Kirk C. Watkins, Jamestown. On Thursday, July 23, 2020, a caravan of goods will be taken to the Navajo Nation in New Mexico. The organizer from Jamestown will be Denice Luttrell, and this will be her second run. She summarized her life of activism and the current mission for The Mountain-Ear. 

The Mountain-Ear: Why are you doing this, and what is your background as it relates to this project? 

Denise: I grew up in Africa, where my father was working as a petroleum engineer. Being exposed to extreme poverty and inequality, as well as the beauty and wonder of the natural world, helped shape me from an early age. As a student at CU Boulder, I fell in love with Colorado, and after a decade of travel post-graduation, moved here in the 90’s to make my home. I began working for Greenpeace, became involved in forest activism here in Colorado, and met my now dear friend, Kirsten Atkins, from Crested Butte. Working on the campaign to stop the logging of the Taylor Ranch, in San Luis, Colorado in the mid 1990s, we learned how social justice and environmental protection are two sides of the same coin. Our small group teamed up with local activists and have been a part of an amazing success story of halting the logging and restoring the ancestral rights of the communities to the land in question, a struggle that took 40 years and was finally settled in the Colorado Supreme Court last year. 

Also, while working at Greenpeace, I became involved in the Traditional Support Caravan, taking supplies down to Navajo families resisting forced relocation by the Peabody Coal Company, for about five years. It was my first experience working with Native Americans, and the parallels to the lingering effects of colonial exploitation and systemic oppression in Africa struck me. When the call went out for support during the struggle to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock, North Dakota, in 2016, Kirsten and I answered. During that time, I organized a rally and an action in Boulder to support the cause of pressuring banks to defund the pipeline. While locked down to the front door of Wells Fargo, a friend from Jamestown, George Ridgik, decided on the spur of the moment to join me, and locked down as well.

The Mountain-Ear: Who are the members of your team? 

Denise: When word started to spread of the devastating toll that COVID-19 was having on the Navajo people, Kirsten and I decided that we would like to help. We made contact with folks down there through our friend Margaret Montano, who is part Navajo, and started raising money for a supply run. Due to roadblocks put in place to prevent the Navajo from accessing critical supplies in town surrounding the Navajo Nation, people were short on food, water, and basic health needs for dealing with the pandemic. 

We were amazed at the outpouring of generosity from the communities of Jamestown and Crested Butte, and beyond. Our team for the drive consisted of six trucks and five trailers in all. Kirsten Atkins, Heath Hansens, Andi Burnite, and Aaron Peterson from Crested Butte, Margaret Montano from Denver, and George Ridgik and I from Jamestown.

The Mountain-Ear: Can you give the readers a quick history of this effort? And can you describe how effective the project is, so far, and who it helps?

Denise: Besides taking supplies to fill short-term needs, we felt it was important to help with longer-term sustainability and connected with folks working on food sovereignty who were working to start small farms in the area. With the tremendous support of our donors, we were able to supply 15 water catchment systems with drip irrigation lines, and several large water storage tanks. This will begin to allow folks to be more self-sufficient and produce some of their own food. Our original goal was to have enough supplies to assist 15 families but because of overwhelming support, we were able to help with the distribution of somewhere between 125-150 boxes of supplies that went to the four directions of the reservation! Supplies were distributed over hundreds of miles, to remote households, elders from the senior center, the unsheltered, and many more. 

The Mountain-Ear: How long will you be accepting donations? Can people still donate after next Thursday, which is the release of the newspaper that this would be in.

Denise: We will be accepting donation until the end of July, at least, so please help if you can. We don’t have long-term plans for more supply runs but intend to continue the relationships we have forged with the folks down there and do what we can to support their efforts.

If you would like to donate to the Navajo Nation Covid-19 Supply Run, the gofundme page is https://www.gofundme.com/f/navajo-nation-covid19-supply-run

(Originally published in the July 23, 2020, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)