The Ancestral Lands Conservation Corps is an indigenous nonprofit that completes conservation projects throughout the Southwest. We sat down with Crew 663, out of Zuni, New Mexico, to talk about the work that they had done, their connections to the Grand Canyon, and to learn about their culture and heritage and what motivates them in their work and their daily lives.

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TRANSCRIPT:

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Crew 663: Keshi! (Hello in Zuni)

Dave: Hello. I'm Ranger Dave. And also on this episode is former Ranger Lauren, who now volunteers for the park and works at the Grand Canyon Conservancy, which is the nonprofit that supports Grand Canyon National Park. The Conservancy sponsors many programs. One of them is the Ancestral Lands Conservation Corps. We interviewed this group from Zuni, New Mexico, crew 663. This Indigenous group works on conservation projects. They call each project a hitch this lasts eight days on and six days off. Each hitch is a different park and a different job. We caught them on their last day of work at the North Rim. Here's what they shared with us.

Crew 663: My name is Robert Riley. I'm the crew leader for 663.

Crew 663: Jerick Yuselen King Junior. I'm a crew member for Crew 663

Crew 663: Tyrese Marza. I’m also a crew member of 663.

Crew 663: Hello, my name is Darian Seowtewa, and I'm also a crew member with 663 out of Zuni, New Mexico.

Crew 663: Hello, my name is Brooke Seowtewa. I am from CREW 663 and from Zuni, New Mexico.

Lauren: Great. Are you all from Zuni, New Mexico? Yes, just to make sure. Great. Let's talk about Ancestral Lands Conservation Corps, and just a little bit of background for those who might not know.

Crew 663: We're basically a crew that's sent up to preservation projects, whether that be mortar work, trail work, seed collection as well. It's a variety of different works that a crew is assigned to additional different national parks. Okay. Yeah.

Lauren: So you're at Grand Canyon National Park on the North Rim, have you been on the south rim as well or just for visitation?

Crew 663: Okay. No, not for working.

Lauren: Are there any other national parks you'll be going to.

Crew 663: Yeah, there. There will be plenty, but I'm not sure what our schedule is like right now. But okay, yeah, we're definitely going to be going to different national parks.

Lauren: Great. And then also, like on the North Rim, your finishing up a project here, working with Laura with some seed collection. Can you talk about what you were doing there?

Crew 663: Yeah. So we were collecting seeds for a construction job that's happening. They're going to be working on the road and after the road is done, they want to revegetate the area that has been worked on, basically.

Lauren: Okay, yeah, very cool. Very cool. What's the biggest impact of your work so far that you've seen personally or maybe a favorite moment that you've had so far? While, working for ancestral lands.

Crew 663: Well, for me, I have to say the mental mentality of everybody in the crew, because I think that's one of the main important things, especially if you're going to be on hitch, they’re your next family, they're going to be the people you're going to be living with for eight days. So the way I think of it is when I see everybody's mentality, mentality, high spirited and ready to do the work, get it, get the job done, I see that we can accomplish it even if one of our crew isn't feeling so up and spirits, we could still like lift their spirits up throughout the day just by being together as a family and just being one with the program. Also, so just getting the job done beginning the day and finishing at the end is very accomplishing.

Crew 663: I think for myself, the most favorite project that I've ever did was the first ever local project that we did in Zuni, which was trailhead signs with our partnering project Zuni Youth Enrichment Program, or project that was a really great project because we could actually contribute something to our community that has hasn't been seen, and we kind of paved the way to potentially more projects locally.

Crew 663: We have a lot of land resources that we can help better our community, and I think just that little nudge in the right direction was a good start to kind of better our community. And also being out here at the Grand Canyon, this is where we as Zunis first emerge. Being able to work where our first home is, is really what I feel is in the interest of ancestral lands is in itself.

Crew 663: So those are a few great moments that I have working with this program, and hopefully more will come.

