Tonight I attended a march to save Oak Flat.
Oak Flat is apart of the Tonto National Forest in Arizona, and its been used as a sacred site by the San Carlos Apache (and numerous other tribes) since time immemorial.
Right now, Oak Flat is at risk of becoming a 2-mile-wide, 1,000-foot-deep hole all because of Resolution Copper Mining, a subsidiary of two British–Australian mining companies, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton.
Before 2014, Resolution Copper Mining failed to secure a land transfer over ten times. It wasn't until the aforementioned year that Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake entered the land transfer on page 1,003 of a military spending bill, at precisely 11 pm, a mere hour before the bill was set to pass.
This was done without the consent of the San Carlos Apache, who use the site to gather sacred medicine and perform coming-of-age ceremonies for girls.
As desperately as the San Carlos Apache have tried to appeal the land transfer, they have been struck down time and time again, usually by a single vote in the wrong direction.
Now, the San Carlos Apache are slated to speak against the land transfer tomorrow morning. If their voices are not heeded, they will take it to the Supreme Court, which will ultimately decide the fate of Oak Flat, the dozens of endangered species that call it home, and the continuity of the Apache religion.
If you haven't heard about Oak Flat, now you have. Make it your responsibility to tell everyone you know about this sacred site in peril, and support Apache Stronghold ( @apachestronghold ) in their fight to save Oak Flat.
