This Is Our Land to Protect

Window Rock AZ

This isn’t just a story, it’s how I feel when I look at what’s happening around us.

I see companies coming into Diné land, wanting to take what we have, pulling from the ground without thinking about the people who live here. They don’t see what we see. To them, it’s resources. To us, this is home. This is where we live, where our families are, and where our children and grandchildren will continue to live long after they are gone.

When the land is disturbed, it’s not just the ground, it’s everything. It’s our water, our animals, our way of life. It’s something deeper than that. It’s something we were taught to respect.

We were given these lands by the Holy People. That comes with responsibility.

Sometimes it feels like people are not paying attention, like we are forgetting what is at stake. But we can’t stay quiet. We have to stand up and protect what we still have.

This is not just for us, it’s for the next generations.

We are fighting so that one day, our children and grandchildren can still live on these lands the way our ancestors intended.
— Diné young woman wishing to be unnamed, April 2026