DIRECTOR

Coloradan Pete McBride has spent two decades studying the world with a camera. An award-winning photographer, filmmaker, writer, and public speaker, he is a Sony Artisan of Light and has traveled on assignment to more than 75 countries for the National Geographic Society, Smithsonian, Google, The Nature Conservancy, and many others. He has spoken on stages for TEDx, The World Economic Forum, Pixar, Nat Geo Live, and more.

His feature documentary, Into the Canyon, was nominated for an Emmy in 2020, and his book The Grand Canyon: Between River and Rim won a National Outdoor Book Award, Banff Book Competition Best Mountain Book, and the Public Lands Alliance National Park Book of the Year. His book Seeing Silence was named Book of the Year by Smithsonian Magazine and won the National Outdoor Book Award in 2022. His latest book with Rizzoli, The Colorado River: Chasing Water, was released in March 2024 and won a National Outdoor Book Award.

Maya Giidaaba Tilousi Lyttle is from the Hopi Tribe, the Havasupai Tribe of Grand Canyon, and the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes. 

In August 2023, she was selected by the White House to introduce U.S. President Joe Biden at a proclamation signing ceremony for Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni - Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument. 

Maya was recruited to serve as a youth ambassador for the Havasupai Tribe and she performed with the Havasupai basket dance group across the Southwest, sharing the story of uranium mining impacts in the Grand Canyon region.  In 2017, the basket dance group appeared in National Geographic magazine representing the Havasupai Tribe. 

Maya continues to work towards the protection of the Grand Canyon alongside her community and family.  This fall she will be a sophomore at Arizona State University.

Carletta Tilousi is a lifelong advocate for the Grand Canyon and environmental justice for the Havasupai Tribe and Indigenous communities of the Southwest. She is President of Red Rock Foundation, a Native American nonprofit promoting environmental education for Tribes in the Southwest.

Born and raised in Supai Village at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, Tilousi earned a B.S. in Justice Studies from Arizona State University in 2002 and served over 17 years on the Havasupai Tribal Council, strengthening legal and financial systems to address environmental threats.

Tilousi worked with Havasupai Elders to secure Red Butte’s designation as one of the largest Traditional Cultural Properties in the U.S. In 2012, she provided public comment in support of the successful effort that led to a 20-year federal moratorium on new mining claims near the Grand Canyon.

Internationally, she served as a delegate to the United Nations in Geneva, presented the Havasupai uranium case in Salzburg, and helped defeat a nuclear waste proposal in Wallenberg, Switzerland.

She currently serves as a representative of the Tribe on the First Things First Coconino Regional Partnership Council, promoting early childhood programs in tribal communities.

This national monument safeguards sacred Tribal lands, endangered species, and the seeps and springs that feed the Colorado River. Designated in 2023 after decades of Indigenous-led advocacy, it reflects broad support from Tribes, veterans, business leaders, and outdoor enthusiasts working to stop new uranium mining and preserve access for hiking, hunting, and cultural traditions.

See what Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni - Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon protects, in this immersive, interactive story map experience.

Discover how the Grand Canyon Trust has been safeguarding the Grand Canyon and Colorado Plateau since 1985. Through collaboration with Native communities, scientists, and advocates, they work to protect the region’s natural beauty, cultural heritage, and environmental health. Learn more about their mission and how you can get involved.