The tribe gathered at the US Capitol on Tuesday, to oppose a copper mine that is going to be built on one of their sacred sites in Arizona. The project is said to be worth $6 billion, and could totally destroy land that is rightly owned by the tribe.
The site in question is the Oak Flat campground near Superior, Arizona, which the US government has sold to a number of Austrailian mining companies, including Rio Tinto Plc and BHP Billiton Ltd.
“Today is our day. Today is our ceremony. We’re not here looking at this Capitol like it’s in charge of us,” tribe councilman Wendsler Nosie said at the protest.
Back in December, President Obama sold the 2,400-acre plot of land despite objections from Native American and environmental groups.
Sadly, the site already has a dark history, as the land is near the Apache Leap cliffs, where Apache Natives leaped to their deaths in the 1870’s to avoid being captured by invading US soldiers.
Native protesters have set up an encampment in the area and are refusing to leave under any circumstances. The protesters have been staying there since February, just after the deal was sealed.
John Vibes writes for True Activist and is an author, researcher and investigative journalist who takes a special interest in the counter culture and the drug war.
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