White Mountain Independent (Original) Posted October 25, 2018 Letter to the Editor by Sarah Asleep Hartley
This less than 300 year-old culture seems to have a shameful amnesia towards its actual history of genocide. The wild west, thanks to the Spanish and English colonization not only killed millions of Native Americans (90 million to be exact) and took their lands and homes, but in the process murdered and killed millions and millions of wild animals like the wild bison and Mexican wolf, Mogollon bears, Merriam elk and the list goes on and on. And such atrocities with what remains of Americans indigenous animals seemingly continue on with two million killed by the US Federal government last year alone.
And yet privately owned livestock like cattle and sheep are on the increase. Why? When the public sector demands more wild animals and less and less cattle on our public lands? One hundred and thirteen Mexican wolves left, that is a sad and shameful statistic. That leaves no room for excuses from small group of businessmen "ranchers," whose personal needs seemingly reflect a horrible disconnect and selfishness towards the rest of our country's population, of not only humans but wild animals like the Mexican Wolf.
Sarah Asleep Hartley
Flagstaff
