OPINION: Interior order distorts historical reality

The recent Interior Secretarial Order 3431 instructs bureaus and offices within the Department of the Interior to ensure that all public monuments, memorials, statues, markers or similar properties within the department’s jurisdiction do not contain descriptions, depictions or other content that inappropriately disparage Americans past or living (including persons living in colonial times), and instead focus on the greatness of the achievements and progress of the American people or, with respect to natural features, the beauty, abundance and grandeur of the American landscape.

I oppose Secretarial Order 3431 because it will undermine truth-telling, distort historical reality and silence the experiences and voices of America’s tribal nations — the first and original Americans — whose narratives and perspectives are honest reflections of American history.

The order’s framing — that depictions of historical harms constitute inappropriate disparagement — confuses the uncomfortable truth with unfair attack. I affirm that reckoning with any uncomfortable history, forced removal, environmental degradation or even family violence is not disparaging — it is restorative. Straight-thinking and rational Americans understand that acknowledging the truth is crucial to rebuilding trust, respect and a united society. And let’s be crystal clear, the truth is not about retribution or reprisal toward anyone, contemporary or otherwise. Truth is what it is.

America’s monuments, plaques and markers help communicate our public memory and, like museums, create a more informed citizenry. For too long, public storytelling has excluded or misrepresented Native American histories, where fictitious Hollywood films and literature romanticized an unrealistic view of a “Western frontier.” Instead of erasing our nation’s difficult lessons, the DOI should strive to set the record straight. As engineers, mechanics and operators learn from mistakes, America can advance from lessons learned.

It should be evident that stewardship of public lands and their cultural histories requires honesty, humility and a commitment to truth. The DOI is responsible not for retreating into mythmaking but for stewarding history with the same care, integrity and accountability that it stewards our lands and waters. Historical accuracy is a public responsibility.

Throughout our country, every canyon, spring and ancient dwelling has a history of survival, innovation, displacement and resurgence. To speak only of “beauty, abundance and grandeur” while omitting the human costs and conflicts that shaped these landscapes is to separate people from place. It strips both land and humanity of their whole meaning.

Most importantly, tribal nations are not relics of a distant past — we are vibrant cultures continuing to persevere, determined to press on and exist in a united America. Attempts to silence our histories with Order 3431 contradict the DOI’s commitments to consultation and tribal sovereignty.

Only by embracing the entirety of our collective American past can we all be blessed with an enterprising and fulfilled future rooted in trust and mutual understanding. I urge the Department of the Interior to rescind or revise Secretarial Order 3431 to uphold the values of truth and justice, because it is the American way.