Diverse coalition urges federal appeals court to protect Oak Flat

Diverse coalition urges federal appeals court
to protect Oak Flat

Legal experts, native tribes, and religious groups seek protection of historic
Native American sacred site in Arizona

 

January 10, 2023

Ryan Colby | media@becketlaw.org

Dr. Wendsler Nosie Sr. | apaches4ss@yahoo.com 

 

WASHINGTON – A diverse coalition of religious groups, native tribes and legal experts filed half a dozen friend-of-the-court briefs yesterday in Apache Stronghold v. United States, asking a federal appeals court to protect Oak Flat, the spiritual lifeblood and sacred site of the Apache people in Arizona. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently agreed to take a closer look at the case in March 2023. If the court doesn’t intervene, the government will give this historically protected land to a mining company that will swallow the site in a massive crater, ending Apache religious practices forever.