#riotinto — Public Fediverse posts

Nyangumarta Warrarn Aboriginal Corporation and Rio Tinto sign milestone agreement for Winu Project

PERTH, Australia, September 10, 2026–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Nyangumarta Warrarn Aboriginal Corporation (NWAC) and Rio Tinto have signed a Project…
#EuropeSays #Britain #Europe #EU #RioTinto #Aboriginalculturalheritage #Australia #NyangumartaCountry #NyangumartaPeople #Perth #ProjectPlanning #Rio‌Tinto #SumitomoMetalMining
https://www.europesays.com/britain/122851/

Rio Tinto’s Nhulunbuy exit looms large over today’s Mulka by-election

Rio Tinto’s impending withdrawal from the Gove Peninsula is looming large over a remote by-election in the Northern…
#EuropeSays #Britain #Europe #EU #RioTinto #andrewblamey #gove #mulkabyelection #nhulunbuy #ntbyelection #ntlabor #Rio‌Tinto #yingiyaguyula #yiwarrmcgrath
https://www.europesays.com/britain/122519/

Wonder what other pieces of the Australian story has been turned to dust for profit.
#mining #bhp #riotinto #fuckwoodside #climatechange #firstnation #sacredsite
https://theconversation.com/new-fossils-show-tasmanian-devils-lived-with-people-in-outback-western-australia-45-000-years-ago-291045

Wonder what other pieces of the Australian story has been turned to dust for profit.
#mining #bhp #riotinto #fuckwoodside #climatechange #firstnation #sacredsite
https://theconversation.com/new-fossils-show-tasmanian-devils-lived-with-people-in-outback-western-australia-45-000-years-ago-291045

Wonder what other pieces of the Australian story has been turned to dust for profit.
#mining #bhp #riotinto #fuckwoodside #climatechange #firstnation #sacredsite
https://theconversation.com/new-fossils-show-tasmanian-devils-lived-with-people-in-outback-western-australia-45-000-years-ago-291045

Wonder what other pieces of the Australian story has been turned to dust for profit.
#mining #bhp #riotinto #fuckwoodside #climatechange #firstnation #sacredsite
https://theconversation.com/new-fossils-show-tasmanian-devils-lived-with-people-in-outback-western-australia-45-000-years-ago-291045

Wonder what other pieces of the Australian story has been turned to dust for profit.
#mining #bhp #riotinto #fuckwoodside #climatechange #firstnation #sacredsite
https://theconversation.com/new-fossils-show-tasmanian-devils-lived-with-people-in-outback-western-australia-45-000-years-ago-291045

Rio Tinto wins Nyangumarta support for Western Australia copper mine

Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) has secured support from Nyangumarta Traditional Owners to develop its proposed Winu copper-gold mine in…
#EuropeSays #Britain #Europe #EU #RioTinto #Agreement #Australia #Rio‌Tinto #WesternAustralia
https://www.europesays.com/britain/121742/

#ApacheStronghold #HolyGround Ceremony

March 28, 2026

"On Saturday, March 28th at 8 am, a Holy Ground Ceremony will be held in #SanCarlosAZ, at the 7 mile Holy Ground. Those who do not know the location are welcome to camp at the Nosie’s Residence Friday night or meet there at 7 am to follow us to 7 mile Holy Ground. More information about Sunday March 29th will be available tomorrow. Announcements will be made in person at ceremony."

https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2026/03/apache-stronghold-holy-ground-ceremony.html

#SaveOakFlat #ChíchilBiłdagoteel #ProtectOakFlat #Arizona #RioTinto #CopperMining #Fight4OurExistance
#SacredLand #TontoNationalForest
#WesternApache #ProtectTheSacred
#IndigenousNews #IndigenousActivism #CorporateColonialism #DefendTheSacred #CensoredNews #ReaderSupportedNews

#ApacheStronghold 'We Are Still Fighting'

Statement from Dr. #WendslerNosie Sr.
March 20, 2026

"Many of you have heard that on Friday, the Ninth Circuit again refused to stop the Government from giving #OakFlat to #ResolutionCopper for destruction. This is sad news. But we will never stop fighting to protect Oak Flat and each place that is sacred to our people. And we are still fighting—in the courts, in Congress, and, most importantly, spiritually.

In the courts, there are still four lawsuits seeking to protect Oak Flat. All four cases are still going. And any one of these cases could still put a stop to the Government’s and Resolution’s plans to destroy Oak Flat:

- In Lopez v. United States, on the day after Friday’s ruling, seven brave Apache women filed an emergency appeal in the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the Court to stop the mine and protect Oak Flat. The Supreme Court could rule on that appeal any day. The women in that case can also ask the Ninth Circuit to reconsider its ruling in their case. The deadline to ask for reconsideration is April 27, 2026. That case focuses on religious freedom.
- In #SanCarlosApache Tribe v. United States, also part of Friday’s ruling, the Tribe can also ask the Ninth Circuit to reconsider its ruling and/or appeal to the Supreme Court. That case focuses on the Tribe’s rights, tribal consultation, and the inadequacy of the government’s decision-making process.
- In Arizona #Mining Reform Coalition v. United States, also part of Friday’s ruling, several environmental groups and the Inter-Tribal Association of Arizona can also ask the Ninth Circuit to reconsider its ruling and/or appeal to the Supreme Court. That case focuses on the government’s unfair appraisal of Oak Flat and inadequate #EnvironmentalReview.
- Apache Stronghold v. United States, which is our case, has been 'stayed' (or temporarily put on hold) waiting for the Ninth Circuit’s ruling, which came on Friday. Now that the Ninth Circuit has ruled, our case will start again in the district court. We will continue making every possible legal claim to protect Oak Flat.

In Congress, on Tuesday, Representative #AdelitaGrijalva introduced legislation to preserve public lands in the Chí’chil Biłdagoteel Historic District and fight back against the proposed mine. This bill is an important part of the fight to protect Oak Flat.

But even more than legally and politically, we are continuing to fight spiritually. This fight has never been primarily about law or politics. It is about who we are as human beings, religiously and spiritually. If we allow sacred places to be destroyed for profit, we are saying that nothing is truly sacred. We are losing something essential about our humanity—our ability to respect #MotherEarth, to honor what is holy, and to live in balance with the world around us.

That is why we are calling on all people to continue raising their voices, in prayer and protest, to protect Oak Flat—to protect the sacred. We, the Apache Stronghold, invite you to an upcoming spiritual gathering on March 28-29, 2026 at Oak Flat.

The legal system may try to reduce our struggle to questions of ownership and profit. But our connection to Mother Earth predates those systems. It is something each one of us is born into, something we carry in our prayers, our songs, and our way of life. No matter what the courts rule, no matter what the government tries to do, we will never stop fighting to preserve our sacred places. We will not lose our connection to the Creator."

Source:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2026/03/apache-stronghold-we-are-still-fighting.html

#ChíchilBiłdagoteel #ProtectOakFlat #SanCarlosApache #ResolutionCopper #Arizona #RioTinto #SaveOakFlat #CopperMining #Fight4OurExistance #SacredLand #TontoNationalForest #WesternApaches #ProtectTheSacred #IndigenousNews #IndigenousActivism #CorporateColonialism #DefendTheSacred #CensoredNews #ReaderSupportedNews

#OakFlat March and Run: #ApacheStronghold Photos

By Apache Stronghold, Censored News, Feb. 9, 2026

"12th Annual #OakFlatMarch/Run. The final day of the run, Saturday, February 7, 2026, the experienced runners passed through the final corridor, ending at the Oak Flat campground. The annual gathering followed, with speakers representing many tribes, backgrounds, and ages sharing their thoughts on Oak Flat and the importance of protecting this sacred and irreplaceable site. Photos by Molly Peters.

Apache Stronghold is battling to protect Oak Flat from becoming the gigantic crater of a copper mine, that would destroy the Sacred Ceremonial Place, seize and pollute the water, and poison the air and land."

Source (includes photos):
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2026/02/oak-flat-march-and-run-apache.html

#ProtectOakFlat #SanCarlosApache #ResolutionCopper #Arizona #ChichilBildagoteel #RioTinto
#SaveOakFlat #CopperMining
#Fight4OurExistance #SacredLand #TontoNationalForest #WesternApaches #ProtectTheSacred #IndigenousNews #IndigenousActivism #CorporateColonialism #DefendTheSacred #OakFlatRun #CensoredNews #ReaderSupportedNews

12th Annual Sacred Chi'chil BIł’dagoteel #OakFlat Run

February 5-8 pm, 2026

Schedule:

Thursday, Feb 5th - 4 pm Holy Ground Blessing and Dinner at Old San Carlos Monument. Run will follow after blessing

Friday, Feb 6th- 8 am March/Run will begin at the New Skate Park (Sport Complex) and will end in Miami, Arizona, at the Shrine

Saturday, Feb 7th - 8 am Run will begin at the Shrine in Miami, Arizona, to Oak Flat

Sunday, Feb 8th - 9 am Holy Ground Blessing at Oak Flat and then departure

FMI (Apache Stronghold website):
https://www.apache-stronghold.com/oak-flat-run

FB page:
https://www.facebook.com/SaveOakFlatArizona

Source:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2026/02/sacred-chichil-bidagoteel-oak-flat.html

#ApacheStronghold #ProtectOakFlat #SanCarlosApache #ResolutionCopper #Arizona #ChichilBildagoteel #RioTinto
#SaveOakFlat #CopperMining
#Fight4OurExistance #SacredLand #TontoNationalForest #WesternApaches #ProtectTheSacred #CorporateColonialism #DefendTheSacred #OakFlatRun #CensoredNews #ReaderSupportedNews

@sortius
Australia is a fossil fuelled colony. People talk about democracy. What democracy, when our politicians are literally dressed as fossil fuelled employees?
#AusPol #Australia #RioTinto #Chevron #Fortescue #AndrewForrest #PeabodyEnergy #MalcolmTurnbull #TonyAbbott #ScottMorrison #AnthonyAlbanese #PetroMasculinity

Walking #BeyondCapitalism, #WendslerNosie Journeys to Federal Court in Phoenix

via #CensoredNews, January 3, 2026

Statement by Wendsler Nosie:

"Good afternoon to all my family, friends, relatives, and people. I come to you in this moment in time, knowing we all have been born into from our parents and those before. We all know those before us, suffered from a great #evil, who tried to destroy them. This evil still exists today.

Every day it works to control us and make its way to have us deceive our own children's lives, by them not being told the truth. We teach them to live and embrace a system of #capitalism that we surely know won't secure the future.

Through every passing generation, it clearly shows it has failed. From the birth of Europe to their unauthorized arrival here and the taking of the East Coast, wrongfully establishing their 13 colonies, they then turned toward the west, breaking all treaties that were dishonest from their inception, establishing a dishonest trust system allowing them to take more and more.

Their human ideology, their way to survive through their economic engine, has been a disaster. It takes and it takes and gives nothing back. No care for any kind of life, no care for the next generation. It's about living for now and being #greedy and destroying communities of people with their power of capitalism.

Since the beginning, through #colonization and capitalism, many here and around the world have suffered. People cried then and still today for a better day and still ask God, what have I done?

