US Congressional Testimony of Benjamin Nuvamsa, Elder of the Hopi Bear Clan, on Importance of the Grizzly Bear

Yellowstone National Park Grizzly sow and cubs

“Mr. Benjamin H. Nuvamsa (testimony)
Hopi Bear Clan
Former Chairman, Hopi Tribe
Village of Shungopavi, AZ

Testimony of Benjamin Nuvamsa
Tribal Heritage and Grizzly Bear Protection Act (H.R. 2432)
Subcommittee on Water, Oceans and Wildlife

May 15, 2019

Mr. Chairman and Honorable Members of the Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife. My name is Benjamin H. Nuvamsa. I am a member of the Hopi Tribe of Arizona; and a member of the Hopi Bear Clan of the Village of Shungopavi, on Second Mesa. I am also former Chairman of the Hopi Tribe.

I am honored and humbled to come before you today as an elder of the Hopi Bear Clan; and as a practitioner of our traditional ceremonies, to explain the importance of the Grizzly Bear to the culture, traditions, and the lifeways of the Native people of the United States and…