Apache Stronghold at Phoenix Federal Court Defending Sacred Oak Flat

 

Apache Stronghold at Phoenix Federal Court 

Photos by Lii Nchaa

May 7, 2025

Apache Stronghold at federal court today. Photo by Lii Nchaa.

Apache Stronghold at Phoenix Federal Court Defending Sacred Oak Flat

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, May 7, 2025, Live 9 to 11 a.m.

UPDATE on Friday: Federal judge grants injunction, temporarily halts destruction of Oak Flat 

https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/05/breaking-federal-court-halts.html

PHOENIX -- Apache Stronghold's attorneys argued their case in federal court today to protect Sacred Oak Flat from being turned into a massive copper mine. Attorneys for the U.S. government, and Resolution Copper, argued against the injunction, and to allow the land transfer to proceed.

Federal Judge Steven P. Logan took the case under advisement and said he will rule no later than May 14 at 5 p.m.

Apache Stronghold is seeking an injunction to halt the transfer of Oak Flat land to Resolution Copper, pending a ruling in its case now before the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court has re-listed the case 13 times, the federal judge stated as the case began today.

Apache Stronghold's attorney Luke Goodrich of Becket Law told the court that along with the Oak Flat campground, there are sacred springs, and sacred places in the area. There are no guarantees that any of the sacred places will be protected if the land transfer takes place and construction begins.

The U.S. government's attorney argued for the land transfer to proceed.

Resolution Copper says it is currently spending $11 million a month, to maintain the underground mine, to keep the mine area dry, to keep the lights on, and keep the workforce available, its attorney testified.

President of Resolution Copper Vicky Peacey told the court that the land being transferred includes Resolution Copper's land that includes culturally-sensitive areas and Native American sacred places.

Peacey said the copper mine process at Oak Flat would begin with tunnels constructed to the copper ore. This first process takes ten years. The next process of construction takes six years. She also described the existing mining structure which exists from previous mining. Four-hundred people report to work each day to maintain the area, she said.

"Resolution Copper intends to mine the sacred place until tunnels underneath Oak Flat cause it to collapse into a crater two miles wide and 1,000 feet deep," court documents show.

Peacey told the court that the copper mine would operate for 40 years.

During questions, Peacey said she does not know the monetary value of the copper ore at the site.

In closing comments, Apache Stronghold's attorney said if the land transfer takes place, there would be an immediate loss of legal rights for Apaches to use Oak Flat, all Apaches legal rights would be lost.

The immediate construction would begin with new roads, and there would be damage and ground-clearing taking place. The yucca and oak acorns that are used in Apache ceremonies would be destroyed, he said.

Apache Stronghold asked that the land transfer be delayed until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the case.

In closing, the U.S. government and Resolution Copper both argued against pausing the land transfer and against the court issuing an injunction.

Apache Stronghold's court documents show the urgency.

"On April 17, 2025, the government notified this Court that it intends to move forward with the land transfer—by publishing the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) that triggers a mandate to transfer Oak Flat—as early as June 16, 2025," Apache Stronghold told the court.

The majority owner of Resolution Copper is Rio Tinto, an Australian mining company that blew up 46,000 years of Australian Aboriginal sacred history in caves. Further, Rio Tinto was forced to admit the widespread sexual abuse at its mines, and reported that the largest number of sexual assaults are at Rio Tinto's mines in Australia and South Africa.

(Below) The nearby Morenci mine shows the widespread damage from copper mining in the region, located north of Tucson, and east of Phoenix.

Wendsler Nosie, Sr. and Apache Stronghold. Photo Lii Nchaa.

Apache Stronghold urges federal court to save Oak Flat

Apaches ask district court to pause government’s rush to transfer sacred site

By Becket Law, May 7, 2025

WASHINGTON – A coalition of Western Apaches, other Native peoples, and non-Native allies was in federal district court today to stop the U.S. government from handing over their sacred site at Oak Flat to a multinational mining giant for destruction. In Apache Stronghold v. United States, the federal government recently announced that as early as June 16, 2025, it will transfer Oak Flat to Resolution Copper, a Chinese-owned mining company that plans to turn the site into a massive mining crater, ending Apache religious practices forever (Watch this short video to learn more). Apache Stronghold filed an emergency appeal in the lower court to block the transfer while the Supreme Court considers the case. The judge said that he would issue a ruling by May 14.

Since time immemorial, Western Apaches and other Native peoples have gathered at Oak Flat, outside of present-day Superior, Arizona, for sacred religious ceremonies that cannot take place anywhere else. Known in Apache as Chi’chil Biłdagoteel, Oak Flat is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and has been protected from mining and other harmful practices for seventy years. These protections were targeted in December 2014 when a last-minute provision was slipped into a must-pass defense bill authorizing the transfer of Oak Flat to the Resolution Copper company. Resolution Copper now plans to turn the sacred site into a two-mile-wide and 1,100-foot-deep crater. The majority owner of Resolution Copper, Rio Tinto, sparked international outrage when it deliberately destroyed 46,000-year-old Indigenous rock shelters at one of Australia’s most significant cultural sites. 