The political agenda of capitalism is to put fear in each of us. Pushing each of us towards the illusion that #MotherEarth and ourselves are useless. From fear we lose hope, the journey of spirituality and everything on mother earth, becomes disposable. Our mother earth is the timeline to everything. It gives us the water of life, it gives us the oxygen of life, it gives us the food of life, and it blesses us with life for our children and those yet to come.

It saddens me when this country does not prioritize all the sacred elements that give us life. It saddens me to witness that some no longer care to keep God's greatest gift alive. From a spiritual understanding, our love for one another is critical, our morals to make right decisions is critical and the love for our mother earth should be embedded forever.

We have all been taught not to recognize our mother and forced into a life to be colonized. We were blessed, in the beginning, with the tools of how to survive in the world that provides for us all.

This evil took those tools away and taught us how to be selfish, greedy, impassive and assimilate our minds and hearts to believe in capitalism. For what I have witnessed, I now can say, I see as what my father, my grandfather and great grandfather witnessed before me.

Capitalism demands your loyalty, to destroy every moral ethic, spiritual belief and God's way of life. I too know who cares and protects what God and Jesus had warned the world about. I will not be one who is loyal to capitalism, you will not fool me. If we really think it through, from those who say that capitalism will solve our problems, and when we actually understand it, disaster will occur, i.e. billions of gallons of water can remain forever, no contamination to the environment, no climate changes, one of the oldest religious ceremonies before the beginning of time continues, etc.

The United States of America clearly violated procedures and laws and ignored not only the #NativeAmericans, but also the state of #Arizona and the people of this country. Their decision to give full exemptions from the law has opened the door forever for #corporations to follow suit.

America, our civilization is in trouble and it needs your attention. As you and I today, as did our ancestors had encountered centuries ago, we are also in that moment. We cannot lose our mother earth, if she is lost, there is no life.

The sustainability of the Mother Earth ensures our children’s children will live . So, preserving mother earth today, will guarantee future generations.

I will be departing from #OakFlat on Sunday, January 4th at 11 AM. I will be walking and a little jogging to arrive in downtown Phoenix to attend the court hearings (#AZReform Mining Coalition, ITCA, San Carlos Apache Tribe and Lopez/Kinsey (Burdette) cases vs. U.S., which begin at 10 a.m. on January 7, 2026.

For those who do know me well, I had a spiritual encounter and must travel in this spiritual way. I ask each of you, if possible, to make a ceremonial fire, light a candle, or be in prayer.

The decision of the federal judges will weigh heavy on the future for water, environment, religion, and the ability to give federal exemptions to corporations without following legal policies.

#Usen (Creator), hear my prayers, as I make this journey to encounter many ugly obstacles but also witness the beauty of all life. I will let No Fear distract me, for all the beautiful spirits will be in all four directions."

Wendsler Nosie Sr.

Source:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2026/01/walking-beyond-capitalism-wendsler.html

#SaveOakFlat #WaterIsLife #ProtectOakFlat #DefendTheSacred #NativeAmericanActivism #CorporateColonialism #CapitalismMustDie #ApacheStronghold #SanCarlosApache #ResolutionCopper
#Arizona #ChichilBildagoteel
#RioTinto #CopperMining #Fight4OurExistance #SacredLand
#TontoNationalForest #WesternApaches #ProtectTheSacred

I just came across this from the #NationalTrustForHistoricPreservation website...

Updates on #OakFlat

December 22, 2025

"On December 3, Representative Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ) introduced the #SaveOakFlat from Foreign Mining Act (H.R. 6391). The legislation would repeal Section 3003 of the FY 2015 National Defense Authorization Act [#NDAA] in order to protect a site of significant #religious, #cultural, #historical, and #environmental importance to #TribalNations in #Arizona and across the nation.

"The #SacredSite is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a Traditional Cultural Property—and for over 15 years—the National Trust has opposed the #mining project and supported preservation of the sacred site in many ways, including listing Oak Flat on our 11 Most Endangered Historic Places list in 2015, engaging in legal advocacy, and endorsing multiple legislative remedies.

"Pending federal litigation regarding Oak Flat is scheduled to be argued before the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit on Wednesday, January 7, 2026, and oral arguments can be viewed via the livestream beginning at 11:30 AM EST/9:30 AM MST."

Source:
https://savingplaces.org/public-lands/updates/oak-flat-legislation-introduced

#ProtectOakFlat #SanCarlosApache
#ResolutionCopper #Arizona
#ChichilBildagoteel #RioTinto
#SaveOakFlat #CooperMining
#Fight4OurExistance #SacredLand #TontoNationalForest #WesternApaches #ProtectTheSacred #CorporateColonialism

SAVE THE DATES!

#ProtectOakFlat: 11th Annual Sacred #OakFlat Marathon, Feb. 5 - 8, 2026

An ever-growing story, the Annual March to Save Oak Flat each February.

"We will once again walk off the reservation, freeing ourselves from the bondage of federal policies and the inaccuracies of the history of this country. We will no longer be invisible, for God the Creator, who is known throughout the world, has spoken, once again, through all his creations, that healing must begin to save what is left, so that those yet to be born will embrace the true spirit of life." - Wendsler Nosie Sr.

Posted on December 29, 2025, via #CensoredNews:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/12/protect-oak-flat-11th-annual-sacred-oak.html

Web page for the Oak Flat Run (via #ApacheStronghold):
https://www.apache-stronghold.com/oak-flat-run

#SanCarlosApache #ResolutionCopper #Arizona #ChichilBildagoteel #RioTinto #SaveOakFlat #CopperMining #Fight4OurExistance #SacredLand #TontoNationalForest #WesternApaches #ProtectTheSacred #CorporateColonialism

Not surprising...😠

#ApacheStronghold -- Supreme Court Again Declines to Protect Sacred #OakFlat

By Apache Stronghold, via @bsnorrell.blogspot.com, Oct. 6, 2025

Apache Stronghold - Supreme Court update

"This morning, we received word the Supreme Court has decided not to reconsider our case. While this decision is deeply disappointing, the fight to protect Oak Flat is far from over.
We will continue pressing our case in the lower courts. In addition to our case, three other cases are also seeking to protect Oak Flat, and the Ninth Circuit will hear oral argument in those cases on
January 7, 2026. We’ll also keep urging Congress, the President, and federal agencies to stop the destruction of Oak Flat and protect our ancestral sacred land.

Oak Flat deserves the same respect and protection this country has long given to other places of worship.

Wendsler Nosie Sr. responding to the Supreme Court result, 'First, thank you everyone for all the hard work. You have been a blessing to us all in our country. Most importantly deep within us we
knew, but now we definitely witness the truth of this country, by the Supreme Court taking no action. What is evil created the unfairness, not just to us human beings but to all of God’s creations. When this country was founded, humans with the heart of #greed worked to mute the voice of the Creator. By this undertaking, we now live with a third entity, who was created to take and destroy every blessed
gift God gave us through our #MotherEarth. We know this evil as #Corporations, which comes from
#capitalism which #colonizes people. We must defend what is spiritual, holy and God’s greatest gift to us all, our Mother. Today is a new day for me as I now take the blessings from Usen (God), to walk
the footsteps of the purpose I was blessed with and no longer be a captive.'

America has shown us the government’s true intentions, we are unheard and ignored once again. Our judicial system’s voice is muted by capitalism, the ultimate destruction of Mother Earth has been given permission as if they control her, she supplies our lives not the reverse. Such a sad reality.

We call on all people to pray, to raise their voices, and to join us in defending Mother Earth. Thank you for standing with us."

Source:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/10/apache-stronghold-supreme-court-again.html

#SanCarlosApache #ChichilBildagoteel #WesternApaches #Fight4OurExistence #SacredLand #ReligiousLiberty #CensoredNews #Apache #ProtectOakFlat
#CopperMining #CorporateColonialism #SaveOakFlat #ProtectTheSacred #SCOTUS #SCOTUSIsCompromised #TontoNationalForest #ResolutionCopper #RioTinto

#SanCarlosApache Tribe welcomes Federal Court ruling delaying trade of sacred Oak Flat to Chinese-backed #ResolutionCopper

By San Carlos Apache Tribe, Censored News, June 9, 2025

#SanCarlosApacheNation, #Arizona — "The San Carlos Apache Tribe welcomes Friday’s federal court ruling preventing the Trump Administration from trading sacred Oak Flat to Chinese-backed Resolution #CopperMining no sooner than 60 days after the government releases an environmental report expected to be published later this month.

"The #Trump Administration had indicated that it intended to trade 2,422 acres of #TontoNationalForest 70 miles east of #PhoenixAZ that includes Oak Flat to Resolution Copper immediately upon publication of the mine’s updated environmental report.

U.S. District Court Judge Dominic W. Lanza’s order 'preclude(s) the United States Forest Service from proceeding with the challenged land exchange until 60 days after the issuance of the Final Environmental Impact Statement, which is anticipated to be issued on June 16.'

" 'We are grateful that Judge Lanza has provided us an opportunity to be heard,' said San Carlos Apache Tribe Chairman Terry Rambler. 'The two-month window provides the Tribe an opportunity to file an amended lawsuit challenging the legality of the pending environmental report and request an injunction to stop the land exchange until the merits of our case are settled.'

"The Oak Flat land transfer was mandated by a last-minute amendment to the FY2015 #NationalDefenseAuthorizationAct that was added by the late Arizona Senator #JohnMcCain and former Arizona Senator #JeffFlake. The land transfer provision, which failed to pass Congress in previous years, avoided the normal course of business and was not debated before it was added to the mustsign [#NDAA] defense spending bill that was signed into law by President Barack #Obama.

" 'The bill that authorized the land exchange is not in the best interest of the American people, Arizona or the San Carlos Apache Tribe,' Chairman Rambler stated. 'We have filed this lawsuit because of our concerns of the mine’s massive use of groundwater, which will be devastating for both Arizona
and eventually the Tribe. We are also deeply concerned about the environmental destruction and the obliteration of Oak Flat will have on Apache culture and religion.'

"Resolution plans to collapse Oak Flat, known as Chi’chil Biłdagoteel in Apache, into a two-mile wide, 1,100-foot-deep crater. Chi’chil Biłdagoteel is listed in the National Register of Historic Places as a Traditional Cultural Place.

"Resolution Copper is owned by Melbourne-based #BHP (45%) and London-based #RioTinto (55%), the two largest mining companies in the world. The Chinese state-owned Aluminum Corporation of China, which spearheads China’s acquisition of strategic minerals worldwide, is Rio Tinto’s single largest investor with a 14.6% stake. Both BHP and Rio Tinto rely on China for the majority of their revenue.

" 'We fully expect Resolution’s copper to be exported to China, which poses a national security threat,' Chairman Rambler said. “The United States already exports 30 percent of the copper produced by U.S. mines because of a lack of copper smelting capacity.

