LOSING SACRED LANDS: On Thursday, September 19, 2013, the House will consider H.R. 687 introduced by Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ-4). H.R. 687 would direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey over 2,400 acres of U.S. Forest Service land in southeast Arizona in an area known as Oak Flat to a mining company called Resolution Copper (RC), which is owned by the foreign mining giants Rio Tinto PLC (United Kingdom) and BHP Billiton Ltd (Australia). The mining company seeks to develop and operate an unprecedented large-scale copper mine on this land if it is conveyed from the Forest Service. The lands have significant religious, cultural, historical, and archeological value to Apache, Yavapai and other tribes in the region. H.R. 687 represents a bill of national significance for Indian tribes across the country as it is the only bill pending in Congress right now that would transfer a known sacred site into the private ownership of foreign mining companies and result in the destruction of a site that is sacred to our Native Nations in that region. H.R. 687 would set a dangerous precedent by saying that it is okay for Congress to destroy Native American religion, culture, and identity, in the for-profit pursuit of minerals and natural resources . Tribal governments have fought for centuries to retain these core values and set up alternative mechanisms for securing natural resources without disturbing sacred lands. Recognizing this danger, a number of tribal organizations have adopted resolutions opposing this bill, including the National Congress of American Indians, the Inter-Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc., the Intertribal Council of Nevada, the All Indian Pueblo Council, the Eight Northern Indian Pueblo Council, the Midwest Alliance of Sovereign Tribes, the Affiliated Tribes of the Northwest Indians, and the United South and Eastern Tribes, Inc. Please consider calling, e-mailing and writing your Member of Congress today, urging them to vote "NO" on H.R. 687.
Posted on: Fri, 13 Sep 2013 21:56:39 +0000
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