By: Yimo Liu
Recently, Joe Biden, the President of the United States, commissioned a new national monument located near the Grand Canyon. Biden’s monument is about a million acres long and it could protect a large amount of land that Native American tribes live on. “Our nation’s history is etched in our people and in our lands,” Biden said. “Today’s action is going to protect and preserve that history, along with these high plateaus and deep canyons.”
On Tuesday, an announcement was made that Biden is also going to help the Americans living in the western part of the country with climate and economic challenges. In the tribes of the Grand Canyon, many people have called for more protection. With Biden’s monument, the people can live safely. The creation of the monument took more than a year’s effort. With that, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native American Cabinet secretary, called Biden’s move “historic.”
“It will help protect lands that many tribes refer to as their eternal home, a place of healing and a source of spiritual sustenance,” a reporter said. “It will help ensure that indigenous peoples can continue to use these areas for religious ceremonies, hunting and gathering of plants, medicines and other materials, including some found nowhere else on earth. It will protect objects of historic and scientific importance for the benefit of tribes, the public and for future generations.”
Biden has made four other monuments during his presidency. One of them honors Emmett Till and the others protect land all over America. Karine Jean-Pierre was asked whether or not this week’s trip was to advertise accomplishments. Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters, “We’re going to continue to do our jobs and continue to talk about it … And the hope is that we’ll get our message out.”
She said that she would continue supporting Biden on building monuments and protection. “We’ll see, I think, Americans start to feel and see what it is that we have been able to do in Washington, D.C.”