Hello, Bears Ears Supporter -

By Davis Filfred
Board Chairman 

To offset the challenges of this COVID-19 pandemic today, on #GivingTuesday, we need your help more than ever! In our Indigenous communities, we have more cases per capita than anywhere, except New York City and New Jersey, and there are no vaccines or cures right now. Even so, we have HOPE. We hope our message relieves some of your anxiety, as America tries to flatten the curve of the spread of the coronavirus, which causes COVID-19. To us, to hope is to reflect on our cultural values of humility, kindness, and respect. We are empowered by our ancestors who endured past traumas and pandemics. Thus, we have strong hope and resiliency to overcome this pandemic using our Indigenous knowledge systems to protect our elders and sustain our cultural values.

While COVID-19 continues to ravage our communities, we are going to need your HELP more than ever. We surpassed our original goal of $10,000 thanks to you, but we are hoping to reach the goal of $25,000 to deliver aid to our communities this spring and summer. Your donations help us to provide emergency food aid, source seeds and lambs from community members to help other community members, and restore self-sufficient food systems.

• Provide emergency food aid for COVID-19 relief across the Four Corners region, including to the Navajo Nation, within the White Mesa community of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, and to the Pueblos in New Mexico. This includes providing food, water, firewood, diapers, toilet paper, hygiene products, traditional medicines, and other COVID-19 response support. Your gift will restore balance and relief among Native families. 

• Source seeds to build resilient food systems – We will rely on drought resilient seeds from Native Seed Keepers, and distribute seeds free of charge to families eager to plant this season. Native Seed Keepers hold cultural and food knowledge of seeds that date thousands of years, and the source of reclaiming food systems in our communities. Our goal is to encourage Native families to plant as the global supply chain continues to be disrupted by COVID-19, and ensures they will have fall harvest and sufficient food source this winter. Your gift will plant seeds of hope.

• Source lambs to restore flocks among families – We will source Navajo Churro sheep and/or Rambouillet from local sheep producers. Our goal is to give lambs to families eager to raise sheep to sustain economic self-sufficiency. Your gift will restore the sheep economy.