We had the wonderful opportunity to collaborate with Conservation Lands Foundation to help create photos and videos for an incredible StoryMap project that they produced to help protect the ancestral lands of Avi Kwa Ame
We traveled to Nevada, Arizona and Needles, CA to spend time with the Fort Mojave Tribe and various community members who are on board with Conservation Lands Foundations in an effort to help build a campaign in support of designating Avi Kwa Ame as a protected National Monument. This part of the desert is home to important protected wildlife and the most beautiful Joshua Tree forest we have ever seen. It’s sacred and important land to many different tribes and we hope that President Biden will soon officially designate and protect this incredible landscape.
The StoryMap includes photographs and interviews of many people sharing about the history and importance of Spirit Mountain along the Colorado River.
View the full StoryMap HERE
Avi Kwa Ame (Ah-VEE kwa-meh) is the Mojave name for Spirit Mountain and the surrounding landscape in Southern Nevada.
It’s the source of life and place of origin for 10 Yuman-speaking tribes of the Mojave, Hualapai, Yavapai, Havasupai, Quechan, Maricopa, Pai Pai, Halchidhoma, Cocopah, and Kumeyaay.
It’s sacred land to the Hopi and Chemehuevi Paiute people.
It’s a vital link for the wildlife, plants, recreational and cultural needs of the region.
A coalition of Tribes, local residents, the Nevada Legislature, conservation groups, recreation interests, and others is working to establish the Avi Kwa Ame National Monument to permanently protect these treasured lands from energy development that would forever fragment the world-class ecosystem, cultural and recreational values of the region.
