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Save Oak Flat

Diverse Coalition Urges Supreme Court To Protect Oak Flat

October 17, 2024 Ryan Colby, Becket Law. , , , , , , ,
A coalition of tribal nations, Catholic bishops, states, legal scholars, and diverse religious organizations asked the Supreme Court yesterday to protect the Apache sacred site at Oak Flat from destruction by a multinational mining giant. In Apache Stronghold v. United States, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals refused to stop the federal government from transferring Oak Flat to Resolution Copper, a foreign-owned mining company that plans to turn the site into a massive mining crater, ending Apache religious practices forever

Save Oak Flat

January 21, 2020 Haryaksha Gregor Knauer, AZ, U.S. and George L. Pauk, Popular Resistance , ,
Resolution Copper, owned by two foreign companies, has been maneuvering for years to acquire and destroy the oasis of Oak Flat. Traditionally the Apache have come here for edible and medicinal plants. Various native bird species live here, and there’s lots of water. According to Roy Chavez who once served as mayor of Superior, an ocelot road-carcass was found nearby, indicating that Oak Flat is evidently within the range of this rare and elusive cat. The huge rocks and ancient oaks are treasures that must be protected for their environmental and their sacred value. They are part of the culture that has flourished here for thousands of years. It would be infinitely horrible to destroy this site.

Urgent Call to Action: Save Oak Flat

February 12, 2017 George L. Pauk, www.PopularResistance.org , ,
By George L. Pauk for Popular Resistance. The Apache Stronghold will again run, march, and pray to save the sacred land known as “Oak Flat” on February 16, 17, 18, 19. It is the third anniversary of this event that somehow echoes back thousands of years. (http://www.apache-stronghold.com/3rd-anniversary-feb-16-19.html) Oak Flat has become another of the recent flagrant abuses of American Imperialism on the body of indigenous nations. The surreptitious insertion of a note in a huge military appropriation bill turned the sacred Apache Tribe land over to foreign mining corporations. It was a masterstroke of political payola. Senator McCain led the greedy pack ---and other politicians joined. They have tried to pay back the huge mining corporations for their campaign contributions. They passed a “quick-one” by the human rights community to trash a piece of high desert land that is a traditional sacred site of a small tribe of Apache indigenous people.

Save Oak Flat Fast On Its 10th Day

September 17, 2015 Kelsey Erickson, www.PopularResistance.org , , , ,
By Kelsey Erickson for Popular Resistance, Three people have been occupying and fasting at Oak Flat in protest of the land exchange bill that Senator McCain attached to a must-pass military appropriations bill, the National Defense Authorization Act. This bill essentially gave Oak Flat away to one of the largest copper mining corporations in the world, Resolution Copper. This absurdity of this land exchange is not only evident in the fact that Oak Flat is part of federally protected Tonto National Forest, but also in the fact that it denies rights of the Apache Nation to practice cultural traditions at this sacred site. Though the land exchange bill was passed, the Apache-Stronghold is determined to keep the mining megacorporation off their sacred land. They plan to occupy the Oak Flat campground indefinitely to ensure it's protection.

San Carlos Apache Tribe Clashes With Rep. Gosar After Rally

July 24, 2015 Indianz, www.facebook.com , , , , , ,
By Indianz - Members of the San Carlos Apache Tribe declared victory in their campaign to protect one of their most sacred places at a rally at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday even as some were threatened with arrest by a Republican member of Congress. With almost no financial backing, the Apache Stronghold left Arizona earlier this month on a 2,000-mile journey to educate the nation about the threats facing Oak Flat, a sacred gathering, ceremonial and burial site in Arizona. The trip culminated in a rousing rally in the Washington, D.C., heat with calls to support a bill that will protect the land from a controversial mining development. "Nothing is going to stop us," elder Sandra Rambler stated to cheers. "No surrender." As a spiritual leader within the tribe, Manuel Cooley said it's not common for him to take political stands. But Oak Flat is so important to his people that he drove to the nation's capital to explain why the proposed Resolution Copper mine will destroy the site.

Apaches Rally At Capitol, Fighting For Sacred Oak Flat

July 24, 2015 Dayana Morales Gomez and Julian Brave NoiseCat, www.huffingtonpost.com , , , , ,
By Dayana Morales Gomez and Julian Brave NoiseCat in The Huffington Post - Apache protesters completed their cross-country journey from the San Carlos reservation in Arizona to Washington, D.C., with a Wednesday rally on the lawn of the Capitol building, protesting Congress’ sale of their sacred Oak Flat to foreign mining conglomerates. The area known as Oak Flat is part of Arizona's Tonto National Forest, and the Apache have used it for generations in young women’s coming-of-age ceremonies. In 1955, President Dwight Eisenhower removed it from consideration for mining activities in recognition of its natural and cultural value. But in December 2014, during the final days of the previous Congress, Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) added a rider to the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act that opened the land to mining conglomerates Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton.

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