Crew 663: Yeah, my favorite moment with Ancestral Lands was probably last season during when we got the hitch to go out and help with Access Fund in Utah with Canyonlands. Growing up I always used to like watch rock climbers and I actually got to work with them, right beside them, built their trails, and that was one of the favorite moments.

Crew 663: I guess for myself, I think the biggest impact I’ve, I've seen is the people that come into the program. Usually during the first weeks, like people are, you know, they're really shy and like they have like really come out of their shell. But like throughout the whole program, you know, everybody you know, the like Brooke said, it's a family for eight days. You live together, you eat together, work together, sweat together, all that, do all the hard work together. And, um, at the end of the day, and at the end of the the whole season, you can see that everybody really blossoms out and comes out of their shell. And that's what I think I like about the program, is that that's the biggest impact because that was for me, myself, I was really shy, I was introverted.

Crew 663: But you know, this is my third year now, So like, I'm I'm not afraid to, like, express myself and stuff like that. So yeah, that was pretty much. And also the people you meet too in the program and it's really cool meeting like new family members. Yeah.

Crew 663: You see, the biggest impact that this has has for me is like, like the physical, like pushing yourself, like kind of like, can you trying to go beyond, like, what you can normally do, just like that mental and physical, like pushing and pushing yourself and like just trying to be sure to get the job done and all that and pushing yourself throughout the like the hot weather and sweating and all that. And then also like meeting new people as whole too like this is my first season so meeting them is pretty, it's been a pretty fun time and especially with Robert as our leader now too it's pretty fun.

Lauren: Did you all know each other before this program?

Crew 663: I kind of knew Jerick. He was my classmate in high school, but we never really like crossed paths in high school.

Crew 663: It's no, not for me. I’m a little older than these guys.

Crew 663: And this is my cousin.

Crew 663: I've known Brooke my whole life. We grew up together. Yeah, practically sister and brother.

Crew 663: Basically. Yeah.

Crew 663: You should hear them at work.

Crew 663: Going back and going back and forth.

Lauren: Speaking of that, what's the funniest moment you've had?

Crew 663: Oh, with this?

Crew 663: Yeah, with this crew? Well, with basically any crew and ancestral lands. Like I said, we are a family. And a family just builds that bond, that one specific connection that everybody can just laugh throughout the whole day no matter what it is. And that is basically what we are as a crew, no matter how small it is, no matter how silly it may be, even if even if it's like a mistake or a mishap, we still laugh about it.

Crew 663: We still like not to us, nothing is a mistake when it comes to being on hitch. We either make a mistake and we learn from it, and when we learn from it, we just continue to move forward. So with that being said, we just this crew doesn't really have a specific favorite moment, and any second is a favorite moment.

Crew 663: Anything can happen with this. Anyone can say anything and everybody would just laugh. So that one thing with us while we're even, while we're working, we're never really quiet. We're always talking, we're always communicating with each other, keeping, making sure everybody's all right. Everybody is hydrated. Everybody's like, in high spirits. So that yeah, that being said, it's never really a dull moment ever. And with this crew. Any other crew. Cool. Yeah.

Dave: I was kind of curious about being away from home. You know, you guys are away for eight days or maybe more if you're doing multiple these, like, what's that like? What's it like to kind of to get away and to kind of explore these other parks, you know, positive, negative. But yeah, just curious.

Crew 663: For me personally, but me being this is my first year as a crewman and my fourth hitch, my first, it was very, very difficult. I go, I'm a very tight we have a very tight knit family and I've always been around my dad 24/7 never been able to leave his side. But when this job came up and the opportunity of being able to leave home for eight days and visit new areas, not just one specifically, but just different around New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah, it was a scary experience at first, but once I got to know everybody, it became more easier.

Crew 663: But it it you get homesick in the beginning, I won't lie, but eventually it just starts easing up and you just forget about home. Not in a bad way, but just like in the, you know, homes home always be there. But being out on the field is a special opportunity. It's a once in a lifetime. I'll live it, learn it, love it, you know.

Crew 663: So definitely there are those hard times that you come across where you get anything and everything from the heat to the