"'The Trump Administration’s Oak Flat appraisal concludes that Resolution’s copper will be exported to southeast Asia,' Chairman Rambler added. 'It’s clearly in the best interest of the United States to withhold publication of the Resolution environmental report at least until there is a change in the ownership of this project to companies that are not reliant on China for more than half their business.' "

Source:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/06/san-carlos-apache-tribe-federal-court.html

#Fight4OurExistence #ProtectOakFlat #LandBack #sacredland #OakFlat
#SaveOakFlat #SanCarlosApache #Apache #ReligiousLiberty #NativeAmericans #FirstNations #CensoredNews #ReaderSupportedNews
#ProtectTheSacred #ApacheStronghold #NativeAmericanNews #NativeAmericans #RioTinto #CopperMining #Arizona #LeaveItInTheGround #ChichilBildagoteel #WesternApaches #BecketLaw #ResolutionCopper #USPol #MiningTheSacred #NationalForests #CorporateLandGrabs #CorporateColonialism #CulturalGenocide #McCainShame

We live in a f*cked up world when #Republican #SCOTUS members are the only ones who do the right thing. WTF!

BREAKING! Supreme Court Refuses Plea to #ProtectOakFlat

#ApacheStronghold said it will continue the fight in the courts

#WendslerNosieSr. said, "While this decision is a heavy blow, our struggle is far from over. We urge Congress to take decisive action to stop this injustice while we press forward in the courts."

By Becket Law, Censored News, May 27, 2025

WASHINGTON – "The Supreme Court today refused to protect a Western Apache sacred site, #OakFlat, from destruction by a Chinese-owned mining giant. In Apache Stronghold v. United States, a coalition of Apaches, other Native peoples, and non-Native allies will now continue to fight in court to
stop the government from transferring Oak Flat to #ResolutionCopper and turning the site into a massive mining
crater, ending Apache religious practices forever.

"#JusticeGorsuch, joined by #JusticeThomas, dissented from the Court’s refusal to hear the appeal,
saying that the Court’s 'decision to shuffle this case off our docket without a full airing is a grievous mistake—one with consequences that threaten to reverberate for generations.'

"Since time immemorial, Western Apaches and other Native peoples have gathered at Oak Flat, outside of present-day Superior, Arizona, for sacred religious ceremonies that cannot take place anywhere else."

Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/05/supreme-court-refuses-plea-to-protect.html

Link to PDF (with Gorsuch's full dissention):

https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24-291_5i26.pdf

#Fight4OurExistence #SCOTUS #ProtectOakFlat #LandBack #sacredland #OakFlat
#SaveOakFlat #SanCarlosApache #Apache #ReligiousLiberty #NativeAmericans #FirstNations #CensoredNews #ReaderSupportedNews
#ProtectOakFlat #ProtectTheSacred #ApacheStronghold #NativeAmericanNews #NativeAmericans #RioTinto #CopperMining #Arizona #LeaveItInTheGround #ChichilBildagoteel #WesternApaches #BecketLaw

via @bsnorrell.blogspot.com

#ApacheStronghold: Fight For Existence Podcast 'A Halted Land Transfer, A Continued Fight'

"U.S. #SupremeCourt: May 22 is the next possible date for considering the case

"The federal district court in Phoenix has issued an injunction, halting the land transfer of Apaches Ceremonial Place of Oak Flat -- which is targeted to be destroyed by a copper mine -- until the U.S. Supreme Court hears the case."

Source:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/05/apache-stronghold-fight-for-existence.html

Fight for Our Existence podcast, Episode 32 is now available!

Apache Stronghold: A Halted Land Transfer, A Continued Fight

Now streaming on all platforms!
https://linktr.ee/Fight4ourexistence

YT: https://www.youtube.com/@fight4ourexistencepodcast912

#Fight4OurExistence #SCOTUS #ProtectOakFlat #LandBack #NativePodcast #sacredland #OakFlat
#SaveOakFlat #SanCarlosApache
#Apache #ReligiousLiberty
#NativeAmericans #FirstNations #CensoredNews #ReaderSupportedNews
#ProtectOakFlat #ProtectTheSacred #ApacheStronghold #NativeAmericanNews #NativeAmericans #RioTinto #CopperMining #Arizona #LeaveItInTheGround #ChichilBildagoteel #WesternApaches #BecketLaw

Plundering and polluting for profit regardless of the human, social & environmental consequences.

#OakFlat is a sacred place to the Western #Apache, #Yavapai, #O’odham, #Hopi, and #Zuni. It is a place where rituals are performed, and resources are gathered; its loss would be an indescribable hardship to those peoples.”

https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/05/12/from-oak-flat-to-ukraine-trumps-feverish-lust-for-green-energy-resources/

#BHP (aka Bloody Huge Polluter) #RioTinto (aka Rio Stinko)
#Capitalism

URGENT! #PhoenixArizona - #ApacheStronghold: Run from Oak Flat to Phoenix Courthouse, Run Begins May 4, 2025

By Wendsler Nosie, Sr., Apache Stronghold
Censored News, April 29, 2025

"I am putting out the call to all spiritual runners (runners and walkers), Native and nonnative, to stop the destruction of Chi'chil Bildagoteel. Oak Flat is now on death row!

"On Sunday, May 4th, Spiritual runners will begin the trek from Oak Flat to the Federal court house, Sandra Day O’Connor Court Building, for the Apache Stronghold vs. U. S. hearing, asking for a preliminary injunction to stop the land transfer of Oak Flat to Resolution Copper, because of the US Forest Service intention to publish the Federal environmental impact statement before June 16 -- which allows a foreign mining company, #ResolutionCopper, to take possession of the land!

"The hearing is scheduled for May 7th at 9:30 am.

"In the next few days the details will be finalized for the run . Take a stand for future generations. Save this Sacred site for the next generation. This is urgent. Please contact us for more information or let us know you are coming.

"No drugs or alcohol. This is a spiritual journey.

"Please, please share this post we don’t have a lot of time. Your help in gathering people together is important. Blessings."

https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/04/apache-stronghold-run-from-oak-flat-to.html

#CensoredNews #ReaderSupportedNews #SaveOakFlat #ProtectOakFlat #ProtectTheSacred #NativeAmericans #RioTinto #CopperMining #Arizona #LeaveItInTheGround #ChichilBildagoteel

Trump to approve land swap for Rio Tinto copper mine opposed by Native Americans

By Ernest Scheyder
April 18, 2025

- Forest Service to republish environmental report within 60 days
- Publication needed to approve land swap for Resolution project
- Native groups oppose project on religious grounds
- Related case still pending at Supreme Court

"The #Trump administration said on Thursday it would approve a land swap needed for #RioTinto and #BHP to build one of the world's largest copper mines, despite concerns from Native Americans that it would destroy a site of religious value.
The move is likely to escalate tensions between Indigenous groups vocal about the need to preserve historical lands and Western governments eager to boost critical minerals production and offset China's sector dominance.

"The U.S. Forest Service, which is part of the Agriculture Department, said it will republish within 60 days an environmental report needed for the #ResolutionCopper project land swap to occur.

"Congress and then-President #BarackObama approved the mine in 2014 after it was added at the last minute to a must-pass military funding bill [#NDAA] with the condition that an environmental report be published.

"The underground mine - which President Donald Trump approved in his first term before successor Joe Biden reversed him - would supply more than a quarter of U.S. appetite for copper and be a key part of Trump's plan to boost U.S. mining.

"Copper is used in construction, transportation, electronics and many other industries. The United States imports roughly half of its copper needs each year.

"Yet the mine's construction would cause a crater that would swallow the Oak Flat site where Arizona's San Carlos Apache worship. That has fueled strong opposition from all but one of the state's 22 Native American tribes, as well as the National Congress of American Indians.

"Apache Stronghold, a nonprofit group comprised of the San Carlos Apache Tribe and conservationists, asked the U.S. Supreme Court last September to block the land swap. The court has not yet decided whether to take that case.
Were the court to do so, however, the Forest Service said on Thursday it 'may reevaluate how to proceed' regarding the land swap.

" 'The U.S. government is rushing to give away our spiritual home before the courts can even rule, just like it's rushed to erase Native people for generations,' said #WendslerNosie, an #ApacheStronghold leader."

Read more:
https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/trump-approve-land-swap-rio-tinto-copper-mine-opposed-by-native-americans-2025-04-18/

#Apaches #WesternApaches #NativeAmericans #SacredSite #ResolutionCopper #SaveOakFlat #ChichilBiłdagoteel #CorporateColonialism #ProtectOakFlat #ReaderSupportedNews #SCOTUS #DefendTheSacred #CopperMine
#WaterIsLife #CulturalGenocide #WesternApache #SacredSites #NoMiningWithoutConsent #RecycleCopper #TontoNationalForest

#Apaches ask lower court to stop government’s imminent transfer of #SacredSite

Becket Law, via #CensoredNews, April 25, 2025

There will be a Hearing May 7, 2025 @ 0930 @ Sandra Day O’Connor
U.S. Courthouse, 401 West Washington Street, Phoenix, Arizona 85003

WASHINGTON – "A coalition of #WesternApaches, other #NativePeoples, and non-Native #allies asked a federal court late yesterday to stop the U.S. government from handing over their sacred site at Oak Flat to a multinational mining giant as early as June 16, 2025.

"In #ApacheStronghold v. United States, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals last year refused to stop the federal government from transferring #OakFlat to #ResolutionCopper, a Chinese-owned mining company that plans to turn the site into a massive mining crater, ending Apache religious practices forever (Watch the short video linked below to learn more).

"The emergency appeal comes after the government announced last week it will forge ahead with the transfer even though the case is currently under consideration by the #USSupremeCourt."

Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/04/apaches-ask-lower-court-to-stop.html

Video link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zh68xOn0B_8

#SaveOakFlat #ChichilBiłdagoteel #CorporateColonialism #ProtectOakFlat #ReaderSupportedNews #SCOTUS #DefendTheSacred #CopperMine
#WaterIsLife #RioTinto #RecycleCopper #CulturalGenocide #NDAA #WesternApache #SacredSites #NoMiningWithoutConsent #RecycleCopper #TontoNationalForest

Breaking News! (via @bsnorrell.blogspot.com )

Feds Charge Ahead with Plan to Destroy #OakFlat

#SupremeCourt poised to consider #ApacheStronghold’s appeal

By Becket Law, Censored News, April 17, 2025

WASHINGTON – "The U.S. government today announced that it is forging ahead with plans to transfer a #NativeAmerican #SacredSite to a multinational mining giant in as few as 60 days, despite a
federal lawsuit challenging the action as illegal.

"In Apache Stronghold v. United States, Apache Stronghold—a coalition of #Apaches, other Native peoples, and non-Native allies—sued to stop the federal government from transferring Oak Flat to
Resolution Copper, a Chinese-owned mining company that plans to turn the site into a massive mining crater, ending Apache religious practices forever.

"The government has announced it will now forge ahead with the transfer even though the case is currently under consideration by the U.S. Supreme Court.

"Since time immemorial, #WesternApaches and other Native peoples have gathered at Oak Flat, outside of present-day #SuperiorAZ, for sacred religious ceremonies that cannot take place anywhere else. Known in Apache as Chi’chil Biłdagoteel, Oak Flat is listed in the #NationalRegisterOfHistoricPlaces and has been protected from #mining and other harmful practices for decades.
These protections were targeted in December 2014 when a last-minute provision was slipped into a must-pass defense bill [#NDAA] authorizing the transfer of Oak Flat to the Resolution Copper company.

"#ResolutionCopper now plans to turn the sacred site into a two-mile-wide and 1,100-foot-deep crater.

"The majority owner of Resolution Copper, Rio Tinto, sparked international outrage when it deliberately destroyed 46,000-year-old Indigenous rock shelters at one of Australia’s most significant cultural sites.

" 'The feds are barreling ahead to give Oak Flat to Resolution Copper, even as the Supreme Court considers whether to hear the case,' said Luke Goodrich, vice president and senior counsel at Becket. 'This makes the stakes crystal clear: if the Court doesn’t act now, Oak Flat could be transferred and destroyed before justice can be served.' "

Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/04/feds-charge-ahead-with-plan-to-destroy.html

#SaveOakFlat #ChichilBiłdagoteel #CorporateColonialism #ProtectOakFlat #ReaderSupportedNews #SCOTUS #DefendTheSacred #CopperMine
#WaterIsLife #ResolutionCopper #RioTinto #RecycleCopper #CulturalGenocide #NoMiningWithoutConsent #RecycleCopper #TontoNationalForest

#ApacheStronghold: U.S. Give-Away would Destroy Spiritual Home of #Apache

By Wendsler Nosie, Apache Stronghold, March 13, 2025, via #CensoredNews

"In the heart of #TontoNationalForest in #Arizona lies a place that my people, the #WesternApache, still hold above all others. This place is Chi'chil Biłdagoteel, also known as Oak Flat. To us, it is more than a stretch of land; it is sacred and holy. It is where our ancestors walked, where we gather to pray, to carry out ceremonies passed down through generations, and to speak to our Creator.

"This land is part of who we are as a people, and its spirit is bound to our own.
Now, the federal government plans to give our sacred Oak Flat to a multinational #mining #corporation owned by the Chinese Communist Party. This will not just scar the land; it will destroy it, poisoning the environment and trampling on our tribal rights. But the deepest wound will be the loss of our spiritual home, a place our people cannot exist without. We are fighting this in the courts, all the way to the #USSupremeCourt. But this is about more than law and policy—this is about survival of our way of life and the spirit of this sacred land.

https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/03/apache-stronghold-us-give-away-would.html
#SaveOakFlat #ChichilBiłdagoteel #CorporateColonialism #ProtectOakFlat #ReaderSupportedNews #SCOTUS #DefendTheSacred #CopperMine
#WaterIsLife #ResolutionCopper #RioTinto #RecycleCopper #CulturalGenocide #NoMiningWithoutConsent #RecycleCopper

#OakFlat Update on #USSupremeCourt case!

By #ApacheStronghold, December 16, 2024

Supreme Court update

"Thank you to all of our supporters who are continuing to pray about our #SupremeCourt petition to #ProtectOakFlat. As you may know, the Supreme Court considered our petition for the second time at its conference on December 13, 2024. Since we did not receive notice about it’s decision to take the case, the Court intends to consider it again at its next conference on January 10, 2025. Under that schedule, we could hear on January 10 or 13 whether the Court will take our case. Or the Court may take additional time for further consideration.

"Either way, we take this as an encouraging sign that the Court is devoting extra time to our case and giving it careful examination. We ask all of our supporters to continue praying that the Justices will agree to hear our case and protect Oak Flat—just as the sacred places of other faiths have long been protected throughout the country.

Thank you again for your support."

Source:
http://www.apache-stronghold.com/

Direct link to PDF:
http://users.neo.registeredsite.com/8/3/2/11897238/assets/2024-12-16_Dr_Nosie_2nd_relist_statement.pdf
#SaveOakFlat #SCOTUS #ProtectOakFlat #ReaderSupportedNews #DefendTheSacred #CopperMine
#WaterIsLife #ResolutionCopper #RioTinto #RecycleCopper #CorporateColonialism #PrayerRide #CulturalGenocide

#OakFlat Update on #USSupremeCourt case!

By #ApacheStronghold, via #CensoredNews, December 9, 2024

"Thank you to all of our supporters who are continuing to pray about our Supreme Court petition to protect Oak Flat. As you may know, the Supreme Court considered our petition for the first time at its conference on December 6, 2024.

"However, we received word today that the Court intends to consider it again at the Court’s next conference on December 13, 2024. Under that schedule, we could hear on December 13 or 16 whether the Court will take our case. Or the Court may take additional time for further consideration.

"Either way, we take this as an encouraging sign that the Court is devoting extra time to our case and giving it careful examination. We ask all of our supporters to continue praying that the Justices will agree to hear our case and protect Oak Flat—just as the sacred places of other faiths have long been protected throughout the country. Thank you again for your support."

Source:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/12/apache-stronghold-us-supreme-court.html

Donate:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/stand-with-apache-stronghold-protect-sacred-sites

More info:
http://www.apache-stronghold.com

#SaveOakFlat #SCOTUS #ProtectOakFlat #ReaderSupportedNews #DefendTheSacred #CopperMine
#WaterIsLife #ResolutionCopper #RioTinto #RecycleCopper #CorporateColonialism #PrayerRide #CulturalGenocide

#OakFlat Update on #USSupremeCourt case!

by #ApacheStronghold, via #CensoredNews, December 6, 2024

"Thank you to all of our supporters who are continuing to pray about Supreme Court petition to protect Oak Flat. Our case was not mentioned in today's Supreme Court orders list. However, we may get a decision by the Court to take our case by Monday 7:30 a.m. Central time. We will update you again on Monday morning.

We will take this an encouraging sign that the Court is devoting extra time to our case and giving it careful examination. We ask all of our supporters to continue praying the the Justices will agree to hear our case the protect Oak Flat -- just as the sacred places of other faiths have lon been protected through the country. Thank you again for your support."

https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/12/apache-stronghold-update-on-us-supreme.html

#SaveOakFlat #SCOTUS #ProtectOakFlat #ReaderSupportedNews
#DefendTheSacred #CopperMine
#WaterIsLife #ResolutionCopper #RioTinto #RecycleCopper #CorporateColonialism
#PrayerRide #CulturalGenocide

U.S. Supreme Court to Consider #ApacheStronghold's Case to #SaveOakFlat in December

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, Nov. 22, 2024

WASHINGTON -- "The U.S. Supreme Court will likely consider Apache Stronghold's case on December 6, Apache Stronghold said today. The U.S. government plans to turn Apaches ceremonial place Oak Flat over to an international mining giant to destroy it with a massive copper mine that would poison the land and water.
Apache Stronghold said if the Supreme Court considers the case on December 6, they could hear on December 9 whether the high court will take the case, or it could take more time to consider it.

"'Either way, we take this as an encouraging sign that the Court is devoting extra time to our case and
giving it careful examination. We ask all of our supporters to continue praying that the justices will agree to hear our case and protect Oak Flat -- just as the sacred places of other faiths have long
been protected throughout the country,' Apache Stronghold said today.

"The Supreme Court had scheduled to consider the case for review on November 22, but rescheduled the case for December 6.

"Apache Stronghold's Wendsler Nosie, Sr. pointed out that a writ of certiorari would order the lower court to forward all documents on the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. However, the Supreme Court is selective and only hears cases when at least four of the justices believe the case raises a significant federal question that is in the public interest."

Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/11/us-supreme-court-to-review-apache.html

#ReaderSupportedNews #ProtectOakFlat #DefendTheSacred #SCOTUS #CopperMine #WaterIsLife #OakFlat #ResolutionCopper #RioTinto #RecycleCopper #CorporateColonialism #PrayerRide #CulturalGenocide

O'odham Woman Becomes Hero When Genocide Joe Comes to Town

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, Oct. 25, 2024

"In the #GilaRiver Indian Community today, Biden claimed to be issuing an apology to #NativeAmerican children who were victims of U.S. #BoardingSchools. His glory campaign was short-lived.

"As Biden spoke, an O'odham woman held up this sign: 'There Are Still Babies in Mass Graves. Your Apology Means Nothing!! #LandBack!'

"Calling out to Biden, she said, 'What about the people in #Gaza! What about the people in #Palestine?'

"'How can you apologize for a #genocide while actively committing a genocide in Palestine! #FreePalestine.'

"Security removed her."

Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/10/oodham-woman-becomes-hero-when-genocide.html

#NoMiningWithoutConsent #TruthAndReconciliation #Hulapai #ProtectHaKamwe #ProtectThackerPass #SaveOakFlat #RioTinto #CulturalGenocide #DefendTheSacred #StolenChildren #MMIW #WhiteMesa #LosAlamos #BigMountain

The Silent Killers in #IndianCountry: #Copper, #Lithium, #Uranium and #Plutonium

Judge finds plutonium plants in #NewMexico and #SouthCarolina violated environmental laws

By #BrendaNorrell, #CensoredNews, Oct. 10, 2024

"The U.S. government's plan for increased plutonium production at #LosAlamos National Laboratory, in the heart of Pueblo lands in northern New Mexico, has been delayed by a federal judge.

"Continuing the U.S. legacy of poisoning Indian country with #radiation, this comes as the U.S. government is granting leases to foreign #mining companies targeting Native #sacred lands and communities.

"#CopperMining is targeting San CarlosApache's sacred #OakFlat; #Hualapai are suing the US Department of Interior to halt lithium mining at their sacred spring Ha'Kamwe'; and the U.S. government is promoting the ongoing digging into the #Paiute Massacre Site in northern Nevada for #lithium, in violation of all federal laws that protect Native religious and historic sites, the environment and endangered species.

"Uranium mining in the Grand Canyon threatens #Havasupai's aquifer, the haul route endangers everyone in the Four Corners region, and the uranium mill at White Mesa Ute in #Utah is poisoning #Utes.

"Interior Sec. #DebHaaland said in Farmington, N.M., that Los Alamos Labs would be the leader in the so-called '#GreenEnergy transition' in the #FourCorners region.

"More than 500 radioactive #UraniumMill sites remain on the #NavajoNation that have not been cleaned up by the U.S. #EPA, which deceives the public by announcing plans and promises to clean up the #ColdWar sites.

"In the current federal lawsuit, a federal judge in South Carolina ruled that U.S. energy officials illegally neglected to study impacts to the #environment in efforts to increase plutonium production for nuclear weapons in New Mexico and South Carolina.

"'South Carolina District Court Judge Mary Geiger Lewis sided with environmental, #AntiNuclear proliferation and community groups last week who sued the National Nuclear Security Administration (#NNSA), which oversees the nuclear weapons stockpile as part of the U.S. Department of Energy [#DOE],' reports Source New Mexico.

"The U.S. is investing billions into restarting the manufacture of #PlutoniumPits, the grapefruit-sized spheres developed for #nuclear weapons. The plutonium is produced from uranium.

"'The federal government halted its manufacturing program at the #RockyFlatsPlant in #Colorado in 1989 after an FBI raid due to safety concerns and #EnvironmentalCrimes,' Source New Mexico reports.

"The U.S. government's #AtomicBombTesting in #Nevada left a trail of cancer and death for #WesternShoshone. The documentary 'Downwind' reveals the truth.

"'This is a very serious issue and that's why I can't let it go. I can't move on. People say, 'oh, why don't you just let it go?' Because it's killing my family. It's killing my land. It's killing my people. And that will not stand. It's being done in secret. And killing Indians in secret will not stand,' said Ian Zabarte, Principal Man of the Western Bands of the #ShoshoneNation of Indians. Zabarte is featured in '#Downwind' about radiation poisoning from U.S. #NuclearTests.

"Currently, foreign companies -- which receive the profits and find it easy to avoid clean up and responsibility for #environmental crimes and deaths from #cancer -- are receiving the mining leases from the U.S. government. The leases are granted by the U.S. Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and in the case of #UraniumMining in the #GrandCanyon, it is the USDA's Forestry Service. #Biden's attorneys have joined the lawsuit with #RioTinto to devastate #OakFlat.

"Australian and Canadian mining corporations are devastating Native lands and communities, poisoning the water and causing widespread cancer.
Rio Tinto, targeting Apaches #OakFlat, is an Australian company which destroyed 46,000 years of #Aboriginal sacred history in caves in #Australia.

"Another Australian mining company is targeting #Hualapai's sacred site. It is #Hawstone / #ArizonaLithium, in Perth, Australia.

"#EnergyFuels, now uranium mining in the Grand Canyon, and operating the uranium mill at #WhiteMesaUte, is a Canadian company. Another Canadian company is digging into the #Paiute Massacre Site. It is #LithiumAmericas.
#Hopi judge #DianeHumetewa granted a temporary restraining order to halt the lithium mining at #Hualapai's sacred spring."

Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/10/the-silent-killers-in-indian-country.html

#NoUraniumMining #CopperMining #LithiumMining #NoMiningWithoutConsent #EnvironmentalRacism #NoWar #NoNukes #NuclearWeapons #RecycleCopper #RecycleLithium #WaterIsLife #NuclearWaste #DefendTheSacred #WhiteMesaMill #Ute #AtomicBomb #CulturalGenocide #Genocide #FirstNations #NativeAmericanNews #SuperfundSites #ToxicWaste #SaveOakFlat #OpenPitMining #Pollution #ReaderSupportedNews

Federal Judge #DianeHumetewa, #Hopi, is First to Halt Interior Sec. #DebHaaland's #Lithium Drilling Permits in #Native #Ceremonial Places

By #BrendaNorrell, #CensoredNews, Sept. 18, 2024

"Federal Judge Diane Humetewa, Hopi, is the first federal judge to halt the lithium permits being given out by Interior Sec. Deb Haaland. Humetewa granted a temporary restraining order halting an Australian company's lithium drilling at #Hualapai's Sacred Spring.

"Now, U.S. District Judge Humetewa will rule on whether to make it permanent. Humetewa is the first to ask attorneys to submit arguments concerning the federal laws that protect historic and archaeological sites and the environment.

"Judge Humetewa gave lawyers on both sides until next Tuesday to summarize their arguments and more specifically respond to questions she asked about the government’s compliance with the #NationalHistoricPreservationAct and the #NationalEnvironmentalPolicyAct.

"#Biden's Justice Dept attorneys joined the drillers in court to argue for the drilling to proceed. And the #NavajoTransitionalEnergyCompany, a tribal enterprise in Farmington, NM, plans to do the drilling. CEO #VernLund has joined the board of the Australian-owned company #Hawkstone / #ArizonaLithium of Perth, Australia.

"In a separate case, the #TohonoOodham and #SanCarlosApache have filed a lawsuit against Interior Sec. Haaland for the bulldozers now destroying ancient village sites, #burial places and #MedicineGrounds in southern #Arizona. A Tucson federal judge refused to halt the destruction by the #SunZia Transmission Lines, for a wind energy project that plans to take electricity from New Mexico to California. The wind energy company, #PattenEnergy, is owned by the #CanadianPensionFund.

"The lithium drilling continues at the #Paiute Massacre Site in northern Nevada by the Canadian-owned #LithiumAmericas / #LithiumNevada. #Paiute and #Shoshone elderly and mothers have been charged in a court case for defending the grounds where their ancestors remain. #Haaland said she supports the #LithiumMining.

"#ApacheStronghold filed a case before the U.S. #SupremeCourt [#SCOTUS] this week, to halt the planned destruction of their ceremonial place, #OakFlat in Arizona, targeted for a massive copper mine by Australia's #RioTinto and #BHP, and pushed by the Biden administration. Rio Tinto already blew up 46,000 years of sacred #Aboriginal teachings in caves in #Australia. Rio Tinto was forced to admit widespread sexual attacks in its mines, with the highest number in Australia and #SouthAfrica."

Source:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/09/federal-judge-humetewa-hopi-is-first-to.html

#DefendTheSacred #ReaderSupportedNews #NoMiningWithoutConsent #NoLithiumMining #EnvironmentalRacism #environment #Greenwashing #EVs #WaterIsLife #NoLithiumMiningWithoutConsent #HumanRights #WaterIsLife #HumanRightsDefenders #IndigenousActivists #CorporateColonialism #SaveOakFlat
#CulturalGenocide #EnvironmentalRacism #ExtractiveMining

Want to help support #ApacheStronghold's #PrayerJourney to the #SupremeCourt? Donate to their #GoFundMe #fundraiser!

Support #ApacheStronghold Prayer Journey to Supreme Court

"Apache Stronghold, San Carlos, Arizona, is a 501(c)3 nonprofit community organization of individuals who come together in unity to battle continued colonization, defend Holy sites and freedom of religion. We are currently in a battle to #SaveOakFlat from destruction by #ResolutionCopper (#BHP & #RioTinto). Chi’chil Biłdagoteel (also known as Oak Flat) is a sacred site for our Apache people and many other #NativeAmericans. This is a place that has special significance— a place where we pray, collect water and medicinal plants for ceremonies, gather acorns and other foods, and honor those that are buried here.

"We received the response from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Our request to be heard by the full 29-judge panel was denied, none of the judges requesting a vote for rehearing. The Court amended its decision to discuss a previous Supreme Court decision that hadn’t been considered, and the 9th Circuit’s decision on the case remained closely divided, 6 to 5, with five dissenting judges and over 240 pages of opinions. We have now completed the 9th Circuit appeal, and the next step is petitioning to be heard by the Supreme Court. I want to thank everyone for your endless support and prayers. I know capitalism had began as far back as when trade began. For over 500 hundred years, we #IndigenousPeople of America, have suffered equally to the rest of the world. What had started in the beginning between good and evil will again face each other. One, to protect the greatest gift god gave the world or the other.,to destroy every human life and the spirit that #MotherEarth gives birth to. The question is, where will you stand in this moment? We will all be judged. Blessings to all.

SUPPORTING APACHE STRONGHOLD AT THE U.S. SUPREME COURT

"Apache Stronghold is grateful for the outpouring of support for our efforts to protect Oak Flat. As our case heads to the Supreme Court, one way to support Apache Stronghold is for interested organizations to file an amicus brief (also called a friend-of-the-court brief) at the Supreme Court.

"The Prayer Journey to Supreme Court [began] July 12 beginning in Seattle, then to #ThackerPass, California, West coast, Arizona, New Mexico, .........and onwards toward Washington DC. This prayer journey will a couple months and visits many supporting organizations, Tribes, churches, religious sites and people for prayers as we cross this Country. The Supreme Court filing is set for September 11, 2024. Apache Stronghold vs United States."

Donate:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/stand-with-apache-stronghold-protect-sacred-sites

More info:
http://www.apache-stronghold.com

#SCOTUS #ProtectOakFlat #DefendTheSacred #SanCarlosApache #ChichilBildagoteel #CopperMine #ProtectOakFlat
#ProtectTheSacred #DefendTheSacred
#IndigenousActivism
#SaveOakFlat #WaterIsLife #SacredSite #CopperMining
#RecycleCopper #NoMiningWithoutConsent
#CulturalGenocide
#Ecocide #NativeAmericanNews
#CorporateColonialism
#WashingtonDC
#PrayerRide #PeacefulProtest
#FightForReligiousRights

#ApacheStronghold's #PrayerJourney to the #SupremeCourt [#SCOTUS] to Stop the Shattering of Human Existence and Protect #MotherEarth.

Join Apache Stronghold on Prayer Journey to Supreme Court: Sept. 8 -- Sept. 11, 2024 in DC Area

On the Journey to the Supreme Court

https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/09/join-apache-stronghold-on-prayer.html

#PeeHeeMuhuh #NoCopperMiningWithoutConsent #IndigenousPeoples #IndigenousNews #RioTinto CopperMine #BHP #Apache #NDAA #BigMountain #CulturalGenocide #Genocide #Arizona #ChichilBildagoteel #RioTinto #CopperMine #SanCarlosApache #Arizona #ProtectOakFlat #protectthesacred #DefendTheSacred #IndigenousActivism #SaveOakFlat #WaterIsLife #SacredSite #CopperMining #RecycleCopper #MiningWithoutConsent #ProtectTheSacred #CulturalGenocide #Ecocide #NativeAmericanNews #Greenwashing #NoMiningWithoutConsent #CorporateColonialism #WashingtonDC #PrayerRide #PeacefulProtest #FightForReligiousRights

#ApacheStronghold #PrayerJourney to #SupremeCourt: Oak Flat Mirrors National Struggle for Sacred

By Apache Stronghold, #CensoredNews, August 30, 2024

"On July 11th, 2024, the Apache Stronghold started the journey of prayer to the Supreme Court to stop the shattering of human existence and to protect #MotherEarth. We have traveled, held ceremonies and gathered prayers from Tribes, Communities, Churches, and people in support of saving Oak Flat and religious freedom and protections for all. We began in the Northwest, West Coast, South, Mid- west to the East to gather in Washington DC at the Supreme Court on September 11.

"We are appealing a lower court ruling that would have allowed the total destruction of Oak Flat by allowing the land to be transferred to #ResolutionCopper, a foreign owned company, owned by #BHP and #RioTinto.
We will appeal Apache Stronghold v. United States to the U.S. Supreme Court on September 11. The case involves the federal government’s planned destruction of Oak Flat—known in Apache as Chi'chil Biłdagoteel —a sacred site where Western Apaches and other Native peoples have worshipped since time immemorial. Oak Flat is the birthplace of our religion and the site of sacred ceremonies that cannot take place anywhere else.

"The United States is now planning to transfer ownership of Oak Flat to Resolution Copper, a foreign- owned mining company that plans to destroy it. Resolution’s mine will swallow Oak Flat in a two-mile- wide, 1,100-foot-deep crater, ending Apache religious practices forever.

"Our lawsuit challenges the destruction of Oak Flat as a violation of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (#RFRA), #TheUSConstitution, and the #1852Treaty with the #WesternApaches. In March, the sharply divided Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, by a 6-5 vote, ruled that the obliteration of Oak Flat does not amount to a 'substantial burden' on our religious exercise and that the Constitution and federal civil rights laws do not apply to the government’s disposition of 'its own land.'

"In September, we will ask the Supreme Court to correct this ruling and hold that federal law protects Oak Flat. The stakes could not be any higher. If the Ninth Circuit’s ruling is allowed to stand, the United States will be allowed to destroy Oak
Flat and any other sacred site with impunity. If the Supreme Court rules in our favor, it will ensure that #NativeAmericans receive the same protection for our religious freedom that all other religious groups across the country already enjoy. A decision in the case is expected in 2025.

