‘Spiritual convoy’ heads to California hearing on Apache sacred site at Oak Flat
Waya Brown, who is Apache and Pomo, dances in a circle at Oak Flat campground on Feb. 27, 2021, near Superior, Arizona. RNS photo by Alejandra Molina
Apache Stronghold members will stop in Tucson and Phoenix on their way to meet with Native American communities and faith leaders before an Oct. 22 court hearing. Read the article from Religion News Service.
This file photo taken June 15, 2015, shows the Resolution Copper Mining area Shaft #9, right, and Shaft #10, left, that await the expansion go-ahead in Superior, Arizona. The U.S. Forest Service released an environmental review Jan. 15, 2021, that paves the way for the creation of one of the largest copper mines in the United States, against the wishes of a group of Apaches who have been trying for years to stop the project. The mountainous land near Superior is known as Oak Flat or Chi’chil Biłdagoteel. It’s where Apaches have harvested medicinal plants, held coming-of-age ceremonies and gathered acorns for generations. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
Members of Apache Stronghold, a nonprofit working to protect the Apache sacred site in Arizona known as Oak Flat, will embark on a spiritual convoy to San Francisco, where a court will hear an appeal the group has filed to keep the land from being transferred to Resolution Copper, a company owned by the British-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto.
Apache Stronghold will take part in a day of prayer Saturday (Oct. 9) at Oak Flat before meeting with leaders of the Tohono O’odham Nation, who will offer a blessing and prayer for their travels.
The trek itself will begin Oct. 13 and will include several driving stops to meet with Native American communities and faith leaders before the Oct. 22 hearing.
“This court hearing is important not only for Oak Flat, but for all Indigenous people and (not just) our Indigenous religions, but we feel that if they can put our religion on trial, no one else’s religion is safe,” said Vanessa Nosie, a member of Apache Stronghold. Nosie’s father, Wendsler Nosie Sr., founded the group.
The group is a coalition of Apaches, other Native peoples and non-Native supporters seeking to preserve Oak Flat.
They will stop at Southside Presbyterian Church in Tucson, Arizona, where the Rev. Alison Harrington has advocated for Oak Flat, saying that “what is at stake at Oak Flat is everything.”
In Phoenix, the group will meet with members of the Native American club at Brophy College Preparatory, a Jesuit high school in Phoenix that participated in a protest run earlier this year in support of Oak Flat.