Project reconnects Native youth with land

PAGE, Ariz. (AP) – American Indian children are learning more about their cultural heritage through a project at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.

More than two dozen American Indian youth recently worked with the staff at the recreation area on the Arizona-Utah border to remove invasive plants, collect native seeds and monitor wildlife. The two-week project that ended Aug. 5 also had the youth participating in traditional ceremonies and preparing traditional American Indian food.

The National Park Service had launched the project along the San Juan River to get American Indian students to reconnect with the landscape. Officials say urban culture and digital media threaten longstanding connections between American Indians and their ancestral land.

Funding for the project came from the National Park Foundation.