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October 25, 2021

Apache Nation Asks Federal Court to Halt Proposed Copper Mine at Oak Flat
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Indigenous advocates fighting to protect Oak Flat, a historic site in
eastern Arizona sacred to the San Carlos Apache Nation and other Native
communities, argued their case against a proposed copper mine in federal
court Friday. The legal efforts at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals are
being led by the grassroots group, Apache Stronghold. Native communities
have long warned the massive copper mine would destroy Oak Flat,
depriving them of their religious rights and other freedoms. This is
Wendsler Nosie Sr., founder of Apache Stronghold and former chair of the
San Carlos Apache Nation.

Wendsler Nosie Sr.: "We heard it loud and clear in Indian Country that
anything on federal land is not safe. Nothing is holy, and nothing is
sacred to them. That was clearly spoken. The emotionals that run through
us is the fact that it answers the question that we are still prisoners
of war in this country."

The copper mine is being run by Resolution Copper, a joint venture of
multinational mining corporations BHP and Rio Tinto.


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