19 Sep Activists Discuss Plans for Avi Kwa Ame Proposed Monument on Nevada Public Lands Week Roundtable
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 19, 2022
Contact: Will Pregman, wpregman@battlebornprogress.org, 702.752.0656
Angelyn Tabalba, angelyn@nevadaconservationleague.org, 808.232.9269
***VIDEO INCLUDED***
Activists Discuss Plans for Avi Kwa Ame Proposed Monument on Nevada Public Lands Week Roundtable
CLARK COUNTY, NV – On Monday afternoon, the Honor Avi Kwa Ame coalition hosted a virtual conversation with the southern Nevada community and three stakeholders with deep ties to Avi Kwa Ame (Ah-VEE kwa-meh, a.k.a. Spirit Mountain) landscape. This event marks the beginning of Public Lands Day celebrations for the coalition. Public Lands Day is a celebration of the forty eight million acres of public lands across the state of Nevada.
“As an explorer of the eastern Mojave desert I’ve been privileged to get a view of this area that people cannot get speeding down highways from Los Angeles to Las Vegas or Las Vegas to Needles. Many people see a stark and lifeless landscape or primeval-looking trees and bushes. I’m eager to introduce folks to a more authentic, up close view of the Mojave, alive and colorful; a landscape and ecosystem worthy of protection,” said Jim Stranger, Friends of Walking Box Ranch Executive.
“This landscape is special to everyone in Searchlight, and it’s nice to be able to share our connections to it with the public. As we invite visitors to enjoy these lands, and more people find out about their natural and cultural significance, it is also on my mind, as a resident of this area, that we all need to share in respecting and caring for them.” said Third generation Searchlight resident, artist, activist, and co-director of the Mystery Ranch Art and Science Research Station, Kim Garrison MeansKim Garrison Means.
“I have been hearing about Avi Kwa Ame all my life, in the stories that my elders shared with me as they took me out to the mountains. I learned about Avi Kwa Ame as part of our creation stories that emphasized that we are all one — the landscape, the plants, animals, rivier, sky, and wind — that we were all apart of each other. Avi Kwa Ame also holds stories of its own, from its petroglyphs, to its dried river bed where the river used to run, to the old pathways carved in the land. When I go up there and enjoy the landscape, I remember it’s a holy place, a sacred place that we must protect and respect,” said Paul Jackson, from the Neolge clan, meaning the Sun or Fire, representing Fort Mojave Indian Tribe Cultural Center.
Additional Spokespeople available for comment upon request.
###
About Avi Kwa Ame (Pronunciation: Ah-VEE kwa-meh): Sacred to 12 tribes, the proposed Avi Kwa Ame National Monument is at the center of Yuman creation stories and spiritual ideology and deserves permanent protection. Located between the Lake Mead National Recreation Area and the Nevada/California border, Avi Kwa Ame, the Mojave name for Spirit Mountain, could be Nevada’s 4th national monument. Covering more than 380,000 acres in southwestern Nevada, it is rich in both history and beauty. The proposed national monument includes petroglyphs; historic mining- and pioneer-era artifacts; rare and threatened wildlife such as the Mojave Desert tortoise and desert bighorn sheep.To learn more, visit www.honoravikwaame.org. Follow along on social media on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter