Ancient, Sacred Lands Are At Risk in Anasazi Valley
The walls of the Anasazi village were "home to ancient Puebloans, and since 450 A.D., Southern Paiute Indians. The tribes now ask for your help to protect the site from developers.
“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” That is how a reader commented below an article by KCSG Television on how ancient, sacred land in Utah is being threatened
The walls of the Anasazi village were “home to ancient Puebloans, and since 450 A.D., Southern Paiute Indians. They consider it part of their sacred ancestral land. Elders still have memories of their grandfathers telling stories of coming here for traditional ceremonies, blessings, and gatherings,” says an article by KCSG TV.
The land in controversy is Anasazi Valley neighboring Zion National Park. An 80 acre parcel of this land was purchased in 1985 and the lost ruins and burial grounds were soon rediscovered. The land has been since made into a park and Native American Learning Center. For the last three decades, this area has been protected by a non-profit called Sunhawk.
Recently, in what resembles a game of musical chairs, a developer and an attorney/trustee of Sunhawk have made some suspicious changes to ownership rights.
The developer’s “crew operates an industrial base camp for commercial construction of luxury housing subdivision projects. Huge trucks haul in an average of 50 semi dumploads of red and blue clay refuse from their excavations, regularly 8 hours a day.” Ancient walls are being damaged for the widening of roads for these wide vehicles. The peace is disturbed by the sounds of heavy machinery. Even a judge is skeptical about motives of greed as illustrated when he questioned the developer whether he was planning to put up condos on the property.
Sunhawk is urgently asks for your support. To learn more, donate; schedule an event, or volunteer, visit www.anasazivalley.org.