“This country was founded on freedom of speech, religion and worship, which has been given away to a foreign mining company,” wrote Wendsler Nosie Sr., leader of Apache Stronghold, a Native American nonprofit dedicated to defending holy sites and the upholding of freedom of religion.
At stake is the future of Chi’chil Biłdagoteel, a religious site as sacred to the Apache as Mount Sinai is to Jews, according to attorney Luke W. Goodrich, who is fighting the legal battle to protect this site on behalf of the Apache Nations.
Known to the general public as Oak Flat, Chi’chil Biłdagoteel is a 6.7-square-mile stretch in the heart of the 2,422 acres of Tonto National Forest that the federal government agreed to swap in exchange for 5,459 acres of land in southeast Arizona owned by Resolution Copper, a mining venture developed by two Australian multinational corporations. The project “has the potential to supply nearly 25% of U.S. copper demand,” according to Resolution Copper’s projections, and would create thousands of jobs and have “an economic value of several billion dollars over the estimated mine life.”
But the mine will result in the destruction of Oak Flat, which will be subsumed by a nearly
two-mile-wide, 1,100-foot-deep crater left by the mining operation.
According to Apache Stronghold, the land swap to create this mine was “proposed and denied 13 times over 10 years, using normal Congressional procedures. It was only passed when it was included as a midnight rider onto the 2015 United States National Defense Authorization Act.”
In February 2021, U.S. District Judge Steven Logan rejected a preliminary injunction filed by Apache Stronghold to prevent the venture.
In its March 2 appeal of the U.S. District Court decision, Apache Stronghold reiterated the religious significance of this holy site.
“‘Since before recorded history, Western Apaches have lived, worshipped on, and cared for Oak Flat and surrounding lands. They believe that Usen, the Creator, gave life to all things.’ ‘Thus, everything has life, including air, water, and Nahagosan—Mother Earth herself.’ The Apaches strive to remain ‘intertwined with the earth, with the mother’ so they can ‘communicate with what [is] spiritual, from the wind to the trees to the earth to what [is] underneath.’ Central to this connection are the Ga’an, who are ‘guardians’ and ‘messengers’ between the Creator and people in the physical world—roughly comparable to angels in Christianity. Usen created the Ga’an as ‘the buffer between heaven and earth’ and created specific ‘blessed places’ for the Ga’an to dwell. One of the most important of the Ga’an dwelling places is Oak Flat….”
“Apaches have held Oak Flat sacred since before recorded history. It is ‘uniquely endowed with holiness and medicine, and neither the powers resident there, nor [the Apache] religious activities that pray to and through these powers can be relocated.’” “Only there can their ‘prayers directly go to [the] creator.’”
On March 1, 2021, USDA directed the Forest Service to withdraw the Notice of Availability of this land and rescind the Resolution Copper Project Final Environmental Impact Statement and draft Record of Decision. It stated, “USDA has concluded that additional time is necessary to fully understand concerns raised by Tribes and the public and the project’s impacts to these important resources and ensure the agency’s compliance with federal law. USDA and the Forest Service also understand that under federal law that the Forest Service has limited discretion related to protection of Oak Flat. Because the Resolution Copper Mine and Land Exchange Project was directed under the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act, long-term protection of the site will likely require an act of Congress.”
On March 4, the U.S. National Park Service listed the site on the National Register of Historic Places.
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