#tontonationalforest — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #tontonationalforest, aggregated by home.social.
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#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
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#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."
#WaterIsLife #ClimateCatastrophe #LandBack #LandDefenders #Koyaanisqatsi #LifeOutOfBalance #SaveThackerPass #LandBack #IndigenousRights #ExtinctionRebellion #LastStand #TheStand
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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."
#WaterIsLife #HumanRightsViolations #CulturalGenocide #CopperMining #Mining #CorporateColonialism #EnvironmentalRacism #IndigenousNews #SaveOakFlat #IndigenousRights #Apache