Protect our sacred waters from Wyoming’s commercialization (Opinion)

The heart of Wyoming pumps gallons of healing water per minute from the world s largest single mineral hot spring making it an unrivalled place of healing and peaceful encounter over countless generations As Indigenous Peoples we have constantly connected to the power of these healing waters that we hold sacred with pools documented long before contact In the Shoshone language they are called bah guewana smoking waters in the Arapaho language xonou o where the healing water turns into air unifying with the ecosystem and in the Cheyenne language tsexhoeomotometo mahpe where the breath of life comes out of the water In a reckless move risking local regional and statewide economic and legal certainty the state has been asserting unilateral decision-making power regarding the Hot Springs State Park in Thermopolis trying to build on the illegal attempts of dispossession of our peoples while as of now pushing for major changes to the park We fear these plans will turn our sacred springs into a playground for the rich inaccessible to the several tribal members who hold these waters sacred As Indigenous Peoples we are afraid this will conclusion in the desecration and further commercialization of our sacred Hot Springs All this has been and continues to be done without the consent of our peoples and revenue-sharing both required to recognize us as decision-makers including regarding current attempts to hand over facilities to an out-of-state operator and large infrastructure investments that stand to change our sacred Hot Springs forever As Indigenous Peoples we have to be recognized as decision makers regarding these sacred hot springs to protect them for all future generations and to ensure free access for our people to enable healing from intergenerational effects of genocide which is more essential now than ever Both massacres of Native Americans and policies such as the federal boarding school system that forcibly removed Indigenous children from their families meet the international definition of genocide under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide The intergenerational healing provided by our sacred hot springs has to be recognized Our Arapaho and Cheyenne ancestors went directly there to heal after the Sand Creek Massacre in all the way through our homelands from South Eastern Colorado along the Eastern frontal range of the Rocky Mountains to the heart of Wyoming all promised in the Treaties of Fort Laramie These sacred hot springs were included in the original Wind River Reservation created long before the state of Wyoming and in the modern day it sits at its center as the sole reservation in the state The inclusion of the hot springs in the original reservation constitutes evidence of the importance of these healing waters to us with Owl Creek marking the boundary to the North The old town of Thermopolis was located miles away outside the original reservation Wyoming History has documented that the darkest times that followed with sickness decimating our populations by more than half and hunger reigning because the buffalo had been eradicated settlers started to push into the reservation especially the hot springs area Hot springs mineral water flows through Hot Springs State Park in Thermopolis Wyo Melissa Kopka Getty Images iStockphoto The pressure on our tribes was tremendous we were within years of running out of rations when the federal regime sent their negotiator James McLaughlin to try to force the surrender of the hot springs for an offer of initially and then and rations According to Geoffrey O Gara s book What You See in Clear Water another Indian agent called the offer abundantly low for the finest hot spring on Earth In light of the duress our tribes were under any agreement in itself is on questionable legal ground what makes it even more legally questionable is that the vast majority of the payments were never made meaning that the transfer has never been properly effected Even then if anything the relationship has been between the federal authorities and our sovereign tribes around the sacred hot springs putting them in the same category as Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons Access to these and all other national parks is free for all tribal members and the same should be implemented for this park and all pools in it as places of intergenerational healing It makes it even more questionable how the state of Wyoming ever imposed itself on the area not just the one square mile that they claim as Hot Springs State Park but the miles by miles that they illegally claim as removed from the reservation which covers the current town of Thermopolis and beyond It is imperative for the state to recognize our peoples and tribes as decision-makers regarding these sacred hot springs and lands There are an increasing number of examples of co-management of parks with Indigenous Peoples which the Hot Springs State Park is a prime candidate for to implement joint decision making one of the longest standing examples being Gwaii Haanas National Park which is co-managed with the Haida People and has now been extended to the whole island chain What the state otherwise risks is great economic and legal uncertainty for the local locality and the whole state To put the value of the land into context Wyoming Gov Mark Gordon in late December approved the sale of one square mile of undeveloped land to the federal cabinet so it could be added to the Grand Teton National Park for million We are talking about square miles of developed land and the finest hot springs on Earth and outstanding liabilities for years Related Articles A new generation of Indigenous chefs is growing and cooking foods traditional to their ancestors Signs posted at National Park Amenity sites seen as threats to whitewash dark side of Colorado history New Colorado analysis says homelessness across state is more widespread than previously thought Colorado s Fort Lewis College a former Indian boarding school names its first Native American president In addition to the failure to recognize our larger proprietary interests this does not meet the standards of consultation with tribes necessary under U S law and the requirement of free prior and informed consent of Indigenous Peoples under international law including the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples that the United States have committed to implementing As Indigenous Peoples we not only have the strongest connection to these sacred waters and lands we also hold the greater part long-term knowledge that is key to ensuring their protection and sustainable use of central importance has to be unlimited free access to these sacred waters for our Peoples to endorsement the healing from intergenerational effects of genocide William C Hair is a Northern Arapaho leader and knowledge keeper Wes Martel is an Eastern Shoshone leader and knowledge keeper and Phillip Whiteman Jr is a Northern Cheyenne traditional 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