The native tribes, who call the area their ancestral home, are now joining the federal government to fight back.

The Arizona Legislature, which reportedly supports opening more uranium mines in the now federally-protected area, argues that what the president did harms the state's economic development and amounted to an 'unlawful land grab.'

President Joe Biden signed a proclamation last August creating a national monument called Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni, known in English as the Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument. 

At issue is the authority through which Biden protected the indigenous lands - the 1906 Antiquities Act, which gives the president the power to preserve unique natural and historic features throughout the country. 

This act was used to create the Statue of Liberty, Colorado's Canyon of the Ancients, among other things.

According to the state's lawsuit, the Antiquities Act simply doesn't apply to this gargantuan plot of land, which could be used for 'for the mining of important natural resources, such as uranium.'