Stella Peshlakai Smith is an 89-year-old Navajo elder. Her family has lived for five generations in what is now the Wupatki National Monument in Flagstaff, Arizona. If nothing is done, Smith's descendants will be forced to move off of their land when Smith passes away.
Although some may think that the land Smith's family lives on should be preserved for the greater good of American society, it must not be forgotten that we as a country have a great debt to pay to the native peoples who first settled here. Through letting people like Smith have the basic right to live in their homeland, we can preserve native culture and show our mindfulness toward Native American peoples as a whole.