"Dr. Wendsler Nosie Sr. explained, 'what saddens me, what I have witnessed going through #reservations, towns, sitting with and discussing with many people across this country, is seeing that when it comes to the #environment, it’s not being protected. When we talked about water or land, it not only affects Oak Flats but many places have been affected by Acts of Congress, the cities are no different. The United States does not protect the environment by bypassing the laws that they enacted, I have seen devastation across this country, the government pursuing unproven endeavors overlooking it’s peoples essential liberties. We need to come together on this court case, our spirituality and the survival of the earth are at stake, the suffering of the people is what we are bringing to the Supreme court.
This is an invitation to participate in the Apache Stronghold’s #DayOfPrayer on September 11, 2024, at the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C."

Source:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/08/apache-stronghold-prayer-journey-to.html

FMI:
http://www.apache-stronghold.com/

#SCOTUS #SaveOakFlat #SanCarlosApache #Arizona #ProtectOakFlat #DefendTheSacred #IndigenousActivism #WaterIsLife #SacredSites #RecycleCopper #MiningWithoutConsent #ProtectTheSacred #CulturalGenocide #Ecocide #NativeAmericanNews #IndigenousActivism #NoMiningWithoutConsent #CorporateColonialism #ChichilBiłdagoteel #RespectTheTreaties

#LisjanNation Welcome #ApacheStronghold, on the #PrayerJourney to the #SupremeCourt

By Báásé Pike, Photos by Molly Peters, #CensoredNews, August 12, 2024

CONFEDERATED VILLAGES of LISJAN NATION -- "On August 8th, the Apache Stronghold gathered with the Confederated Villages of #Lisjan Nation for prayers. We were welcomed with open arms to the sacred site of the Lisjan people. Corrina Gould, the leader of the Confederated Villages of Lisjan Nation spoke about the history of the site.

"'It was heartbreaking to learn their #SacredSite was one of the oldest village and ancestral burial sites that was taken over for #CorporateGreed. After many years the people took their sacred land back through a legal battle and purchasing.

"'Throughout this journey, we are reminded of the system that only cares for #colonists’ profits first. Their land was taken forcefully and then made them, the #IndigenousPeople people buy the land that was once their home. This is what the fight is about.

“'As #IndigenousPeople, we know through our history and culture that there is a spiritual connection to the land but this is what the United States wants us to prove in court. However, this case scares the U.S. because they’ll have to answer the question about spirituality. This case makes the United States confront the wrongdoing of the Indigenous people and all people.'

"So, we ask you to please keep us in your prayers as we continue our prayer journey to the #SupremeCourt to stop the shattering of the human existence and to protect #MotherEarth."

Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/08/lisjan-welcome-apache-stronghold-on.html

#RioTinto #BHP #CopperMine #CopperMining #NDAA #CulturalGenocide #Genocide #Arizona #ChichilBildagoteel #SanCarlosApache #Arizona #ProtectOakFlat #DefendTheSacred #IndigenousActivism #SCOTUS #SaveOakFlat
#WaterIsLife #SacredSite #RecycleCopper #MiningWithoutConsent
#ProtectTheSacred #CulturalGenocide #Ecocide #NativeAmericanNews
#IndigenousNews
#Greenwashing #NoMiningWithoutConsent #CorporateColonialism #ReaderSupportedNews

[Film] The #ApacheStronghold defending #sacred #OakFlat land from a #CopperMine

The Real News Network
May 21, 2024

"In the heart of the #Arizona high desert lies a battle for the soul of the land. The ancient, sacred grounds of #Apache #Native territory are under threat from a looming giant — a massive copper mine that promises riches for the locals, and a pathway to the so-called green transition. But, as is often the case, it comes at a cost.

"The #SanCarlosApache tribe calls it Chi’chil Bildagoteel; English speakers call it Oak Flat. It sits on a mountainous plateau within a 17.3-kilometer oasis in the #TontoNationalForest. #RioTinto and #BHP, two of the world’s biggest mining companies, have staked their claim here through a joint venture called #ResolutionCopper. For over 10 years they’ve been lobbying governments for the right to build a colossal mine that would cover roughly 7,000 acres of surface area, and extend more than a mile into the ground.

"The only thing that stands in their way is the #resistance of the Apache Stronghold, a nonprofit community organization of #Natives and non-Natives uniting to counter ongoing #colonization, defend holy sites and protect freedom of religion, which was created to protect Chi’chil Bildagoteel.

"A short film by #BrandiMorin and #GeordieDay for #RicochetMedia. Support for this journalism provided by #CulturalSurvival."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCIGlv0xu_U

#ChichilBildagoteel #RioTinto #CopperMine #SanCarlosApache #Arizona #ProtectOakFlat #protectthesacred #DefendTheSacred #IndigenousActivism #SCOTUS #SaveOakFlat
#WaterIsLife #SacredSite #CopperMining #RecycleCopper #MiningWithoutConsent
#ProtectTheSacred #CulturalGenocide #Ecocide #NativeAmericanNews
#IndigenousNews
#Greenwashing #NoMiningWithoutConsent #CorporateColonialism

#Juukan Gorge is named after a #PuutuKuntiKurrama ancestor.

On May 2020 47,000 years of heritage was blasted by Rio (Stinko) Tinto - plundering and polluting for profit regardless of the social and environmental consequences.

https://theconversation.com/the-first-published-results-from-juukan-gorge-show-47-000-years-of-aboriginal-heritage-was-destroyed-in-mining-blast-234806

#FirstNations #RioTinto

In May 2020, as part of a legally sanctioned expansion of an #ironore mine, #RioTinto destroyed an ancient rockshelter at #Juukan Gorge in Puutu Kunti Kurrama Country, located in the #Pilbara region of #WesternAustralia. The initial published findings from Juukan Gorge reveal that 47,000 years of Aboriginal heritage were obliterated in the #mining blast.
#HistoryInRuins #LocalHistory #Australia

https://theconversation.com/the-first-published-results-from-juukan-gorge-show-47-000-years-of-aboriginal-heritage-was-destroyed-in-mining-blast-234806

via #CensoredNews

New Film! #ApacheStronghold Protecting #OakFlat from #CopperMine

The #Apache stronghold standing in the way of a copper mine that would desecrate a #SacredSite

By Ricochet Media
Watch now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZucwkizByk

"In the heart of the #Arizona high desert lies a battle for the soul of the land. The ancient, sacred grounds of Apache Native territory are under threat from a looming giant — a massive copper mine that promises riches for the locals, and a pathway to the so-called green transition. But, as is often the case, it comes at a cost.

"The #SanCarlosApache tribe calls it Chi’chil Bildagoteel, English speakers call it Oak Flat. It sits on a mountainous plateau within a 17.3-kilometer oasis in the #TontoNationalForest. Rio Tinto and #BHP, two of the world’s biggest mining companies, have staked their claim here through a joint venture called #ResolutionCopper.

"For over 10 years they’ve been lobbying governments for the right to build a colossal #mine that would cover roughly 7,000 acres of surface area, and extend more than a mile into the ground. The only thing that stands in their way is the resistance of the Apache Stronghold, a nonprofit community organization of Natives and non-Natives uniting to counter ongoing colonization, defend holy sites and protect freedom of religion, which was created to protect Chi’chil Bildagoteel.

Read the full story on Ricochet Media. https://ricochet.media/indigenous/brandi-morin-the-apache-stronghold-standing-in-the- way-of-a-massive-copper-mine/
at May 14, 2024

https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/05/new-film-apache-stronghold-protecting.html

#SaveOakFlat #RioTinto #ReaderSupportedNews #RichochetMedia #BrandiMorin #Cree #NativeAmericanNews #IndigenousNews #Greenwashing #NoMiningWithoutConsent #CopperMine

[Photos] #PrayerHorseRide to Peehee Mu'huh

Nanesootuhina Pookoo Goobakatudu

#CensoredNews, March 28, 2024
Photos by Melissa Robles-Dyer

Peehee Mu'huh (#ThackerPass) -- "The Prayer Horse Ride, March 17-26, began in Schurz on its jouney to Peehee Mu’huh, Thacker Pass. The ride is in the traditional, ancestral and #unceded lands of the #Paiute, #Shoshone and #Bannock.

"'We do this prayer ride to reconnect our way of life,' said #JoshDiniSr., #WalkerRiverPaiute, #WaterProtector and #PrayerHorseRider.

"The Prayer Horse Ride is to raise awareness about #LithiumMining in #McDermittCaldera, and also #CopperMining in the #PineNutHills, in remembrance of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women/People (#MMIW / #MMIP). Riders are revitalizing cultural identity, languages and lifeways in #Indigenous communities."

https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/03/prayer-horse-ride-to-peehee-muhuh.html

#ProtectThackerPass #IndigenousActivism #IndigenousPeoples #PeeheeMuhuh #NoLithiumMining #EnvironmentalRacism #RecycleElectronics #RecycleLithium #LandBack #TraditionalLands #LithiumNevada #LithiumAmerica #RioTinto #CorporateColonialism

[Film] #Walkatjurra : Our actions will never stop

Chile, 2023, Director: Francisca Silva Bravo, Co-Director and Writer: Carole Risler, Producer: Alessandra Cristina, documentary, 1 hour 11 minutes, English, French, Spanish

"It is the 70th anniversary of the first nuclear test in #IndigenousAustralian territory and the #aboriginal communities call on activists from all over the world to carry out a 200 km #AntiNuclear walk through the desert. Among them, the directors of this documentary join to record this walk, which seeks to end the extraction of #uranium, the mineral with which atomic bombs are produced. What attitude will we take as humanity in the face of the possibility of creation and destruction?

"Francisca Silva Bravo is an independent documentary maker from Chile. "Walkatjurra: Our actions will never stop", is a 2023 documentary co-directed by the French filmmaker Carole Risler. This was shot in some Australian aboriginal territories, where uranium is mined. Walkatjurra is an invitation from the directors to meditate on a more non-violent culture to protect life and its evolution."

https://vimeo.com/688995289

#Australia #Downwinders
#UraniumFilmFestival #WaterIsLife #NoNukes
#NoWar #NoUraniumMining #EnvironmentalRacism #UraniumPollution #RioTinto #LandBack #IndigenousLands #IndigenousActivism #InternationalUraniumFilmFestival

#Indigenous leaders: #PlanetaryHealth and #IndigenousHealth are interdependent

On day two of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the climate crisis that #IndigenousPeoples are overwhelmingly expected to bear was highlighted.

by Jenna Kunze April 19, 2023

"Indigenous peoples around the globe agree that their health and the health of the planet are interdependent and in jeopardy. On day two of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, or UNPFII, this fact — that Indigenous people make up 5% of the world’s population but are responsible for 80% of its biodiversity — was repeated again and again by global Indigenous leaders.

