The department kicked off a series of "listening sessions" with tribal leaders Monday in Albuquerque regarding the preservation of the sites, specifically those located on federal lands.

"It is critical that we listen to tribal people about sensitive and significant cultural issues concerning sacred sites," said Donald E. "Del" Laverdure, assistant secretary of Indian Affairs, in a press release this week.

The department encouraged leaders to speak about how the department might better oversee sites that still are used for ceremonial use, and also those that are not.

Those unable to attend any of the sessions can submit their comments to the department

They requested input on:

*Meanings of sacred sites and whether the Department should attempt to define the term "sacred site."

*Personal views of existing departmental practices or policies, if any, that should be revised to protect sacred sites and steps necessary to make appropriate revisions.

*Potential development of departmental practices or policies to protect sacred sites.

*How the department should facilitate tribal access to sacred sites.

*How the department should control and grant access to tribally provided information regarding sacred sites.

*Who the department should include (recognized leaders of tribal government, tribal spiritual leaders, etc. al.) in determining whether a site is considered "sacred" by a tribe.

"Our nation-to-nation relationship is one that is based upon mutual respect, and that includes an ongoing dialogue about places central to Indian identity and cultural ways of life," Laverdure said.

The sessions are intended to assist in developing policies that result in effective, comprehensive and long-lasting federal protection of, and tribal access to, the places that are important to the fabric of tribes, which has not always been the case in years past.

Sacred sites long have been battlegrounds between federal and tribal governments when it comes to policies, each wanting to protect the rights of their own people.

The federal government "doesn't see it how we see it, but they are the interpreters of the law," said Leonard Tsosie, a Navajo Nation Council delegate who was unable to attend the session but expressed concern over the issue.

Tsosie recalled the recent uproar over a federal appeals court decision that allowed an Arizona ski resort to use recycled sewage to make artificial snow on Humphrey's Peak.

The peak is the highest of the San Francisco Peaks, and also is the most sacred to more than a dozen tribal nations.

The tribes were offended by the use of the sewage water upon the area.

"They don't spray sewage water on Catholic churches," Tsosie said. "I think the federal courts are writing their own rules. We need to go beyond the federal courts."

Tsosie also mentioned the San Carlos Apache tribe's struggles to protect lands from intrusive mining practices. Similarly, he alluded to the Navajo Nation's struggle to preserve Mount Taylor, a sacred turquoise-rich mountain that also is rich in uranium.

"I've been concerned about it for a long time," said Tsosie.
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