{"id":13757,"date":"2021-03-12T05:45:11","date_gmt":"2021-03-12T10:45:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/biden-tribal-consultation-memo-waylays-giant-apache-leap-copper-mine\/"},"modified":"2021-03-12T05:45:18","modified_gmt":"2021-03-12T10:45:18","slug":"biden-tribal-consultation-memo-waylays-giant-apache-leap-copper-mine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/biden-tribal-consultation-memo-waylays-giant-apache-leap-copper-mine\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden tribal consultation memo waylays giant Apache Leap copper mine"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Oak Flat: For more than six years, tribal members and allies have been holding camps, rallies, relay runs and other demonstrations to resist the mining on sacred treaty land. (Photo by Talli Nauman)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

OAK FLAT, Arizona \u2014 To make good on Joe Biden\u2019s recent Presidential Memorandum for tribal consultation and strengthening nation-to-nation relationships, the U.S. Forest Service on March 1 rescinded its permit for a massive foreign copper mine that would engulf sacred Apache sites here.
\nFor years, the two biggest metal mining companies in the world, Rio Tinto and BHPBilliton, have sought to open the Resolution Copper Mine at this location 50 miles east of Phoenix.
\nThey have encountered a block of opposition from the San Carlos Apache Tribe, White Mountain Apache Tribe, Fort McDowell Yavapai Tribe, Jicarilla Apache Tribe, the Intertribal Council of Arizona and the National Congress of American Indians.
\nSan Carlos Apache Tribal Chair Terry Rambler called the withdrawal of the permit \u201cthe right move,\u201d noting, \u201cThe Resolution Copper Mine Project will desecrate Chich\u2019il Bildagoteel, also known as Oak Flat, which is the heart of our religious and cultural beliefs.\u201d
\nThe tribe took the Forest Service to court for failing to follow the law in the preparation of the final environmental impact statement, which was fast-tracked to permit the project on Jan. 15, under the previous Administration of former President Donald Trump.
\nFor more than six years, tribal members and allies have been holding camps, rallies, relay runs and other demonstrations to resist the mining on sacred treaty land.
\n\u201cThis fight has never been about just one site: It\u2019s been about ending the cycle of ignoring tribal input whenever it suits polluters,\u201d U.S. House Natural Resources Committee Chair Ra\u00fal M. Grijalva, D-Ariz., said in a joint media release with Rambler.
\n\u201cThe Trump Administration rushed this document out the door as just one more favor to industry, regardless of how legally or scientifically unsupportable it was,\u201d he said, pledging to renew efforts to introduce the Save Oak Flat Act.
\nThe act is seen as a means to prevent a land transfer that deprives the Apache of access to 2,400 acres in the Tonto National Forest in order for Resolution Copper to mine. This transfer was approved in a midnight rider on the must-pass 2015 National Defense Authorization Act.
\nThe Resolution Copper Project threatens the water supply of the thirsty Chiricahua Mountains, already damaged by previous boom-and-bust copper exploitation. It would literally undermine the springs at Oak Flat and besmirch the landscape around Apache Leap.
\nThe Legend of Apache Tears has it that 75 Apache warriors trapped on a mountain ledge here leaped to their death rather than be killed by the U.S. troops surrounding them.
\n\u201cThis sacred land has become a relative to the Apache. This land is a teacher and a spiritual guide. Chich\u2019il Bildagoteel plays a critical role in Apache culture,\u201d adds Jade Begay, a Din\u00e9 and Tesuque multimedia artist, digital storyteller and media strategist.
\nBegay says the coming-of-age ceremonies held at Oak Flat \u201cprovide young Apache people with identity and spiritual grounding as they enter adulthood.\u201d
\nA method called \u201cblockade mining\u201d proposed to extract the ore would result in subsidence of surface features, forming a crater as deep as the Eiffel Tower is high. The land-use change would obliterate Oak Flat campground, technical mountain climbing opportunities and other recreational uses currently popular here.
\nThe grassroots Apache Stronghold is seeking a federal court order to block the land transfer with an upcoming hearing in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals
\nDr. Wendsler Nosie, Sr., former chair of the San Carlos Apache Tribe and Apache Stronghold leader, said the plaintiffs \u201care greatly encouraged by the fact that the Appellate Court is moving ahead to listen to our concerns on an accelerated timetable ending by May 6. It\u2019s been nothing but a nightmare with from day one,\u201d he added.
\nAppellate Judge Patrick Bumatay recently wrote in an order:
\n\u201cFor a great many people, religious and spiritual tradition is among their most precious inheritances. The Western Apaches are no different. For hundreds of years, they have worshipped at a location in Arizona\u2019s Tonto National Forest believed to be the most sacred of grounds\u2014Oak Flat.
\n\u201c\u2026 It is no overestimation to say that Oak Flat is the spiritual lifeblood of the Western Apache peoples, connecting them to the Creator since before the founding of the Nation. This is an obvious substantial burden on their religious exercise.\u201d
\nHe concluded that \u201cApache Stronghold has established a strong likelihood of success on the merits\u201d of the case.
\nApache Stronghold attorney Michael Nixon said the government\u2019s \u201clast-minute pickup of its dirty dealing at Oak Flat just temporarily paused the emergency before the 9th Circuit Court. We look ahead to a straighter deal in court, both for the Apaches\u2019 religious freedom and for their 1852 Treaty rights to the land at Oak Flat.\u201d
\nConservation organizations ranging from the Sierra Club to the Arizona Audubon Society have expressed serious concerns about the mining proposal. The Concerned Citizens and Retired Miners Association has formed to oppose the land transfer. Climbing organizations, including The Access Fund and Concerned Climbers of Arizona, are also engaged trying to stop the project.<\/p>\n

(Contact Talli Nauman at talli.nauman@gmail.net<\/a>)<\/p>\n

The post Biden tribal consultation memo waylays giant Apache Leap copper mine<\/a> first appeared on Native Sun News Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Oak Flat: For more than six years, tribal members and allies have been holding camps, rallies, relay runs and other demonstrations to resist the mining on sacred treaty land. (Photo by Talli Nauman) OAK FLAT, Arizona \u2014 To make good on Joe Biden\u2019s recent Presidential Memorandum for tribal consultation and <\/p>\n

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