“In Indian country, there’s a terrible thing happening and it’s affecting our religion,” he said. “It’s an alarm going off that people here in North Carolina need to be aware of. It involves all the Indian nations in this country and it involves all the people here today.”
Nosie was referring to the Apache tribe’s opposition to US Senate Resolution 409, otherwise known as the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act of 2009. The bill would allow Resolution Copper, a British/Australian mining conglomerate, to bypass federal laws governing mining operations and build its operation on lands with significant cultural and religious value to the Apache people.
Nosie’s remarks came during a forum for the preservation of Native American sacred sites and rights sponsored by Emmanuel Baptist Church, Wake Forest University’s Religion Department and the Ministers’ Conference of Winston-Salem.
Steve Boyd, a Wake Forest religion professor and one of the event’s organizers, said the community support for the Apache tribe’s fight against the mining company has far exceeded his expectations.
“This constitutes cultural genocide,” Boyd said. “Everybody I’ve talked to has been shocked that the company is foreign. They’re shocked that it’s trying to go through a legislative process rather than an administrative process that requires impact statements.”
Boyd first met Nosie seven years ago when he agreed to speak to one of Boyd’s classes at Wake Forest University. When Boyd learned of the struggle of the Apaches, he asked what he and the school’s religion department could do to help. Nosie then enlisted Boyd and his religion students in the fight to protect sacred sites of the Apache people.
Vernelda Grant, archeologist for the San Carlos Apache Tribe, made a presentation that outlined the protected Native American religious sites of greatest concern — Apache Leap and Oak Flat. Grant said her Apache ancestors fought miners for centuries and died trying to protect “Mother Earth.”
Of great concern are the peaks of Apache Leap, and how the proposed mine at Chich’il Bidagoteel could lead to the collapse of the majestic rock formations. Grant said the towering rock formations represent life, death, the spirit of Apache ancestors and all the Apache deities.
“Just imagine if the ground subsided around those rock formations,” said Roy Chavez of Concerned Citizens of Superior in Arizona.
For its part, Resolution Copper says it is committed to “preserving the cultural, historical and educational significance as well as the natural beauty of the area known as Apache Leap. “Therefore, the company has included in the land exchange agreement an 822-acre protected easement, according to the company’s website. Resolution Copper says the easement also incorporates about 110 acres of land to the south of the religious site, which is privately owned by the company.
There is a deeply personal, spiritual and visceral
relationship between s and the land, Grant said, and the copper mine
proposed at Chich’il Bidagoteel threatens the very existence of the
Apache tribe.
“Mining is achieving the destruction that 150
years of oppression could not,” Grant said. Nosie followed on Grant’s
point, saying that to understand the issue, one must look at the
history of the treatment of all Indian nations by the US government.
“This
is an attack on the oldest religion on this continent,” he said. Ulrike
Wiethaus, a Wake Forest University professor of religious studies,
underscored Nosie’s point.
“If this is being taken away from
the Apache, you’re not a people anymore,” she said. Henry Munoz of
Concerned Citizens of Superior said local officials in southeastern
Arizona have put up little resistance to Resolution Copper’s proposed
operation due to the perceived economic benefit to the community.
Nosie
has spoken on behalf of his tribe before congressional committees on
the subject and has written letters to federal and elected officials.
“What’s
important on this bill is they’re bypassing the major part of the
environmental impact of what’s going to happen in this region,” Nosie
said. “We have asked them to follow their own law which is
administrative review. If they were to do that and follow, then they
would find all the information that’s missing. It’s important for our
leaders in Washington to be knowledgeable of these issues.”
In
a recent letter sent to a US Forestry Service official, Nosie wrote
that mining is inconsistent with conservative, traditional Apache
values.
“We have been taught to respect the natural
world, and to keep it clean and natural. Our traditional relationship
with the land is deep and personal. We depend on the natural world for
our survival, and our survival depends on maintaining our personal
relationships with all living things,” Nosie wrote.
The
idea that the ancient wisdom of the Apache people regarding man’s
connection to the environment could serve all of mankind at a time when
climate change and ecosystem destruction are clear for all to see was
one of several recurring themes during the forum. By damaging the
natural environment of the Apache people, you are essentially
destroying their religion, Nosie said. “I come here to ask for allies,”
Nosie said. “There’s a connection from the west to the east. Your
fight, your struggle is ours. There is no discrimination when it comes
to protecting the planet.”
Boyd said the relationship that has
developed between Wake Forest University’s religion department and the
San Carlos Apache Tribe over the past seven years has benefited both
groups tremendously. Nosie said the benefits of the continued
relationship were evident from the moment his plane touched down in
Charlotte on May 1. Nosie received a phone call from a reporter at a
major Arizona newspaper to discuss the land transfer bill. Nosie said
the lack of press coverage in Arizona represents one of the Apache
tribe’s greatest challenges and the phone call came as a direct result
of his trip to North Carolina.
Former Republican presidential
nominee John McCain and Republican Whip Jon Kyl, both of Arizona,
introduced Senate Bill 409 on Feb. 11. McCain serves on the Senate
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources along with Sen. Richard Burr
of North Carolina. Nosie said he believes that if other members of the
committee begin hearing constituent concerns about the land transfer
bill, it could prevent the bill from becoming law. Under the bill’s
provisions, Resolution Copper Mining would donate 5,566 acres to the US
Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management in exchange for 2,406
federally protected acres between Apache Leap and Oak Flat, an area
rich in copper ore. The core Apache belief that “Mother Earth” is a
living being and that any harm done to one area of our natural
environment affects all other areas has been proven by science, Nosie
said. Nosie argued that the citizens of North Carolina have a vested
interest in blocking Senate Bill 409 and preserving an important
religious site of the Apache people, Nosie said, and a return to the
concept of “Mother Earth” for all Western peoples is ultimately the key
to saving the planet.
“We have to start deciding when enough
is enough. I know Native people have a lot to offer if we are listened
to. We know how to save this planet,” he said.
Azteca