"'As we are all aware, Indigenous peoples have least contributed to the problems of climate change nonetheless, due to their interdependence with their vital environment in their ecosystems, they suffer at its worst effects,' said Francisco Cali Tzay on Tuesday, a #Mayan #Cakchiquel from #Guatemala and the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous peoples. The Special Rapporteur keeps tabs on Indigenous peoples globally and reports back to The United Nations Commission on Human Rights on best practices.

"This year’s theme: human health, planetary and territorial health, and climate change gave attendees an opportunity to talk about the shortcomings of governments and non-Indigenous leaders. Others called upon the Permanent Forum to take action.

"#SanCarlosApache Tribal Chairman, Terry Rambler, drew attention to a “major human rights violation” happening at #OakFlat, a sacred area within #Arizona’s #TontoNationalForest where #ResolutionCopper — a joint venture of two mining giants #BHPBilliton and #RioTinto — seeks to develop one of the largest #CopperMines in North America.

"'Apache people have lived, prayed and died at Oak Flat from time immemorial,'
Rambler said. 'Every person by virtue of being human has the right to practice their religion. By violating the rights of Apaches to practice our religion and maintain our spiritual health and wellbeing, the United States is failing to comply with international standards incumbent on them.'

"'By violating the rights of Apaches to practice our religion and maintain our spiritual health and wellbeing, the United States is failing to comply with international standards incumbent on them.'

"#Sámi youth from #Finland, #Sweden and #Norway called upon the Permanent Forum to urgently turn their attention to green transition projects in #Sápmi, the traditional territory of the Sámi, which stretches across the Nordic countries and into Russia.

"'In the name of saving the planet, the Nordic states are digging into our #mountains, drilling holes into our rocks, and making it impossible for Sámi to practice our #traditional livelihoods,' said Elle Rávdná Näkkäläjärvi, a spokesperson for the delegation. 'What is being shown to the world as a shift to sustainability is just #Nordic #colonialism hiding behind a new kind of mask.'

"In 2021, Norway’s Supreme Court stripped the operating license of the Fosen Vind project on Norway’s west coast after ruling it was built illegally and violated the Sámi’s human rights, and in January, a Swedish state-owned mining company found 'vast amounts of #RareEarthMinerals' it could mine to decrease dependency on #China. That mining, however, would 'devastate the local Sámi community,' the Sámi youth said.

"'We demand the Nordic states to immediately halt the ongoing human rights violations against the Sámi,' they said. 'We plead the global Indigenous community to notice this green colonialism.'

"The #GlobalIndigenousYouthCaucus — composed of Indigenous youth from all seven regions within the UN — also made waves on Tuesday, calling on the Permanent Forum and the General Assembly to assist in perpetuating ancestral knowledge by enforcing an intergenerational Indigenous advisory group for bodies of the United Nations. That advisory group could share and apply #TraditionaKnowledge and #IndigenousMethodologies within UN agencies, such as the World Health Organization.

"'Environmental destruction not only contributes to #ClimateChange , but also impedes on our ability to access to traditional knowledge, traditional medicines, sacred sites, and traditional practices,' The Global Indigenous Youth Caucus spokesperson said. 'As Indigenous youth, we are future bearers of knowledge, and we hold both the knowledge of our ancestors, and our descendants.'

"Indigenous Rights Governance partner at the New Zealand Human Rights Commission, Claire Charters, gave an intervention about the disproportionate risks #Māori people are facing in a changing landscape.

"'We must ensure that Māori are centered in the discussions on mitigation and adapting to climate change, and that Indigenous knowledge is more deliberately considered,' Charters, who is Māori, said. 'Climate change is accelerating the severity and frequency of major weather events. We must act with urgency to understand the risks and minimize the impact on our lands, territories, cultural infrastructures, and the overall well being of our Indigenous communities.'

"Climate will remain a central theme in the upcoming days of the UNPFII. Tomorrow, the Native Women’s Association of Canada will host a session on 'Indigenous Women’s Perspectives On the Burning Issues of Climate Change', and the International Indian Treaty Council will join with other Indigenous Peoples Organizations to discuss the contentious conservation goal of 30×30 and how it violates the rights of Indigenous Peoples."

https://www.hcn.org/articles/indigenous-affairs-climate-change-indigenous-leaders-indigenous-health-and-planetary-health-are-interdependent/

#WaterIsLife #ClimateCatastrophe #LandBack #LandDefenders #Koyaanisqatsi #LifeOutOfBalance #SaveThackerPass #LandBack #IndigenousRights #ExtinctionRebellion #LastStand #TheStand

ICYMI - From 2021:

#Trump Administration Rushes to Trade Sacred #OakFlat to #RioTinto for Massive #Arizona #CopperMine

TUCSON, Ariz.— "The U.S. Forest Service has announced it will release a final version of its environmental analysis of the proposed #ResolutionCopper Project and Land Exchange on Jan. 15, a year ahead of schedule. The proposed #mine site is on #Apache sacred ground in the #TontoNationalForest in central Arizona.

"'Oak Flat is far too important to be sacrificed for corporate profit,' said Randy Serraglio, a conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. 'We can’t let a corrupt president destroy this precious place on his way out the door. We’ll do everything possible to protect Oak Flat.'

"If the final environmental analysis is published, the federal government will have up to 60 days to transfer the land to international mining giant Rio Tinto, which plans to destroy it with a huge copper mine.

"The Oak Flat land exchange is one of several environmentally damaging projects around the United States that the Trump administration is rushing to approve before the president leaves office.

"Forest Service officials have admitted they are 'getting pressure from the highest levels' of the Trump administration to rush the final environmental impact statement to publication. Calendar records obtained by The New York Times show Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross met with Rio Tinto executives at least three times and made a site visit to Oak Flat in October that included a speech to promote the proposed mine. That trip came just a week after the Forest Service announced it was accelerating the timeline for publication of the final environmental analysis by a year.

"'This is the most corrupt presidential administration in modern U.S. history by any measure,' said Serraglio. 'The betrayal of Oak Flat and Native people is typical of the kleptocracy we’ve been watching for four years now. It’s sickening that the Trump administration would commit this kind of cultural genocide for the sake of private profit.”

Background

"Oak Flat has been used for centuries by Apache and other Native people for ceremony, sustenance and habitation, and ceremonies are still conducted there. Several tribes consider it sacred, including the nearby San Carlos Apache Tribe, which has opposed the proposed Resolution Mine for more than 15 years. Oak Flat is also a popular campground and recreation area in the Tonto National Forest with stunning scenery, world-renowned rock climbing, and important habitat for a diverse array of wildlife, including endangered plants, fish, snakes and birds."

Source:
https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/trump-administration-rushes-trade-sacred-oak-flat-rio-tinto-massive-arizona-copper-mine-2021-01-07/

#MAGA #ReligiousFreedom #Hypocrisy #SacredSite #SaveOakFlat #IndigenousRights #Apache #LandBack

via @arizonamirror

If #Hobbs is serious about protecting #groundwater, she must work to close the #mining loophole

by Russ McSpadden
February 12, 2024

"In her first State of the State address just over a year ago, Gov. #KatieHobbs was unequivocal about her commitment to tackling one of the state’s greatest challenges: our dwindling #water supply.

“Our groundwater should be used to support #Arizonans, not foreign business interests,” she said in that speech, referring to the Saudi Arabian conglomerate #Fondomonte. Over the past few years, Fondomonte has been pumping unlimited amounts of groundwater in La Paz County for alfalfa crops that it ships to feed cows on the other side of the earth.

"Though the Hobbs administration has already canceled one of Fondomonte’s four leases and says it won’t renew the others when they’re up this month, the problem doesn’t end with Saudi agriculture.

"It’s also mining companies that take advantage of loopholes in the state’s water laws to maximize profit at the expense of Arizonans — including mining giants #RioTinto and# BHP.

"Because of intense pressure from #lobbyists, when lawmakers adopted the much-heralded #ArizonaGroundwaterManagementAct in 1980 they exempted #mines from groundwater regulation, even when located in #ActiveManagement Areas — state-designated areas where groundwater pumping is controlled. That means that mines can pump unlimited amounts of water without paying the state a dime.

"This exemption was controversial in 1980. Today it’s existentially dangerous.

#ResolutionCopper, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto and BHP, is a perfect example. Their proposed mine at #OakFlat — about 70 miles east of #Phoenix in the #TontoNationalForest and within the Phoenix Active Management Area — would pump 250 billion gallons of desert groundwater over the life of the project.

"That’s 17 million gallons of water every day for four decades.

"Under current water prices, that equates to $404 million worth of groundwater that Resolution Copper will get for free. Arizona won’t see a cent for it. And it’s more than likely that the copper ore from Oak Flat will be exported to China for smelting, again depriving local communities of economic benefit.

"This limitless pumping would happen even as the #megadrought that has plagued the #AmericanSouthwest for the past two decades is likely to worsen, straining the #ColoradoRiver and #Gila rivers even more and making us all more reliant on groundwater aquifers.

"If left intact, the mining loophole will facilitate construction of Resolution’s massive mine. The extreme water pumping from the #EastSaltRiverValley will lead to groundwater depletion and subsidence, threatening to deplete wells and damage infrastructure.

"The #CenterForBiologicalDiversity, where I work, has been fighting for decades to stop this mine, and Canadian mining company Hudbay’s disastrous plan to mine for copper in the #SantaRita Mountains south of #Tucson (in the Tucson Active Management Area).

"Both projects would devastate surrounding fragile #ecosystems, pushing endangered species like the #MexicanSpottedOwl closer to the brink of #extinction. They would also destroy sacred #TribalLands and gulp down massive amounts of water when other users are being asked to conserve.

"Handing mines unlimited access to Arizona’s precious desert groundwater would be an injustice to Arizona’s #Tribes and every resident of this state.

"Fortunately, Hobbs has the vision and courage to fight for a secure water future for Arizona. It is time for her to work with legislators to close the mining loophole in Arizona water law and subject mines to the same groundwater pumping limits that apply to other entities within the state’s Active Management Areas.

"We’re hopeful she will work to block #ResolutionCopperMine and other terrible mining projects like #Hudbay’s. At the very least, it’s time for mining giants to pay for the water they use just like the rest of us."

https://azmirror.com/2024/02/12/if-hobbs-is-serious-about-protecting-groundwater-she-must-work-to-close-the-mining-loophole/

#WaterIsLife #HumanRightsViolations #CulturalGenocide #CopperMining #Mining #CorporateColonialism #EnvironmentalRacism #IndigenousNews #SaveOakFlat #IndigenousRights #Apache

Another reason NOT to mine in the American #Southwest! If we need "critical minerals," than RECLAIM THEM FROM CIRCUIT BOARDS AND BATTERIES!

Is the Southwest too dry for a mining boom?

Critical minerals for the #CleanEnergy transition are abundant in the Southwest, but the dozens of mines proposed to access them will require vast sums of water, something in short supply in the desert.

by Wyatt Myskow, Inside Climate News

Jan 28, 2024

"To understand mining in the U.S., you have to start with the #MiningLaw of 1872. President Ulysses S. Grant signed the bill into law as a way to continue the country’s development westward, allowing anyone to mine on federal lands for free. To do this, all one needs to do is plant four stakes into the ground where they think there are minerals and file a claim. Unlike other industries that make use of public lands—such as the oil and gas industry—no royalties are paid for the minerals extracted from the lands owned by American taxpayers.

