage Chuckwalla National Monument, a California desert cultural landscape

- TYRONE BEASON

CHUCKWALLA National Monument stretches over 624,000 acres from Coachella Valley to the Colorado River on the Arizona border.

TECPATL KUAUHTZIN For The Times

Chuckwalla National Monument is more than an epic expanse of towering rocks, hidden canyons, ghost flowers, smoke trees and its namesake lizard. One of America's newest protected public lands is a birthplace, a crossroads, a beloved relative and a historical document to the tribes of the California desert.

Stretching across 624,000 acres from the Coachella Valley to the Colorado River at the state's border with Arizona, this landscape possesses a spirit and energy that flow through every object, every living thing and every molecule of air within it, tribal members say.

When an ecosystem is so ingrained in your psyche, so essential to your culture and so central to the stories you tell about your reason for being, you have no choice but to safeguard it.

This is the galvanizing sentiment behind the recent creation of an unprecedented commission for California that brings together five tribes to advise the U.S. government on the management of a monument that holds specific meaning to each and is a treasure to all.

The Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians, the Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe, the Cahuilla Band of Indians, the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe and the Colorado River Indian Tribes have passed resolutions recognizing their role on the commission. Processes to appoint commission members and write bylaws started this fall.

"Rather than be in conflict, there is mutuality," said Daniel Leivas, chairman of the Chemehuevi. "The forming of this commission is a testament to a willingness to come together for the same purpose: for the future of our children and for our ancestors."