A federal judge will hear arguments today from a group of Apaches who fought against a proposed copper mine in eastern Arizona. Apache Stronghold recently sued the US Forest Service to try to prevent the agency from transferring a parcel of land to Resolution Copper, a joint venture of global mining companies Rio Tinto and BHP.
The group is seeking a court order until a judge can ultimately determine who has rights to that land and whether mining would infringe Apaches’ religious practices. The Forest Service says it is doing what Congress has ordered.
Felicia Fonseca reports to the Associated Press that Apache Stronghold claims the land belongs to Western Apaches under an 1852 treaty with the United States. John Welch, a professor and anthropologist who has worked extensively with Apache tribes, says he hasn’t found any evidence to suggest otherwise.
The so-called Santa Fe Convention was one of the few treaties negotiated with a broad group of Apaches, and the only treaty ratified by the United States Senate, said Karl Jacoby, a history professor at Columbia University who wrote about the treaty and is not unrelated to the lawsuit.
The treaty was intended to be a peace deal at a time when the US was acquiring territory from Mexico. It suggests Apaches are entitled to their territory, but it doesn’t describe that territory, Jacoby said.
“What has happened recently is that indigenous people have dusted off these treaties and say, ‘Look, you made this treaty, you can’t just walk away from it. You have to honor it, it’s in your constitution, “that’s the highest law in the country,” he said.
Forest Service attorneys said Apache Stronghold cannot assert any property rights because it is not a federally recognized tribe. Even then, the land is not held in trust by any Apache tribe.
In court documents, the agency said it does not question the sincerity of the Apaches’ religious and historical connection to the land known as Oak Flat. “Congress has decided that this land swap should go ahead, and any construction, mining, or land disturbance at the site is not imminent,” the bureau’s lawyers wrote.
Apaches call the mountainous region Chi’chil Bildagoteel. It has ancient oak forests, traditional plants, and living things that tribes say are essential to their religion and culture. Those things exist in other places, but Apache Stronghold says they have a unique power within Oak Flat.
The site is also popular for camping, hiking, and rock climbing. Resolution Copper says it will keep the site open to the public as long as it is safe, but eventually the area would be swallowed up by the mine.
Apaches camped there in protest. Former San Carlos Apache Chairman Wendsler Nosie Sr., who leads Apache Stronghold and who previously protested in Washington DC on the matter, has also moved to the site.
The Society for American Archeology has said the area is of great archaeological significance in the Southwestern US.