Produced by:
KBOO
Program::
Air date:
Wed, 03/16/2016 - 12:00am
Wendsler Nosie speaks in Eugene, as occupation of Oak Flat site goes into second year
In a midnight rider in December, 2014, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) forced a provision in the must-pass Defense authorization bill, which transferred the sacred Oak Flat area southeast of Phoenix to a foreign-owned mining corporation for the largest copper-mining project in North America. The land exchange/privatization authorizes devastating block-cave mining, which would destroy the traditional Apache site, formerly part of the Tonto National Forest, and create a crater up to two miles long.
Established as an army-run concentration camp in 1871, the Apache reservation in southeastern Arizona was later divided into the San Carlos and Fort Apache reservations. A copper-rich strip along the western edge of what became San Carlos was unilaterally removed by the government in 1876. Within that area, the place now known as Oak Flat is a rare desert riparian area, with year-round water.
For countless generations, Native Americans congregated in the shad of its oak tress for ceremonies, gathering of foods and medicines and burials. Nearby is historic "Apache Leap"--a cliff where more than 80 Apache warriors chose to loeap to their deaths rather than surrender to the U.S. Cavalry--which would also be overwhelmed by a massive industrialized landscape.
Oak Flat has also become a prized recreation area within the Tonto National Forest, for hiking, biking, camping, birdwatching, canyoneering and especially bouldering and rock climbing.
An egregious example of catering to corporate special interests, the deal gave Resolution Copper, a subsidiary of mining multinational Rio Tinto, 2400 acres of public land and sets a terrible precedent for both Native Americans and the general public. Ironically, it was a Republican President, Eisenhower, whose Executive Order had protected the Oak Flat Campground for over 50 years.
Wendsler Nosie, current San Carlos Apache Tribal Councilman, former Chairman, and tireless defender of Apache culture, land and people, was at the recent Public Interest Environmental Law Conference at the University of Oregon, where he gave the final keynote address, along with his grand-daughter, 16-year-old Naelyn Pike. KBOO's Paul Roland recorded the talk as well as an interview.
Established as an army-run concentration camp in 1871, the Apache reservation in southeastern Arizona was later divided into the San Carlos and Fort Apache reservations. A copper-rich strip along the western edge of what became San Carlos was unilaterally removed by the government in 1876. Within that area, the place now known as Oak Flat is a rare desert riparian area, with year-round water.
For countless generations, Native Americans congregated in the shad of its oak tress for ceremonies, gathering of foods and medicines and burials. Nearby is historic "Apache Leap"--a cliff where more than 80 Apache warriors chose to loeap to their deaths rather than surrender to the U.S. Cavalry--which would also be overwhelmed by a massive industrialized landscape.
Oak Flat has also become a prized recreation area within the Tonto National Forest, for hiking, biking, camping, birdwatching, canyoneering and especially bouldering and rock climbing.
An egregious example of catering to corporate special interests, the deal gave Resolution Copper, a subsidiary of mining multinational Rio Tinto, 2400 acres of public land and sets a terrible precedent for both Native Americans and the general public. Ironically, it was a Republican President, Eisenhower, whose Executive Order had protected the Oak Flat Campground for over 50 years.
Wendsler Nosie, current San Carlos Apache Tribal Councilman, former Chairman, and tireless defender of Apache culture, land and people, was at the recent Public Interest Environmental Law Conference at the University of Oregon, where he gave the final keynote address, along with his grand-daughter, 16-year-old Naelyn Pike. KBOO's Paul Roland recorded the talk as well as an interview.
- KBOO
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