Summit Highlights

Peace All! I am very pleased to have the opportunity to enter into further dialogue about the "Connecting and Conserving Natural Landscapes" sessions. I attended both of them! I thank all the presenters for their contributions the sessions. During my attendance at the summit, I forwarded the idea of having "National Heritage Area Ambassadors." I am vetted with the White House as an Expert Commissioner for the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor which is a NHA. I worked on this from being a grassroots leader in getting the legislation passed to being the chair of the GMP which will soon be released for public review. So, I have seen the best and worst practices regarding the NHA process and I truly believe that if those of us that LIVE the heritage that the NHAs are created to tell the stories of are a team of ambassadors for this part of the work connected to the national park system, we will see a swell in support of the existing NHAs and design a better model of what the roles are for those that are in the NHAs and their relationship to the NPS and DOI. I have already stated to Alan Spears of the NPCA that I will GLADLY lead a group, committee, or other body to create this ambassadors program. Another aspect of this which is near and dear to my heart and is the same topic that I have brought up at numerous meetings over the almost 20 years of my work with the NPS, indigenous people should be seen as partners! The land is a part of us in our culture. This should mean both the groups that are already a part of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the other indigenous people that are not "categorized" in the same way such as the Gullah/Geechees. The knowledge of indigenous people can be a great asset not only to the management of these publicly owned lands, but in telling the entire story of the diverse populations that have lived on and created history on them over thousands of years! The next century needs to reflect all people in the national park system and this can be a major beginning because there are already people willing to be partners as has been evidenced at the "America's Great Outdoors" event and the "America's Summit on National Parks" event. New models that are created from the perspective of those that are spiritually attached to the cultural landscapes will then create new partnership opportunities and the implementation of them will no doubt create new community engagement and partnership opportunities as well. Once the face of the parks begin to reflect those of all the people of the United States, the more the national parks will become relevant to all citizens. I look forward to the outcome of all the work that is being done. Please call on me to be an active part of the process. Peace, Queen Quet Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation

The community partnerships and diversity NPS is seeking in the Call to Action can be achieved through National Historic Trails such as CAJO (Captain John Smith Chesapeake). CAJO included all of the non-federally recognized tribes historic to the Chesapeake Bay as partners, and introduced the concept of the Indigenous Cultural Landscape to the National Park Service. This kind of innovation is exactly what is encouraged in the Call to Action, and CAJO's recognition (twice) in the America's Great Outdoors Top 100 is evidence of this. A National Historic Trail with this level of success should receive the same funding emphasis, commitment, and advocacy as NPS units, or action should be taken to raise it to the status of NPS unit. One small correction: the speaker said that American Indian documentation of habitation *in the Chesapeake Bay area* dates back at least 18,000 years. Such evidence may be comparable in other parts of the US. Non-federally-recognized tribes in other regions may have the same well documented histories as in the ChesBay area, but that would have to be verified by the respective NPS regions. The speaker/comment author is willing to work directly with NPCA to help clarify or expand these points. d.beacham@comcast.net

National Heritage Areas and partnerships are important in connecting many sites over large areas, particularly non-NPS sites. But in many cases the best way to preserve, research, interpret, and ensure public access to individual cultural sites is to acquire and designate them as full National Park System units. These can be encompassed by larger regional National Heritage Areas. This should be explicitly noted as a vital strategy for connecting and conserving cultural landscapes.