January 2023 - it’s the peak season for setting new year goals. However, for the Visit With Respect program, we instead like saying new year intentions. And you might be wondering why? Don’t worry, there’s no deep-rooted, millennial explanation. We’re just thinking about goals from a different angle, and dare we say, a different perspective. But really, it's quite simple, and necessary because goals are tasks you want to accomplish, but intentions - well, intentions are emotional, internal feelings that make you want to take action. And really, that’s what we feel like we want - to have people in the Bears Ears Partnership community make change because they want to.
For the Visit With Respect program, we only have one new year intention - to highlight Indigenous voices and stories like never before. In 2023, we want to bring you, the audience, into a world full of tradition and knowledge - all in the hopes of helping people understand why Visit With Respect’s work is truly an impactful grassroots effort. We feel like it’s important to bring in different perspectives (yeah, there’s that word again), and give a human experience to the campaign.
In the months to follow, we will dive deeper into the Visit With Respect campaign, and frame the program around Indigenous interpretations. It’s known that the land we walk on are the ancestral homes of modern-day Tribes and Pueblos, and it’s respectful to create a space for them to share their stories. Mind you, although we will be discussing traditional knowledge, there are some parts of the culture we will not elaborate on in order to be respectful. We of course want everyone to know the general overview of Indigenous cultures, but we also want you to understand how sacred their traditions are and that there are some parts only meant for them.
With that, the two ways we know how to fully support our new year intention is to share Indigenous stories and expand the Ambassador Program. We want to do our part in preserving the Bear Ears landscape by helping protect cultural sites significant to Tribes and Pueblos. Our goal is to conserve sacred sites and landscapes for future generations to experience. We want visitors to truly know what it means to immerse themselves in beauty and peace - because it’s something you can’t feel anywhere else. We want everyone across the world to know what it feels like to leave their footprints in the dirt, breathe in the crisp air, and bear witness to the natural wonderment that is Bears Ears. And who wouldn’t want to experience an untouched region that isn’t overtaken with modern-day infrastructure?
It’s time to make a new year intention, so we invite you to get on board with the Visit With Respect campaign. Join the Ambassador Program and help protect cultural sites for years to come. Subscribe to our newsletter, and stay tuned for unheard, but important stories - you don’t want to miss out.
If you’re interested in joining the Visit With Respect Ambassador Program, contact me: VWR Program Director, Semira Crank.