Oak Flat, Hallowed Ground
I’m worried about the degradation of American religion. By that, I mean the destruction of Chi’chil Bildagoteel, or Oak Flat, not to mention countless other indigenous fights for the sacred. In Arizona, right now, the San Carlos Apache are fighting for Chi’chil Bildagoteel.
“Here is our water, Tú — This is the giver of life, which I know everyone understands the value of life through this. This is what gives us tomorrow, and if this is all gone, then there is no tomorrow.” — Wendsler Nosie Sr., former Chairman and Councilman of the San Carlos Apache Tribe.
For thousands of years, Natives used this land for gathering seasonal acorns, food, and medicine. This is the location of Native groups’ religious ceremonies. Coming of age ceremonies were held as recently as 2014, ways of providing “young Apache people with identity and spiritual grounding as they enter adulthood.” It has been the site of suffering and survival, with stories of Apache Leap and warriors like Lozen and Geronimo. This land is truly sacred ground, where the Apache’s religion originated.
The reservation was created in 1872, and the federal government forced historically nomadic groups into these patches of land. It was known as “Hell’s Forty Acres” because of the abysmal health and environmental conditions. The San Carlos Apache and Yavapai were removed from Oak Flat by the federal government in 1886; in 1905 Oak Flat was established as public land and has been protected since 1955 by President Eisenhower. Despite all this and more, the San Carlos Apache have adapted, survived, and built a new and living culture on these lands. Oak Flat is also enjoyed by all Arizonans, for hiking and camping.
The mining of Oak Flat will create a crater that is between 800 and 1,115 feet deep and roughly 1.8 miles across and Oak Flat will be destroyed. It will create enormous waste which will have to be transferred: 1.6 billion tons. This will put the West Apache people right up against the potential damages of the mining: this proximity, Dr. Steven Emerman notes, has been prohibited in the last year by China, Ecuador, and Brazil — how could it be allowed here? It will degrade the land, water, and air quality, as well as threatening animal species and cultural and sacred spaces that also contain petroglyphs and burial grounds.
Rio Tinto
Attempts have been made before to privatize, always failing, but in 2014, John McCain and Jeff Flake slipped the Oak Flat land transfer into a National Defense Authorization Act, regarding military defense. It was added at midnight the night before in a backroom agreement. The company in question, Rio Tinto, owns Resolution Copper, which proposes a “block cave” in Oak Flat. Block Caving is essentially an underground version of open-pit mining, it is an underground hard rock mining method that involves undermining an orebody, allowing it to progressively collapse under its own weight. This video shows what that collapse will look like. As Rio Tinto puts it, it’s the cheapest way to mine. Rio Tinto is a foreign company, and most of the profit and copper would be exported out of the United States.
Rio Tinto has been active in Australia as well, blowing up Aboriginal sites that held an immense amount of historical importance, leading to top executives stepping down from the company. The company vowed to change but is once again showing disregard for Native autonomy, as it fights with the San Carlos Apache and poisons water and land in Papua New Guinea. Indigenous people don’t get to call the shots with their own land, at least, not according to Rio Tinto.
The Movement to Save Oak Flat
The San Carlos Apache mobilized quickly, holding rallies and marches, and collaborating with ally groups, like Progressive National Baptists. They also led a march to Washington, D.C. from Tucson, Arizona. Following a rally, the Apache and non-Native allies began their journey, traveling through multiple states trying to bring awareness and stop this project.
Native resistance efforts gained them momentum. In 2016, Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) submitted “Save the Oak Flat Act,” (H.R. 2811) which was submitted by Bernie Sanders in the Senate, and was backed by Elizabeth Warren, and Cory Booker. Soon after, Oak Flat was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. They have also received support from the Poor People’s Campaign and the Sierra Club.
Conclusion
The United Nations requires that countries adhere to the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples which mandates the “free, prior and informed consent” of indigenous communities before undertaking projects that affect them. Yet this is not even the only issue in the state of Arizona of Native consent being an inconvenience or obstacle on the way to profit. The Trump administration has only two more months in office, and yet the plans for Rio Tinto are being fast-tracked by the administration. The fight is not over and raising awareness and support for the San Carlos Apache is more vital now than ever.
Oak Flat is a beautiful space, a cultural space, a sacred space. But above all, it is not ours. Taking this land will threaten the air, land, and water of a people. To divide up and hand out this land is the most traditional American practice: Colonization. But this time, all of us together have to stop it before it’s too late.
Wendsler Nosie Sr asks, and I echo:
So Arizona, are you gonna be behind us? Are you going to be supporting what God is calling us to do?
