Contact us at: whispernthunder1@gmail.comArizona Tribes Join Long List of Native Communities Protesting Mining Operations
~ Sarah King
Three Arizona Native American Communities have
made front page news recently with their efforts
to prevent mining companies from destroying
sacred spaces and interfering with spiritual
practices.
Apache Stronghold has been fighting to preserve
Oak Flat (Chi'chil Bildagoteel) from total destruction
at the hands of Resolution Copper, a multinational mining company since 2015, when a midnight rider land package was added to a must-pass National Defense Authorization Act at the last minute without notice to interested parties. The legislation gave Apache Leap and Oak Flat to the mining company to use as they wished, without environmental studies OR input from the San Carlos Apache. Their legal actions to prevent the mine from opening have so far been unsuccessful. Nonetheless, Apache Stronghold has persevered, and on Sept. 11th of 2024, they took their case to Washington DC to file their appeal with the Supreme Court of the United States. On the steps of the Supreme Court building, Apache Stronghold leader Dr. Wensler Nosie, Sr. declared, "Oak Flat is our Mt. Sinai, the most sacred place where generations of Apache have come to connect with our Creator, our faith, our land. We pray that the justices will protect Oak Flat and ensure that our place of worship is not treated differently simply because it lacks four walls and a steeple." The Court has yet to decide whether or not it will take the case.
In northern Arizona earlier this year, Energy Fuels, another international mining interest re-commenced the process of pulling uranium ore up from the belly of Pinyon Plain Mine after a lull of several years due to economic conditions unfavorable to the uranium market. The mine lies within the boundaries of the Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni--Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument and less than 5 miles from Red Butte Mountain, a sacred place for the Havasupai people and a traditional cultural property designated by the Federal Government. The Havasupai, whose village lies at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, fear that the mining operation could contaminate their only source of water.
Scientific studies of the aquifer that services the village and from which the mine draws its water, are forty years old and can't be relied upon to give a complete or accurate picture of how the water flows underground from the mine location to the village.
Additionally, the "haul route"--the route that ore-bearing trucks would follow from the mine to the processing plant in Blanding, Utah, stretches across miles of Navajo land. Uranium -tainted dust blowing off the trucks could contaminate the air, water and land along the highway, endangering the health and safety of people who reside in the area. The Navajo Nation banned uranium hauling across its lands in 2012 due to concerns about blowing dust, but on July 30th, Energy Fuels defied that ban and broke a promise to give two-weeks notice to the Navajo Nation as to when they planned to commence hauling by sending two ore trucks from Pinyon Plain to Blanding without warning.
And finally, leaders of the Hualapai community near Wikieup, Arizona, filed suit this month against the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) asking the district court to stop Arizona Lithium, Ltd., a mining company headquartered in Australia, from continued exploratory drilling for Lithium near the Cofer Hot Springs. The springs are situated close to Cholla Canyon Ranch, a property owned by the Hualapai Nation. They are concerned about the effect on their water resources, soil and plants in the area as well as the potential damage to the sacred hot spring. Also troubling are the noise, vibrations and heavy traffic due to the drilling operations which Hualapai residents say interfere with their prayers and spiritual practices.
All three cases rely on the court system to recognize the sacredness of the land and the peoples' rights to access places that play a significant role in their spiritual rituals; in other words, RELIGIOUS FREEDOM. For centuries, the colonial legal system which underlies the framework of human rights in this country has been visibility biased against Native American religions, in fact, until recently, declaring that Native American spiritual beliefs are invalid and officially unrecognized. Given the changing cultural definition of what an official religion is and the nowadays widespread acceptance of Native American spiritual practices, will the "freedom of religion" argument sway the courts? Hard to say, but the ongoing efforts of Native American peoples to put this question in front of a judiciary that makes much of the importance of religious freedom could force a deeper national conversation about the topic which is hundreds of years overdue.