“The federal government and Resolution Copper have put Oak Flat on death row—they are racing to destroy our spiritual lifeblood and erase our religious traditions forever,” said Dr. Wendsler Nosie Sr. of Apache Stronghold. “In the courtroom, we asked the judge to immediately block the land grab so that the Supreme Court can protect Oak Flat before it’s too late.”

Apache Stronghold filed this lawsuit in January 2021 seeking to halt the proposed mine at Oak Flat. The mine is opposed by 21 of 22 federally recognized tribal nations in Arizona, by the National Congress of American Indians, and by a diverse coalition of religious denominations, civil-rights organizations, and legal experts. Meanwhile, national polling indicates that 74% of Americans support protecting Oak Flat. The Ninth Circuit ruled 6-5 last year that the land transfer is not subject to federal laws protecting religious freedom. But five judges dissented, writing that the court “tragically err[ed]” by refusing to protect Oak Flat.  Now the Supreme Court is considering whether to hear the case.

“The feds are brazenly rushing to hand Oak Flat over to Resolution Copper, even while the Supreme Court considers whether to hear the case,” said Luke Goodrich, vice president and senior counsel at Becket. “We are asking the court to protect Oak Flat while the Justices consider whether to take the case.”

In addition to Becket, Apache Stronghold is represented by Erin Murphy of Clement & Murphy PLLC, Professor Stephanie Barclay of Georgetown Law School, and attorneys Michael V. Nixon and Clifford Levenson. 

For more information or to arrange an interview, contact Ryan Colby at media@becketfund.org or 202-349-7219.

United Nations Urges Canada and the U.S. to Decommission Enbridge's Line 5

Bay Mills President Whitney Gravelle. UN Permanent Forum of Indigenous Issues 2025.

United Nations Urges Canada and the U.S. to Decommission Enbridge's Line 5

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, May 9, 2025

NEW YORK -- Enbridge's corroding pipeline, Line 5, carries oil and gas through the heart of the Great Lakes, and Native people in the United States and Canada want it shut down.

Bay Mills Indian Community President Whitney Gravelle, representing more than 50 Native communities, told the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, that the pipeline has already spilled more than one million gallons of petroleum into the Great Lakes.

"Enbridge operates the Line 5 pipeline, a corroding dual pipeline that carries up to 23 million gallons of oil and gas each day through the Straits of Mackinac, the heart of the Great Lakes and the center of creation for our people," President Gravelle told the U.N.

"As the Permanent Forum and other U.N. experts have recognized, Line 5 jeopardizes the Great Lakes and poses a real and credible threat to the human rights of Indigenous Peoples in Canada and the United States."

The Permanent Forum, in its final report issued at the end of its two week session in New York, called on Canada and the United States to decommission Line 5.

"The Permanent Forum reiterates its call for Canada and the United States to decommission the Enbridge Line 5 oil pipeline, which poses a real and credible threat to the Great Lakes and Indigenous Peoples. Both States must implement the Declaration in connection with Line 5 by respecting the free, prior and informed consent of the affected Indigenous Peoples," the final report states.

Line 5 protest courtesy of Whitney Gravelle, President of Bay Mills Indian Community in Michigan

President Gravelle told the United Nations:

"Bay Mills is concerned about the longstanding financial relationship between Canada’s official export credit agency and the oil and gas company Enbridge. Export Development Canada has provided funding to Enbridge at least 44 times since 2001, including a $200-300 million loan renewal this past July.

Enbridge operates the Line 5 pipeline, a corroding dual pipeline that carries up to 23 million gallons of oil and gas each day through the Straits of Mackinac, the heart of the Great Lakes and the center of creation for our people.

As the Permanent Forum and other U.N. experts have recognized, Line 5 jeopardizes the Great Lakes and poses a real and credible threat to the human rights of Indigenous Peoples in Canada and the United States.

The pipeline has already spilled more than 1 million gallons of petroleum products into the Great Lakes and is at serious risk of further spills, including a catastrophic spill. In light of these risks, the Permanent Forum has called on Canada and the U.S. to decommission Line 5.

Yet, Export Development Canada continues to support Enbridge, including through financing that can be used for general working capital and corporate purposes. Meanwhile, the Canadian government is supporting the continued operations of Line 5 through other fora.

Canada initiated and is engaging in bilateral negotiations about the pipeline’s fate without allowing affected Indigenous Nations to participate, including Bay Mills, despite our requests for a seat at the table.

Canada is also intervening in ongoing litigation in the United States, arguing in amicus briefs that U.S. courts are not empowered to redress Enbridge’s trespass and unlawful presence on Tribal and state lands due to its Pipeline Treaty with the U.S. Canada’s actions ignore its international obligations to Indigenous peoples under international human rights treaties and UNDRIP, which the State has committed to implementing.

