Resolution Copper is betting on gaining access to a large and lucrative copper ore body east of Phoenix. The project has already invested a lot of money — over $2 billion — and opponents say some of it has been used to buy influence.
Some tribal members insist Oak Flat is sacred. Others say it’s not. Terry Rambler, four-term chairman of the San Carlos Apache Tribe, suggests money is sowing division and motivating naysayers.
“I’ve never been bought off, and my guess is that a lot of those people that are saying this is not sacred are either employed by Resolution Copper, or they’re getting paid in a roundabout way through those consultants,” Rambler told KJZZ. “Probably had a similar situation as mine, but they ended up taking the offer.”
He claims such an offer was made to him in 2014, right before his first reelection.
“They tried to bribe me. We sat for about three hours,” Rambler remembered. “I was mainly listening, but she was telling me, if I meet with this person, she said, there would be no coverage of it, there’ll be no recording, there’ll be nothing paper-wise or anything like that, and that’ll be the end of it.”
Rambler accuses them of promising to help him with his upcoming campaign, adding “we’ll help you get reelected, and you’ll win by a landslide, because you’ll have all the money you need.”
“Then I rejected her offer,” he recalled. “And after that, they ran to another council member that was campaigning against me. I don’t know what that council member said, but I’ve always been against this.”
First elected in 2010, Rambler has since won reelection in 2014, 2018 and 2022.
Resolution Copper president and general manager Vicky Peacey vehemently denies Rambler’s allegations, stressing the company’s engagement with tribal communities has been predicated on “transparency and respect.”
“It feels, you know, quite frankly, deeply disappointing and appalling that Chairman Rambler would suggest that members of his own community [who] disagree with them, have been paid,” Peacey told KJZZ. “And that’s about, you know, all I’ll say to that.”
She reiterated Resolution Copper “has no knowledge of this claim and categorically rejects any suggestion of improper conduct.”
So KJZZ asked Rambler’s 2014 challenger – San Carlos Apache Councilman Jonathan Kitcheyan – and he initially evaded the question. When pressed on whether the bribery allegation was true, he replied “no comment.”
The Bylas District councilman ran for chairman and lost to Rambler again in 2022, earning only 42% of the vote. A tribal cop-turned-councilman, Kitcheyan is also a former tribal game ranger and state Department of Public Safety officer.
His aunt, Apache elder Geraldine “Jerry” Kitcheyan, was shocked to read through a text exchange between KJZZ and her nephew that included questions about the bribery allegation.
“I don’t know. I just, just that what he’s saying in there, you know, I’m surprised is all,” said Jerry Kitcheyan. “Around here, we tend to know who is against it.”
The Kitcheyans are a political powerhouse in Apache politics and critics allege that some members of the family have been open to financial influence.
One of those critics is Robin Silver, a co-founder of the Center for Biological Diversity, which opposes the copper mining project. When asked about the bribery allegation levied against Jonathan Kitcheyan, Silver responded “his family is just like a known family that’s for sale.”
Tara Kitcheyan – a former Miss San Carlos – once served as Resolution Copper’s senior advisor of Native American affairs and was responsible for managing relationships with almost a dozen tribes that maintain ties to Oak Flat.
KJZZ also reached out to Karen Kitcheyan-Jones, who had authored op-eds in the defense of Resolution Copper for nearly a decade between 2015 and 2023. She did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Decades earlier, Jerry Kitcheyan’s late husband, former San Carlos Apache Chairman Buck Kitcheyan Sr., was convicted of seven embezzlement counts for stealing more than $63,000 from the tribe. He was sentenced to six months in prison, plus three years of supervised release.
Unlike most of her relatives, Jerry Kitcheyan is a loud and proud defender of Oak Flat.
She wants this spot to still be around for future generations of Apache girls when it eventually becomes time for their sunrise ceremonies – instead of a nearly 2-mile wide crater in the ground.
“Sixty-four songs, day in and out, so it helps keep Oak Flat alive,” she added. “We are honored to know that’s ours. It doesn’t belong to the white people, the rich people, but us Apaches, and it’s something that we’re going to keep no matter what.”
Most tribal members remain silent about whether they support Resolution Copper.
“It does surprise me,” admitted Jerry Kitcheyan, thinking about her nephew. “They think the white man’s way: it’s good to have that, so that we can have money. If they feel that they’re against it, why don’t they come out and say it?”
If the alleged payment to Jonathan Kitcheyan were proven to be a bribe, it would violate the tribe’s criminal code and federal law, but Eric Eberhard, associate director of the Native American Law Center at the University of Washington’s School of Law, says an investigation is unlikely.
“I can’t tell you how many times people have suspected fraud, bribery, theft, embezzlement,” said Eberhard, “and attempted to engage federal law enforcement to no avail, in part, because federal law enforcement has their hands full, but also because it is so difficult to investigate in Indian Country.”
A former deputy attorney general for the Navajo Nation, Eberhard also served as staff director and general counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. No one on Capitol Hill wanted to tackle this sweeping issue, partly because the scope of this problem is unclear.
“It’s such a sensitive issue,” he elaborated. “If you kind of pull the cover off, what are you going to see and are you going to harm the good that tribes are able to do by creating an impression that it’s all bad in Indian Country?”
But the alternative is basically letting big money buy influence.
“The institutions support the criminal activity. That’s effectively what is going on, and a lot of people find that hard to believe,” added Eberhard, “but that’s a huge piece of how this stuff happens. What you’re describing with Resolution Copper, the tribes don’t have any of the resources to track bribery and that sort of activity.”
