<
https://www.hcn.org/articles/indigenous-affairs-justice-at-oak-flat-courts-and-politicians-fail-tribes>
"In southeast Arizona, the flat-topped mesas and rocky spires of Chi’chil
Biłdagoteel (known in English as Oak Flat) give way to grassy basins where
Emory oak trees grow, shedding acorns every year that are collected by members
of Western Apache and Yavapai tribes. Spiky tufts of agave and cactus spring
from ochre hillsides near the sites where the San Carlos Apache hold their
coming-of-age ceremonies. Oak Flat — the ancestral homeland of numerous
Southwestern tribal nations and pueblos — is currently managed by the United
States federal government as Tonto National Forest. And for the past decade, a
proposed copper mine has threatened to permanently alter the area through an
underground mining technique that would cause the earth to sink, up to 1,115
feet deep and almost 2 miles across.
In late June, the Resolution Mine inched closer to reality when the 9th Circuit
Court of Appeals ruled against a case brought by Apache Stronghold, a
grassroots group of Apache tribal members and their allies. The lawsuit hinged
on arguments involving religious freedom and the First Amendment, and the fact
that, if the mine is developed, Indigenous people will lose access to physical
and cultural landscapes central to their way of life.
Apache Stronghold will now appeal to the Supreme Court — one strategy among the
many that tribes, conservationists and others are employing to stop the mine.
Should the appeal prove unsuccessful, separate lawsuits are pending, focused on
environmental concerns and a renewed tribal consultation process with the Biden
administration. Still, the 9th Circuit's decision — which effectively admits
that its hands are tied because Indigenous religious practices and cultures are
not fully protected under current U.S. federal law — is a worrisome sign. What
is happening at Oak Flat exemplifies the larger struggle that tribes face over
protecting off-reservation lands, caught between laws rooted in colonial
ideology, an inactive Congress and an unpredictable Supreme Court."
Via Susan ****
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
