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A federal judge will hear arguments today from a group of Apaches fighting against a proposed copper mine in eastern Arizona. Apache Stronghold recently sued the US Forest Service in an attempt to prevent the agency from ceding a piece of land to Resolution Copper, a joint venture of global mining companies Rio Tinto and BHP.
The group is seeking an injunction until a judge can finally determine who has rights to this land and whether mining would violate Apache religious practices. The Forest Service says it is doing what Congress has mandated.
Felicia Fonseca reports for The Associated Press that Apache Stronghold claims that the land belongs to the Western Apaches under an 1852 treaty with the United States. John Welch, a professor and anthropologist who has worked extensively with the Apache tribes, says he has found no evidence to suggest otherwise.
The so-called Treaty of Santa Fe was one of the few treaties negotiated with a large group of Apaches, and the only one ratified by the US Senate, said Karl Jacoby, professor of history at Columbia University who has written about the treaty and isn’t related to the lawsuit.
The treaty was meant to be a peace deal at a time when the United States was acquiring territory in Mexico. This suggests that the Apaches have a claim to their territory, but it does not specify that territory, Jacoby said.
“What happened recently is that the native people have dusted off these treaties and said, ‘Look, you made this treaty, you can’t walk away from it. You have to honor it, it’s in your constitution, “which is the supreme law of the land,” he said.
Lawyers for the Forest Service said Apache Stronghold could not assert its property rights because it was not a federally recognized tribe. Even so, the land is not held in trust for any Apache tribe.
In court documents, the agency said it did 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 must go ahead, and any construction, mining or soil disturbance at the site is not imminent,” the agency’s lawyers wrote.
The Apaches call the mountainous region Chi’chil Bildagoteel. It has ancient oak groves, traditional plants and living things that members of the tribe consider essential to their religion and culture. These things exist elsewhere, 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 campground open to the public as long as it is safe, but eventually the area will be swallowed up by the mine.
The Apaches camped there in protest. Former San Carlos Apache president Wendsler Nosie Sr., who runs Apache Stronghold and who has previously protested in Washington DC over the issue, has also moved to the site.
The Society for American Archeology has declared the area of great archaeological significance in the Southwestern United States.
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