SALT LAKE CITY — It was a small but mighty crowd at the Utah State Capitol on Saturday, with residents showing up to participate in the “Save Our Land, Save Our Parks” protest.
The movement works to protect public land. However, Saturday’s protest was meant to highlight indigenous voices.
“I feel like our voices are silenced. We are not heard,” said organizer Nizhoni Guthrie.
Guthrie organized the event because she wanted to discuss important topics within her community, especially with recent actions from the federal government.
“Our land is being taken away year by year all the time and being sold for oil, uranium, coal,” Guthrie said. “I think it's important that we find ethical resources rather than take from the earth.”
This was echoed by Carl Moore, who said he believes the extraction of things like coal and oil is harmful for everyone.
“The lake, Salt Lake, the animals, the plants, the air, you know, the water, all of those things are in this one community that we need to be thinking about,” Moore said.
Other topics were discussed at the protest, including pipelines, missing and murdered indigenous women, and federal cuts made to national parks.
“We're in the state of Utah, and I haven't really seen a lot of native activists speak up on this,” Guthrie said.
Utahns participating in the protest told Fox 13 News that they feel the current actions of the Trump administration are harmful, and that the main goal of these protests is to educate others.
“It's native land, and we have an obligation between us and creator to take care of this land and take care of people,” Moore said. "It's something that has been usurped by the United States government, but we're trying to take it back."
While it was a smaller crowd, the overall message rang loud and clear.
“This land is our land, our resources are ours, and our resources are not for sale,” Guthrie said.