The Phoenix-based Boilermakers Local 627 – made up of 465 union members in Arizona, New Mexico and Hawaii – struck a labor agreement with Resolution Copper to secure jobs, should the mining project be approved.
About 70% of the union’s members are Navajo. They’re welders, riggers and also rely on the mining industry’s copper mines, smelters and concentrating facilities for employment opportunities.
Third-generation Boilermaker Jacob Evenson is the local chapter’s business manager and oversees its PAC, which sent a $750 check to San Carlos Apache Councilman Ned Anderson Jr. in 2023.
But Anderson declined that donation, according to a letter obtained by KJZZ.
The 2023 letter, penned by the San Carlos Apache chairman, asserted Resolution Copper, including its agents, contractors and associates, have “sought to influence decision-making” by the tribe’s elected officials and employees through job fairs or checks, cash, goods and services.
He then reiterated that no tribal employee, elected official or enterprise may host or rent space for Resolution Copper on its 1.8-million acre reservation – also detailing “outright attempts” to offer funds, including himself and fellow council members.
Anderson “rightly rejected” that check from the Boilermakers 627 PAC, according to Rambler, adding it’s an example of how the copper mining project “attempted to influence him.”
San Carlos Apache Tribe Attorney General Alex Ritchie even sent a cease and desist.
When asked about the letter’s accusation, Evenson laughed about the number of checks that had been sent out – too many to keep track of.
“We’d send out a bunch of checks, right? I didn’t even know that they declined that check, to tell you the truth,” he said with a chuckle. “What our influence is, is bringing good-paying jobs to San Carlos or Superior.”
Poverty is also a real, crippling problem for Apaches.
The median household income is $25,250.
Forty percent of the San Carlos Apache Tribe’s population is living below the federal poverty line, compared to about 13% statewide. And the tribal government is the reservation’s largest employer.
“So if [Ned does] end up supporting Resolution, you know, definitely make sure there’s something in there that says local Arizona workforce is going to work,” added Evenson, who also serves as the local union’s secretary and treasurer. “We don't want to see out-of-state people coming and doing this project, that’s the last thing that we want.”
Evenson wouldn’t tell KJZZ which San Carlos Apache officials were sent money or how much, and that information isn’t publicly available. State campaign finance law doesn’t require PACs to disclose any tribal election contributions, with the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office citing sovereignty as the reason.
Although the PAC is allowed to send money to tribal officials, the San Carlos Apache Tribal Council unanimously passed a measure prohibiting its employees from accepting any contributions – cash, checks or gifts – from Resolution Copper personnel or contractors.
This law also applies to tribal departments and enterprises. The neighboring White Mountain Apache Tribe also enacted a similar resolution unanimously in 2015.
Desirae Rambler, niece of the San Carlos Apache chairman, thinks Resolution Copper “found a loophole,” suggesting the multinational mining company simply moved on to the next generation by “preying” on young Apaches.
“They don’t have the education, the knowledge,” she said. “They don’t have to work at the mine. They could be doctors, they could be lawyers, they could be chairman. You know, they don’t have to resort to mining. Mining is not the only job in the world.”
She says gender is also a factor.
“In our culture, we don’t argue with women,” Desirae Rambler explained. “We’re a matrilineal society, so what the woman says is how it goes. These men argue online all day long, advocating for Resolution Copper.”
Oak Flat, in many ways, has morphed into a schism between young and old.
“A lot of young ones my age view Oak Flat as an opportunity for them to grow, a chance to get ahead in life,” she elaborated. “But they’re not taking into account the sacrifices that our ancestors took for us to be here.”
“Money isn’t a factor for the elders,” added Rambler. “They view their tribal sovereignty very strongly, so they would never, ever jeopardize that for profit.”
Her mother, Sandra, the chairman’s sister, got emotional speaking about Oak Flat, shouting that she’d die for it. She believes greed is deepening a generation divide over Chi’chil Biłdagoteel.
“I call them Resolution Copper puppets, that’s all they are,” she said, “because they have bought them vehicles, gave them $100,000 salaries so they can tell the people, ‘Oh, it’s not sacred, it’s not real. They’re just making it up.’ Baloney. You talk to the elder in your household, your family, who told you that? They were just fabricating things to justify a check from Resolution Copper.”
-
The nonprofit Apache Stronghold has argued its religious freedom case all the way to the highest court in the land. On Friday, the nine justices are meeting in conference once again, and an answer may arrive as soon as Monday. -
Resolution Copper wants to dig up a massive amount of copper ore beneath Oak Flat inside the Tonto National Forest. And by doing so, a site that some Apaches consider sacred may be destroyed. -
While Resolution Copper is taking a proactive approach to meet its tremendous water needs, their actions may still have a lasting and severe impact on the local hydrological landscape around Oak Flat. -
While they’re not mining yet, Resolution Copper is slowly digging its way toward the lucrative ore. In fact, the site is already home to the deepest single-lift mine shaft in North America, and KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio goes thousands of feet underground to see it for himself. -
Discovered in Arizona’s Copper Triangle, Oak Flat is home to one of the richest copper deposits in the world. But the battle to mine there — about 60 miles east of Phoenix — has been bogged down by decades of politics. -
Oak Flat — an area east of the Valley — may soon be home to a massive copper mine. It holds cultural and spiritual significance to many Apaches, whose ancestors were forced off the land by the U.S. military. -
Watch a KJZZ panel discussion about Oak Flat — an area sacred to generations of Apaches that may soon be home to one of the largest copper mines in the world.
