This week, a forged document, made to look like a press release from the U.S. Department of the Interior, was found posted at the U.S. Post Office in Bluff, UT and in several gas stations in San Juan County, UT. The forged document purported to be an announcement from the federal government stating that the Interior Department was poised to take over more than 4 million acres of the Navajo Reservation.

The falsified Interior Department press release was accompanied by a fabricated flier that invited the public to celebrate a new Bears Ears National Monument but said that, “Everyone is invited except Utah Navajos,” and “Utah Navajos stay away from our party.” The flier falsely claimed to be from Utah Diné Bikéyah, a Utah-based Native American grassroots organization that is instead working in favor of a Bears Ears National Monument and is working to empower Utah Navajos, Utes and other tribal members.

Cynthia Wilson, UDB’s Community Outreach Coordinator, discovered the forged items in Mexican Hat and Bluff on Sunday.

“This is a clear attempt to turn people against a Bears Ears National Monument by spreading lies, inciting racism, and impersonating federal officials,” says Wilson. “These tactics are despicable and likely criminal. Utah Navajos and Tribal Governments have been working in good faith to protect Native American traditional uses through a Bears Ears National Monument and we are holding up a vision and a solution, not a weapon intended to harm anyone.”

In some locations, a fraudulent letter accompanied the forged press release and flier. The letter falsely claimed that a Bears Ears National Monument would ban firewood gathering and Native American access for sacred activities, when in fact Monument designation would protect such activities. The letter purported to be signed by Albert Holiday, Vice President of the Navajo Nation’s Oljato Chapter.

“I did not write this letter,” said Albert Holiday. “I fully support President Obama designating the Bears Ears National Monument, and so does the Navajo Nation’s Oljato Chapter where I serve as Vice President. It sickens me that our opponents would stoop so low as to impersonate me and harm my character by making fraudulent statements about Navajo community’s goals for a national monument.”

The fabricated documents appear to be designed to intentionally mislead Native Americans in southeastern Utah about a potential Bears Ears National Monument.

“Since February, we have spoken to approximately 7,000 Native American grassroots people who live adjacent to Bears Ears, and only a handful of these individuals have expressed opposition toward a National Monument,” said Wilson. “In fact, 6 of 7 Utah Navajo Chapter Houses have passed resolutions of support and more than 1,300 local Native Americans have taken the time to write President Obama a postcard or letter asking him to use the Antiquities Act to protect our ancestral lands and preserve our living traditions.”

Link to view forged documents: http://utahdinebikeyah.org/fake-letters

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