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Carl Gorman (Navajo) – Bear Ears National Monument

Biographical Timeline | Leadership Qualities | Bear Ears National Monument | References

President Trump recently announced to reduce the size of the Bear Ears National Monument and the Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah by 85 percent. On December 4th, 2017, Trump gave back about two million acres of land back to the local officials. This will open the sacred Native American lands and forested highlands to oil and gas drillers, coal and uranium miners, and to build more roads. By doing so, Trump pleased small government and business proponents in Utah. The ancient artworks at Bear Ears National Monument will be destroyed along with the area’s ancient Native American petroglyphs. Bears Ears holds great cultural significance to the Navajo and Hopi tribes, as well as the Zuni Pueblo, the Ute Mountain Ute, and the Southern Ute tribes. This reduction represents the largest decrease of federal land protection in US history and could threaten the area’s tribal culture.

Bear Ears National Monument location on southeastern border of Utah. (Courtesy https://bearsearscoalition.org/proposal-overview/)

The monuments were preserved under the efforts of President Obama and President Clinton, but these efforts will be erased due to the reductions signed by President Trump. The monuments in Southern Utah have long been opposed by state leaders. Obama and Clinton created them under the Antiquities Act, which gives presidents authority to unilaterally protect any federally owned area from development, with few restrictions. President Obama said the monuments were meant to safeguard “important cultural treasures, including abundant rock art, archaeological sites, and lands considered sacred by Native American tribes.” Though Trump disagrees with that and thinks that the past democratic administrations have severely abused the purpose of the century-old law, Antiquities Act.

This is a 1,200 year old rock art that is covered with modern day bullet holes. People have disregarded the sacredness of the land and used it as target practice. (courtesy http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/04/politics/utah-monuments-trump-weir/index.html)

Although Trump’s actions can expand the economy, he faced immediate backlash from environmentalists and American Indian tribes who say his actions threaten sensitive and culturally significant areas. Bear Ears houses some of the oldest Native American rock paintings and engravings. All of which are very fragile and without the protection of the government, they will be destroyed. Many Native Americans believe that their heritage is traded for short term corporate profits. A group of five native tribes along with 13 environmental organizations have filed suit against the Trump administration to protect these monuments. Legal experts say that the Antiquities Act gives presidents authority to create national monuments, but does not give them the power to cut or abolish them altogether. Boundaries of national monuments have been modified more than 80 times since congress created the Antiquities Act and no group has fought against it in court, so this will the be first time.

Even though majority of Native Americans and environmentalists are against Trump’s actions, there are still a handful of Native Americans who applaud Trump’s move. About two percent of Navajo’s are in support of Trump’s administration to slash the monuments. The southeastern part of Utah has about 31 percent poverty rate and a median income about 24 percent lower than the national average. The believe that by wiping out the monuments, more job opportunities would be available through cattle farming, ranching, mining, and logging.

One of the 100,000 archaeological sites in Bear Ears that houses one of the oldest Native art. (Courtesy https://bearsearscoalition.org/proposal-overview/)

If Carl Gorman were still alive today, he would certainly not stand for their scared land to be given back to the government for economic gain. He would stand by his tribe and environmentalists to protest Trump’s actions. Gorman would use his status as a prominent artist and professor at UC Davis to speak out against the stolen land. This assumption is speculated because Gorman was a Indian artist himself. After World War II, Carl attended Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles, California. He was a proud Navajo who used his art to express and showcase his history and traditions.  Throughout the rest of his life, he continued to paint. His interests with Navajo culture led him to manage the Navajo Arts and Craft Guild and Direct the Native Healing Sciences with the Navajo Nation. Gorman also became a professor at University of California Davis focusing on Native Art. It can be seen that throughout his life, whether it was during WWII or post-war, he was a proud Navajo. His interests in art was also clear.  With that being said, because of his love of art and cultural appreciation, he wouldn’t want Bear Ears National Monument to be decreased by 85%. With him being an art lover, he certainly would not want the ancient rock work and history to be destroyed. He would hope they can be preserved and appreciated forever.

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Carl Gorman (Navajo) – Leadership Qualities

Biographical Timeline | Leadership Qualities |  Bear Ears National Monument | References

Selfless

Carl Gorman lived a life of selflessness, and it can be seen in everything he accomplished in his life. In the late 1930’s Carl Gorman began what would be a lifelong pursuit of advocating for his people by working with the United States government when trading prices and practices became unfair. While serving in the military in the 1940’s during WWII , Carl and other Navajos serving often faced discrimination from their superiors. Once Carl showed his selflessness and desire to protect his people by standing up to their particularly abusive drill sergeant, knowing full well he could be severely punished for doing so.

In Carl’s postwar life he continued to be selfless by participating in his community and trying to preserve his native culture. In 1948 Carl helped form the Navajo Club, an organization designed to socially and monetarily help urbanized Navajo’s prosper. He continued his selflessness in the 1970s by teaching at UC Davis  and the Navajo Community College because he recognized the importance of education, especially within the Navajo community.

Brave

Carl Gorman primarily displayed his bravery as a leader with his service as a Navajo Code Talker during WWII. Joining the military itself was an act of bravery, as the United States government has a long a tumultuous history of disrespecting native peoples, especially Navajos. A large part of WWII was the ability to intercept and decipher enemy codes, and the code developed by the Navajo servicemen in their own indecipherable,unique language gave the US a significant advantage

Carl Gorman and the other Navajo Code Talkers risked their lives by entering the war, for in the heat of the moment they were often mistaken for the Japanese enemy or captured and killed while relaying messages. While if was not common for the Code Talkers to be placed directly into combat, it was not entirely unheard of. Some of the Code Talkers died in the war fighting or under ambushes, and Carl faced possible death every day he continued to serve.

Respectful

Carl had an immense amount of respect for his culture, and he tried both to preserve its traditions within the community and to educate other non-Navajos about his customs. He first reached notoriety outside of the Navajo community with his art and paintings. This fame allowed him a platform to educate through his work.

Carl also showed respect for his culture during his service during WWII. Himself of and many of the other Navajo Code Talkers brought their culture with them in protection rituals and ceremonies that they shared with the other non-native soldiers. Carl also used his platform as a professor at UC Davis in the 1970s to teach about native culture and history to help spread awareness for his people. Within his community, Carl showed respect for his culture by recording and writing down over 1000 stories from Navajo elders. Carl allowed this previously oral tradition and culture to become more solidified.

Why These Qualities?

For inspiration of qualities of a leader that best describe Carl Gorman, we turned to the values of the U.S. Army. These values include loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage. Being a solider, Carl Gorman certainly has qualities of bravery. Another part of what makes him a leader is his lifelong commitment to selfless acts. He demonstrates this through both his military service and his actions taken to preserve the Navajo culture. His third leadership quality, respectful, comes from how he presented himself within the Navajo community and to the outside world. He had an immense amount of respect for his culture, and he was open and respective of sharing that culture with others.

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Carl Gorman (Navajo) – Biographical Timeline

 Biographical Timeline | Leadership Qualities | Bear Ears National Monument | References