By Treston Chee - Indigenous Lands Content Creator

From five thousand to ten thousand feet in elevation the landscape changes rapidly with every plant species and types of soil. Hundreds of sagebrush and cottonwoods sweep over the lower elevations, while ponderosa pines and douglas fir reach for the skies as they seem to blanket the mountainside. There are plant and animal species that are too many to count, but each all have a name and share the same home. Each all enduring, adapting, and persevering in a timeless, alternating environment. Whom are all respected and guarded by the indigenous peoples of this land.

A multi-tribal collaboration effort to preserve culture, tradition and wildlife has created partnerships, friendships, and land-based memories for a lifetime. There are three fence lines intersecting and each sharing a border that is maintained and protected by sovereign nations. Jemez Pueblo, Santo Domingo Pueblo and Cochiti Pueblo all share one common goal, which is to protect and preserve resources on ancestral land. From each tribal community are members and employees of the tribal department of natural resources to make a large contribution for future generations and wildlife habitat. Frank Chavez Jr. of Santo Domingo Pueblo expresses “All are utilizing their rights as sovereign representatives of this great nation”.

Chainsaw crews in the distant clear a path, old existing barbed wire is picked up for recycling, a team of four strikes the ground with new posts while another crew begin constructing H-braces for the running of the new wildlife friendly fence. All on ancestral homelands, which have a millennia of rich, long lasting and sacred connections. In recent years, this landscape has experienced multiple transformations either by natural or human related causes. In response to these transformations, a combination of vigorous labor and prayers in a language in which this land has heard is helping to maintain the landscape. While under the management of indigenous peoples, who have originally stewarded the land, preservation and protection of resources include generations of traditions, culture, language, education, and memories.