Apache tribal members who have mounted a court challenge to the proposed construction of a copper mine in Arizona were joined by a diverse group of non-Native Americans on November 4 in prayer and song for the preservation of Oak Flat, a centuries-old indigenous place of worship scared to the Apache and other local tribes.
Members of Apache Stronghold, an Arizona-based nonprofit dedicated to defending Native American spiritual sites and religious freedom, gathered with Mennonites, Baptists, Evangelical Christians, Jews and other denominations at a campground on Oak Flat in an attempt to save the area from a mining disaster.
Located in the Tonto National Forest on the outskirts of the town of Superior, Arizona, Oak Flat has been the focus of a highly contested proposal to construct a copper mine in the region. A global mining consortium—Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton—intends to carve out a mile-wide, 1,100-foot-deep crater on a centuries-old Native American place of worship.
“There are deities, angels, that live here,” Wendsler Nosie Sr., founder of Apache Stronghold, told the gathering, explaining that his ancestors had conducted coming-of-age ceremonies at the same spot for generations. He added: “You’re sitting very close to it.”
Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, the world’s two largest internationally owned mining companies, are endeavoring to extract minerals from Oak Flat. They have committed to generating some 3,700 jobs and enhancing Arizona’s economy by $61 billion throughout the project’s six-decade duration, besides contributing no less than $288 million in annual taxes at the local, state, and federal levels.
Nosie told the multifaith gathering that extracting copper deposits from depths exceeding a mile beneath sacred lands can disrupt the spiritual connection with mountain spirits. He emphasized the importance of recognizing that indigenous religious practices are just as valid as other belief systems.
The Apache Stronghold’s case was presented to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in 2022, and the federal government tried to get the litigation thrown out on the grounds that since none of the destruction that the Apaches feared had yet occurred, they had therefore brought their case too soon.
The Court of Appeals refused to protect Oak Flat, contending that a land transfer made by the federal government to Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton did not impose a significant hindrance on the religious practices of the Apaches.
“This is not an Apache fight,” Nosie said to the weekend multifaith gathering. “It’s a fight for religion because once the U.S. wins this court case, then it’s the precedent that is set across this country.”
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