Tree Sitters Saving Old Growth Cottonwoods: Arizona Border Wall Resistance

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1058602136675748

It is now Day 8 for the Tree Sitter and Supporters.

The border wall contractors in the Tucson region who are responsible for the destruction and new surveillance technology are: BCCG, Fisher Sand and Gravel, Sundt Construction, AIS and SLSCO. Scroll down to read more about the contractors.

Seventh Day: Tree Sitters Halt Border Wall Construction in Arizona

https://www.facebook.com/kate.scott.973823

Today, on the seventh day at Grandmother Camp, with their tree sitter halting construction of the border wall, the tree sitters said, "We are all the grandmother. We have a responsibility to defend not only ourselves, but our relatives that are on the chopping block, and to also pay respects to our ancestors that have already fallen."

Grandmother cottonwood, home to nesting threatened birds, cut down by the death claws for border wall construction in southeastern Arizona. Image from video at https://www.facebook.com/reel/2474426089711333

Border Wall Construction Destroying Cottonwoods, 'Green Ribbon' Running Through the Desert

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, August 4, 2026

LOCHIEL, Arizona -- Day 6 at Grandmother Camp, there was no border wall construction since the tree sit began last Wednesday in this rich landscape. The cottonwood trees are the nesting place of migratory birds, including the rare Yellow-billed Cuckoo.

"We've lost three grandmothers that took 250 years to grow. They were obliterated by the monstrous machinations in four hours," Kate said on Monday from the tree sit in Lochiel, about 25 miles east of Nogales, southeast of Tucson.

"But I just saw a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, federally threatened crying over this beautiful meadow."

"This remaining Grandmother, that threatened bird -- we remain hopeful that our efforts here on the ground will be met with thoughtful reasonable conversation and a new direction for Lochiel community," Kate said.

"This remaining Grandmother represents hope and resistance."

Tree sit in the path of the death machines. Photo Center for Biological Diversity

Tohono O'odham Nation Presents Case Against Border Wall

Tohono O'odham Nation Presents Case Against Border Wall

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, August 3, 2026

SELLS, Arizona -- The Tohono O'odham Nation said attorneys argued a strong case in opposition to the construction of a border wall on O'odham land, pointing out that only Congress can deplete its land. The Nation's attorneys in Washington are seeking a preliminary injunction to prevent the border wall construction by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

"Only Congress has the authority to diminish the reservation, not DHS," the Tohono O'odham Nation said in a statement on Monday. "Even the law that authorized construction did not include any explicit approval from Congress to take the Nation's land."

Tohono O'odham Airspace: Combat Jets Endanger O'odham. Mystery Plane Appears.

Combat jets endangers O'odham lives. Dassault Mirage F1CR jet image by Flight Radar.

Tohono O'odham Airspace: Combat Jets Endanger O'odham. Mystery Plane Appears.

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, August 4, 2026

TOHONO O'ODHAM NATION -- The lives of O'odham living on the Tohono O'odham Nation continue to be endangered by low-flying, supersonic combat jets in training, with the supersonic blasts breaking plaster in traditional homes. The dangerous maneuvers led by a private company are endangering lives and the environment with flares from jets flying at dangerous speeds.

On Monday, there was also an unidentified small aircraft flying in circles above the Tohono O'odham at the border before dawn. This is where Trump plans to build the border wall on sovereign Tohono O'odham Nation land. The tribe is fighting it with a federal lawsuit.

'Contesting Surveillance Infrastructure on Indigenous Lands' Ophelia Rivas, Tohono O'odham, Co-authors Book on Surveillance

Photo credit: Contesting Surveillance Infrastructure on Tohono O’odham Je’ved by Ophelia Rivas, Caitlin Blanchfield, and Nina Kolowratnik,

Contesting Surveillance Infrastructure on Indigenous Lands

Ophelia Rivas, Tohono O'odham, is co-author of a new book revealing border surveillance

By Ophelia Rivas, Caitlin Blanchfield, and Nina Kolowratnik

The broad slope and rounded crest of O’ks Tak’am Do’ak outline the profile of a woman sitting and facing the west. Her name is O’ks Ta’kam. She is part the O’odham origin story, passed down through oral history. She sits there vigilant, a warrior protecting, and will warn the people when a catastrophic event will occur. When this event comes, she will stand and gather the smallest creatures in her skirt to protect them.

The mountain forms part of the Tak’Va’Vak range which cuts through Tohono O’odham land, joining peaks like Han’a-mek and Ma’mke-mad. These mountains are known as a place to gather sweet fruits from the chu-chues (organ pipe cactus). They are home to caves, springs, and seasonal water holes. Each year ceremonies and hunts take place all across the Tak’Va’Vak, and trails lead through the mountain passes, connecting the springs at A’al Va’pai (Quitobaqito) to O’odham villages in Sonora, and leading all the way to the salty Ge-Ka-ch’k (Sea of Cortez). The mountains hold deer, mountain rams, javalina. They hold burial places. Medicines grow there. In the evening they are especially beautiful, bathed in crimson.

Continue reading https://urbannext.net/significant-impact-contesting-surveillance/

'Significant Impact' is now being released.

Ophelia Rivas, Tohono O'odham
I think that land has always been defined by Europeans as property so they have a different perspective on land, and from that perspective it’s very difficult to understand. And I’m saying that just from seeing the Border Patrol and how they react when we talk about our land and how we’re connected to it. It just seems to not make a difference to them that it’s of great concern to us. It’s very difficult for them to understand and therefore they just continue to disrespect all the things we’ve been telling them not to disturb, like our caves on the mountain. They removed pottery that has human remains or ceremony items, they removed them from the mountains. And it’s very disturbing to us, people who have continued to follow our way of life and live our ceremony life. It affects us, but it also affects people who don’t follow that tradition.

Essay excerpted from

This essay is excerpted from Significant Impact: Contesting Surveillance Infrastructure on Tohono O’odham Je’ved by Ophelia Rivas, Caitlin Blanchfield, and Nina Kolowratnik,

urbanNext (August 2, 2026) Contesting Surveillance Infrastructure on Indigenous Lands. Retrieved from https://urbannext.net/significant-impact-contesting-surveillance/.

Ophelia Rivas website is https://www.oodhamrights.org/

Copyright By Ophelia Rivas, Caitlin Blanchfield, and Nina Kolowratnik