Parks in Protected Places with Living Communities: Canyon De Chelly as Case Study

The U.S. National Park Service Organic Act was passed into law during a period when America’s tribal communities experienced assimilation policies and land allotment (see A Final Promise).  National Park Service units were established on tribal land and most American Indian communities experienced dispossession and removal from lands designated as National Park Service units. Canyon de Chelly National Monument differed from other parks established after the passage of the Organic Act. First, the drafting of the initial legislation assumed that the establishment of the monument would require the approval of the Navajo Tribal Council. Second, the National Park Service agreed with the Bureau of Indian Affairs that the rights of Navajos needed to be protected along with their way of life. Third, the National Park Service diverted from its national model of removal to an early experiment in cooperative conservation.