An Apache-led nonprofit that has nearly exhausted its legal options to protect a sacred site, east of Phoenix, from copper mining is traveling across the country on a prayer journey. It began in July, but this week, the group is stopping in Arizona en route to the U.S. Supreme Court in the nation’s capital.
Apache Stronghold is meeting with tribes and churches nationwide to share their struggle for Oak Flat, which is considered to be a holy site where Apaches believe the Gaan, or mountain spirits, reside, and they perform sweat rituals within the Tonto National Forest.
They departed from the Lummi Nation, north of Seattle, and will stop at more than 20 destinations spanning 11 states and the District of Columbia. Arizona has the most scheduled appearances, from Tucson to Flagstaff and Phoenix, as well as visits to the Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe and Hopi Tribe.
“Many people that have never joined something like this before,” said Wendsler Nosie Sr., who founded the group. “Our doors are open to join us, because it’s a prayer for not only here, but around the world.”
In March, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a ruling that the site of the planned Resolution Copper mine, east of the Valley, is not subject to any federal laws protecting religious freedom, including the American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978.
The group’s prayer journey ends in September, when Apache Stronghold will arrive in D.C. and plans to file its appeal to the Supreme Court. Each year, SCOTUS receives 10,000 petitions to review lower court decisions, but only about 80 of them are heard.