"The #SanCarlosApache tribe has fought for years to stop #ResolutionCopper’s proposed mine. It would be built on top of #OakFlat, a #SacredSite to the Apache and other #Indigenous communities, and a habitat of rare species like the endangered Arizona #HedgehogCactus, which lives only in the #TontoNationalForest near the town of #Superior. The fate of the mine now rests with the #USDistrictCourt in Arizona after the grassroots group #ApacheStronghold filed a lawsuit to stop it, arguing its development would violate #NativePeople’s religious rights.

"But for communities located near the mine and across the #PhoenixArizona metropolitan area, the water it would consume is just as big of an issue.

"Throughout the mine’s lifespan, Resolution estimates it would use 775,000 acre feet of water—enough for at least 1.5 million Arizona households over roughly 40 years. And experts say the mine would likely need far more.

"'By pumping billions of gallons of groundwater from the #EastSaltRiver alley, this project would make Arizona’s goal for #stewardship of its scarce #groundwater resources unreachable,' one report commissioned by the San Carlos Apache Tribe reads. In one hydrologist’s testimony to Congress, water consumption was estimated to be 50,000 acre feet a year—about 35,000 more than the company has proposed drawing from the aquifer.

"The Resolution #CopperMine isn’t the only water-intensive mining operation being proposed. Many of what the industry describes as 'critical minerals,' like #lithium and copper, are found throughout the Southwest, leading to a flurry of mining claims on the region’s federally managed public lands.

“Water is going to be scarcer in the Southwest but the mining industry is basically immune from all these issues,” said Roger Flynn, director and managing attorney at the #WesternMiningActionProject, which has represented tribes and environmental groups in mining-related lawsuits, including the case over Oak Flat."

Read more:
https://grist.org/drought/is-the-southwest-too-dry-for-a-mining-boom/

#WaterIsLife #SaveOakFlat #Arizona #RioTinto #CopperMining #CorporateColonialism #ClimateChange #ExtremeDrought

ICYMI from 2023: #Biden Moves Forward With #Mining Project That Will Obliterate a Sacred #Apache Religious Site

In court, the feds said #OakFlat would be in the hands of mining giants #RioTinto and #BHP by early summer.

“This is a people matter. This is about the people and their freedom: freedom to be Apache, to be Indigenous, to be Americans.”

by Ryan Devereaux
March 22 2023

"Biden administration attorneys were in court this week to defend a mining project that will obliterate one of the most sacred Apache religious sites in the American Southwest.

"In oral arguments Tuesday, the U.S. Forest Service said it was nearing completion of an environmental impact study that will transfer land east of Phoenix to two of the world’s largest mining companies for the purpose of building one of the largest #copper mines on the planet. The massive project will hinge on the destruction of Chi’chil Biłdagoteel, a plateau otherwise known as Oak Flat, that is sacred to many Native American tribes, particularly the #SanCarlosApache, who consider the area among their most holy of sites.

"In a nearly two-hour hearing, an 11-judge panel on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Pasadena, California, peppered lawyers on both sides of the high-stakes legal fight with an array of complex case law questions raised by the project. Begun nearly two decades ago, the battle for Oak Flat sits at the intersection of Indigenous rights and dispossession, religious liberty, public lands and private sales, and a growing demand for so-called green energy solutions in an era of #ClimateCatastrophe.

"'As the court is aware, this case is not about an agency action. It’s about an act of Congress, in which Congress considered demands on a piece of property, balanced those interests, and made a decision,' said Joan Pepin, an attorney for the Forest Service, the agency that exchanged the land in a controversial deal nearly a decade ago. 'It decided that Oak Flat should be transferred to #ResolutionCopper so the third-largest copper ore deposit in the world can be mined.”

"The legislation in question — the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act — was the product of a proposal then-Arizona Sens. #JohnMcCain and #JeffFlake added to a must-pass defense authorization bill late one night in 2014. The addendum, known as a rider, incurred no congressional debate.

"Described by the San Carlos Apache as a 'midnight backroom deal,' the law transferred Oak Flat to Resolution Copper, a British-Australian concern jointly owned by the extractive giants Rio Tinto and BHP, both of which had sought access to the wildly lucrative ore deposit for years.

"The project centers on a 2,200-acre area known as Oak Flat Campground, part of the #TontoNationalForest, that has served as a centerpiece of Apache #ReligiousCeremony and #cosmology since before settler expansion into the West. To access the ore underneath, Resolution Copper will use a technique known as block cave mining, which over several years will turn the sacred mountain into a two-mile-wide crater deep enough to hide a skyscraper.

"Initiation of construction hinges on the publication of an #EnvironmentalImpact study from the Forest Service, which, under the law passed in 2014, starts a 60-day countdown before the transfer of the land from the federal government to the mining company must happen.

"Luke Goodrich, the lead attorney for Apache Stronghold, an Arizona-based nonprofit that brought the lawsuit to stop the transfer, told the panel of judges that the destruction of Oak Flat was a direct and flagrant violation of the #ReligiousFreedomRestoratioAct. Violation of the statute requires the imposition of a “substantial burden” on a person or group’s ability to practice their faith.

"'A fine is a substantial burden, but here the government is doing something far worse,' Goodrich said, 'not just threatening fines, but authorizing the complete physical destruction of Oak Flat, barring the Apaches from ever accessing it again and ending their core religious exercises forever.'

"In January 2021, five days before leaving office, the administration of President Donald #Trump released a study supporting the creation of the #OakFlatMine. #ApacheStronghold had filed a federal lawsuit seeking a preliminary injunction to stop the project.

"Unsuccessful in the attempt, the group filed an emergency appeal to the 9th Circuit the following month. Six hours before its deadline to respond passed, the Forest Service — by then, in March 2021, under the leadership of President Joe Biden — announced that it was withdrawing the environmental impact study and postponing the land transfer.

"A three-judge panel of 9th Circuit dismissed Apache Stronghold’s case in October 2021 but agreed to hear the case again before a full panel last winter. The unusual decision set the stage for Tuesday’s hearing.

"While the postponement of the project had given opponents of the mine a moment of respite in the long-running battle, the government’s testimony this week confirmed that the Biden administration is moving forward with a new environmental impact study and stands behind the controversial land swap."

Read more:
https://theintercept.com/2023/03/22/oak-flat-mine-arizona-biden/

#HumanRightsViolations #CulturalGenocide #CopperMining #Mining #CorporateColonialism #EnvironmentalRacism #IndigenousNews #SaveOakFlat
#NativeAmericanNews

Sacred #Apache land 'on death row' in standoff with foreign #mining titans

Tribal members in #Arizona are fighting to protect a piece of land they consider their "#MountSinai."

March 3, 2021
By Christine Romo, Cynthia McFadden, Kit Ramgopal and Rich Schapiro

SUPERIOR, Ariz. – "The rugged patch of land known as #OakFlat sits in the #TontoNationalForest. To the #SanCarlosApache Tribe, the 740-acre swath of oak groves and sheer cliffs is sacred ground, a place where they have gone for centuries to hold religious #ceremonies and communicate with the Creator.

"'No different than Mount Sinai,' said Wendsler Nosie Sr., former chairman of the San Carlos Apache.

"But Oak Flat is on a path to destruction.

"The land is scheduled to be transferred to #ResolutionCopper, a company controlled by two foreign mining giants, and turned into one of the largest copper mines in the country. The transfer was set in motion by an eleventh-hour provision slipped into a 2014 defense bill by Arizona's two Republican senators at the time.

"The poverty-stricken San Carlos Apache Tribe is fighting back in court, alleging the land belongs to the tribe and holds special religious significance. But even they worry the path to victory is slim. Resolution Copper has poured $2 billion into the project and has had the U.S. government on its side.

"The dispute has turned into a David-vs.-Goliath-style standoff, drawing in environmental groups and reviving centuries-old questions over land rights involving American Indians.

"'We're still trying to defend who we are,' said Nosie, who has been camped out at Oak Flat for more than a year as part of his mission to stop the mine.

"He sees the conflict as the latest skirmish in his tribe's long fight to maintain its ancient way of life.

"The San Carlos Apache reservation, about 130 miles east of Phoenix, is among the poorest in the country. Four of every 5 families with children live below the federal poverty line, and the unemployment rate is 30 percent, according to a University of Arizona study.

"The reservation is on the outskirts of Tonto National Forest, which is named for the Tonto band of Apaches who lived in the area until the U.S. Army cavalry forcibly removed them in the 1870s.

"Many Apaches became prisoners of war. An untold number refused to surrender and instead jumped to their deaths at a ridge now known as Apache Leap.

"The Oak Flat area has been considered a holy place for thousands of years, the home of spiritual beings known as Ga'an. Apaches go there to pray, to seek personal cleansing and to hold ceremonies that connect them to their ancestors. It is also a popular campground and hiking destination.

"But Oak Flat has long been prized by mining companies. Beneath its surface lies a fortune — one of the largest #copper deposits in the world.

"Oak Flat has been protected under federal law since 1955, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower decreed the area off-limits to mining. President Richard Nixon's Interior Department renewed the ban in 1971, but it added a loophole that allowed for the area to be mined if it was traded to private interests.

"A bill proposing to trade away the land had repeatedly failed to pass both houses of Congress since it was first introduced in 2005.

"But in December 2014, Sens. #JohnMcCain and Jeff Flake of Arizona slipped a last-minute rider into a must-pass defense spending bill. The move amounted to a bonanza for Resolution Copper, which is jointly owned by two mining titans — the #RioTinto Group of the U.K. and #BHPBillitonLtd. of #Australia.

"The bill transferred 2,400 acres of national forestland, including Oak Flat, to Resolution in exchange for 5,300 acres of private land owned by the mining company.

"Flake declined an interview request. McCain, who died in 2018, touted the project in a 2014 op-ed in The Arizona Republic, saying that the mine would generate jobs and boost the local economy and that the land would remain open to tribal members and others until the company breaks ground.

"The legislation stunned and saddened #NaelynPike, a San Carlos Apache tribal member who first testified before Congress in opposition to the arrangement when she was 13.

"'Our cultural identity is being stripped away from us,' said Pike, 21, who is Nosie's granddaughter.

"'No tree can live without its roots,' she said. 'And we're that tree.'"

Read more:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/sacred-apache-land-death-row-standoff-foreign-mining-titans-n1259331

#OakFlat #SaveOakFlat #IndigenousActivism #CulturalGenocide #EnvironmentalRacism #CorporateColonialism #CopperMining #Mining

The Tyee: Amanda Follett Hosgood Wins a Webster Award https://thetyee.ca/Tyeenews/2023/11/15/Amanda-Follett-Hosgood-Wins-2023-Webster-Award-Nechako-Reservoir/ #bcnews #TheTyee - via @[email protected] #MikeRobertsonCheslattaCarrierNation #AmandaFollettHosgoodTyeeReporter #CheslattaCarrierNation #BCTeachers’Federation #UpperCheslattaFalls #Saik’uzFirstNation #TheWebsterAwards #TyeeBuilders #KenneyDam #RioTinto