Apache Stronghold '250 Years Later, What Does Freedom Mean for Indigenous Peoples?'

Photo courtesy Apache Stronghold

Apache Stronghold '250 Years Later, What Does Freedom Mean for Indigenous Peoples?'

By Laak’os Parsons, Member of Apache Stronghold,

Censored News, June 29, 2026

As the United States prepares to commemorate the 250th  anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, I find myself  asking a different question: What does independence mean for  Indigenous peoples whose lands, religions, and sovereignty continue  to be threatened?  

As a young Indigenous woman, I am fighting to protect my identity, defend our sacred sites, and preserve a future for the generations who will come after me. For me, this anniversary is less a  celebration than a reminder that the nation's founding brought  extreme losses for Indigenous peoples—our lands, sovereignty, cultures, and countless lives. It is also a reminder that many of those  struggles continue today.  

It is difficult to celebrate America when its actions so often fall short  of the values it claims to uphold.

Like many children, I grew up reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in  school and was taught to be proud to be an American. As I have  gotten older, learned more about our history, and began paying  attention to what is happening in our country and around the world,  I started to question what that pride is rooted in. How can we  celebrate liberty and justice while continuing to disregard the rights  of the first peoples of this land?  

As a Chiricahua Apache from Arizona and Chippewa Cree from  northern Montana, I have seen what old and new mines have done to  the land and the people left to live with the aftermath across this  nation. 

Those questions are no longer just historical. They are playing out  today in places like Oak Flat, where Indigenous religious freedom  and sacred land remain at risk.  

Right now in Arizona, the federal government is advancing a project  that would transfer Oak Flat, a sacred site central to the religious  and cultural practices of the Apache and other Indigenous peoples,  to a foreign-owned mining company for copper extraction.  

The proposed Resolution Copper mine would eventually cause Oak  Flat to collapse into a crater nearly two miles wide. It would also  consume roughly 25,600 acre-feet of water every year in a state  already struggling with drought and shrinking Colorado River  supplies.  

At a time when Arizona faces shrinking Colorado River supplies,  prolonged drought, and growing demand, dedicating tens of  thousands of acre-feet of water each year to a single mining project  raises profound questions about our priorities.  

Water is essential for human health, agriculture, ecosystems, and  local economies. In a desert state, every major water decision carries  lasting consequences.  

Beyond its enormous water demands, the mine also poses long-term  environmental risks. Contamination from mining waste and toxic  materials could affect the surrounding landscape long after mining  operations end. Once a sacred place is destroyed, it cannot simply be  restored.  

All of this raises difficult questions about whose interests are being  prioritized. When political decisions favor powerful corporate  interests over the protection of sacred land, clean water, and 

religious freedom, it becomes harder to recognize the values  America says it stands for.  

As America marks 250 years since declaring its independence, many  people will celebrate the nation's ideals of liberty and freedom. But  for Indigenous peoples, those promises have too often existed  alongside displacement, broken treaties, and the erosion of our  rights. The fight to protect Oak Flat is not just about one piece of  land, it is about whether the United States is willing to uphold the  very freedoms it claims to cherish.  

For me, this anniversary is ultimately a testament to the resilience  and survival of Indigenous peoples. Despite centuries of  colonization, we continue to protect our cultures, defend our sacred  places, and fight for future generations. If this milestone is to mean  anything, it should not only celebrate America's past. It should also  confront its unfinished history and commit to a future where  Indigenous rights, religious freedom, and sacred places are truly  respected.  

Only then can the ideals proclaimed 250 years ago begin to belong  to all of us.  

  

Laak’os Parsons  

Member of Apache Stronghold