#PROTECTSACREDSITES
“Messages from holy places where summer winds whisper and snow thunder warns, this is sacred ground.”
Chi’chil Biłdagoteel — Apache Holy Land
“We are in this fight together, as we are one drum, one circle, one prayer.”
In 2015, when Arizona Senator John McCain made a clandestine agreement to transfer Chi’chil Biłdagoteel, a sacred site for Apache people and other Indigenous nations within the region, to a foreign-owned mining company to extract copper, Apache Stronghold initiated a Prayer Journey all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
When the Supremes refused to hear the case, APACHE STRONGHOLD v. UNITED STATES, and just prior to the anticipated federal transfer of Apache Holy Land to the foreign mining corporation, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which had approved the land transfer, issued an emergency injunction. This order effectively suspended the transfer of this sacred site.
San Carlos Apache Chairman Terry Rambler said in a statement: “The Apache people will never stop fighting for Chi’chil Biłdagoteel.” “We thank the court for stopping this horrific land exchange and allowing us to argue the merits of our pending lawsuit in court.”
The President of the United States, Donald Trump, characterized the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals as a “radical left court” and labeled its opponents as “anti-American.”
It’s important to note that Resolution Copper, a joint venture between Rio Tinto of Australia and BHP of the United Kingdom, is not an American-owned entity. In fact, Chinalco, the largest shareholder in Rio Tinto, holds a 14.99% stake and is a Chinese state-owned entity. China is also the world’s largest copper consumer. This covert U.S. land transfer could enhance and fortify China’s supply chains, prompting inquiries regarding the veracity of “anti-American” sentiment.
Chaco Canyon — A Sacred Landscape
Chaco Canyon, a sacred landscape in New Mexico, between 850 CE and 1250 CE, was occupied by Ancestral Pueblo people for 400 years. Today, the Pueblos and other Indigenous people maintain cultural ties to this sacred place through pilgrimage, song, and prayer.
Presently, Chaco Canyon and the Greater Chaco Region are under significant threat from those who seek to extract deposits of oil, gas, and minerals for energy development. Approximately 90 percent of federal lands in the Greater Chaco Region have already been leased for mineral development.
Former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s 2023 order prohibiting drilling and exploratory mining on federally owned land within a 10-mile radius of Chaco Culture National Historical Park for 20 years is being reconsidered under a new U.S. administration. The All Pueblo Council of Governors, representing the 20 sovereign Pueblos of New Mexico and Texas, opposes weakening Chaco protections and passed a resolution reaffirming its opposition.
