Abstract
The San Carlos Apache Tribe is a leading defender of Oak Flat, a large public campground on the western flanks of the Pinal Mountains east of Phoenix. Oak Flat is sacred to many Apaches and other Native Americans and is listed in the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. The Tribe is among the parties gravely concerned about the Resolution Copper Mine, a joint venture of Rio Tinto Group and BHP Billiton Ltd. to privatize and industrialize Oak Flat’s public lands and minerals. Archaeological sites, place names, stories, and ceremonial uses affirm the pre-1875 Apache occupation and ongoing significance of Oak Flat. Historical records reveal how mining proponents combined industrial and annihilationist propaganda to portray Apaches in the Pinal Mountains as subhuman impediments to civilization and profit. This inflammatory rhetoric ignited vigilante and military campaigns between 1859 and 1874 that killed over 380 Pinal Apaches—including many women and children—then confined survivors onto the San Carlos Reservation. Mining across Pinal Apache territory followed promptly, claiming additional Apache lands inside and outside reservation borders. The stark historical injustice of the Pinal Apache Genocide requires recognition and redress via the responsible governments and industries, including their successors today. The obvious first step is simple avoidance of further harm to Apaches and Oak Flat. Truth must be a hallmark for comprehensive cost–benefit assessments of proposed alterations of Indigenous homelands. Reconciliation must be a planning goal for any mining or other consumptive uses of Indigenous sacred sites.
Highlights
Indigenous people in North America and around the world are leading efforts to protect ecosystems and create sustainable societies (Grossman & Parker, 2012; Hindery, 2013; Willow, 2016)
U.S Federal Government and Resolution Copper Mine (RCM) operators are acting in accord with established laws and policies to avoid and minimize adverse environmental and social effects from mining
The case study begins with Earth—the Indigenous homelands threatened by RCM and the archaeological and cultural evidence for Apache links to the RCM impact area, especially Oak Flat, the area known to Western Apaches as Chí’chil Biłdagoteel
Summary
Indigenous people in North America and around the world are leading efforts to protect ecosystems and create sustainable societies (Grossman & Parker, 2012; Hindery, 2013; Willow, 2016). San Carlos Apaches are the most vocal Oak Flat defenders among the 10 federally recognized tribes of people whose ancestors lived in and used the Pinal Mountains and the RCM impact area prior to 1875 and into time immemorial.
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