The contrast could not be clearer.

While Indigenous communities work to protect our lands, waters, and cultural resources, we continue to face significant barriers to access the funding needed to support these solutions. At the same time, fossil fuel companies benefit from routine access to large-scale public loans and credit guarantees, even as their projects violate our rights and threaten our way of life.

Public funds should not support projects that violate our rights. True support means ending harmful investments and backing Indigenous leadership to protect our lands, waters, and future generations."

Flagstaff: Radioactive Uranium Truck Driver in Medical Distress: Endangerment on the Haul Route

The driver of a radioactive uranium truck, covered only with a tarp, was in medical distress, parked at a restaurant in Flagstaff today before noon. The deadly trucks are transporting uranium ore from the Pinyon Plain uranium mine in the homeland of Havasupai in the Grand Canyon, through Flagstaff and the Navajo and Hopi Nations, to the White Mesa Ute community in Utah. Photo by Shannonlynn Chester, Censored News.

Breaking News

Flagstaff: Radioactive Uranium Truck Driver in Medical Distress: Endangerment on the Haul Route

Article and photos by Shannonlynn Chester, Dine'

Censored News, May 8, 2025

French translation by Christine Prat

There is currently a truck hauling uranium with only a covered tarp parked behind Mary's Cafe in Flagstaff, Arizona on Highway 89.

The truck driver needed an ambulance. When I arrived, I was told he had been parked for a couple of hours already. It's 11:07 am and the truck is still there. This is a scary situation. This poses even further threats to the community in several ways. I've watched hundreds of individuals drive by in the time that I've been here watching this. Unless one is aware what these trucks hauling radioactive material looks like then everyone in this vicinity has unknowingly been put at risk.

The driver staggered back to his truck after being treated at the ambulance.
Screenshot from video by Shannonlynn Chester. 

The driver received EMT services then he staggered back to his truck and he was helped back in with a pat on the back. Even from afar, he does not look well! This is extremely concerning as he will potentially continue traveling north through many communities to White Mesa Mill in Utah.

PLEASE be aware, be vigilant and take extreme caution traveling on Highway 89 from Flagstaff along the haul route.

This isn't safe. There isn't any accountability to us, "the public" at all. What I watched unfold for over an hour and a half is extremely concerning and we should not be allowing this. 

UPDATE by Censored News

The Navajo Nation, law enforcement and the mainstream media downplayed the risks today to Navajos and everyone on the haul route. This comes after Navajo President Buu Nygren cut a secret deal with Energy Fuels for the uranium transport trucks to pass through the Navajo Nation.

Nygren released a statement about the sick truck driver. Nygren said the Navajo Nation EPA coordinated with the Coconino County Sheriff's Office and the Flagstaff Fire Department. The Fire Department conducted radiation scans on the truck and said that the radiation levels at the location were within safe limits.

Three other uranium ore trucks at the designated inspection site were allowed to pass and continue to the White Mesa Mill, Nygren said.

Energy Fuels notified the Navajo Nation EPA at 11:40 a.m. that the fourth truck -- whose driver was sick -- returned back to the Pinyon Plain Mine, Nygren said.

Coconino County Sheriff Bret Axlund said the truck driver had "flu-like symptoms" and refused medical transport from the site. An ambulance was called to the site, just north of Flagstaff, in the area of Hwy 89 and Townsend Winona Road.

Earlier, the Navajo Nation Council said President Nygren entered into a secret deal with Energy Fuels, without the knowledge or consent of the Navajo Council, to allow the uranium ore trucks to pass through the Navajo Nation from the Grand Canyon mine enroute to Utah.

More than 500 uranium mines and scattered radioactive waste remain on the Navajo Nation, which the U.S. never cleaned up after the Cold War, resulting in widespread cancer for Dine'.

An ambulance was called when the driver of this radioactive uranium ore truck became ill on the north side of Flagstaff this morning. Photo by Shannonlynn Chester, Censored News.

This uranium truck was returned to the Pinyon Plain uranium mine in the Grand Canyon after the truck driver became sick and an ambulance was called to the site, on the north side of Flagstaff. The deadly uranium transport route beyond Flagstaff passes through the Navajo and Hopi Nations before arriving at Energy Fuels uranium mill in the White Mesa Ute community in southeastern Utah. Photo today by Shannonlynn Chester.

Energy Fuels uranium transport trucks, covered only with tarps, transport uranium ore from the Pinyon Plain uranium mine in the Grand Canyon to the White Mesa Mill in southeastern Utah. The deadly trucks begin the transport in the homeland of Havasupai in the Grand Canyon, and pass through the City of Flagstaff, and  communities of Hualapai, Paiute, Navajo and Hopi before arriving at Energy Fuels uranium mill in the White Mesa Ute community in southeastern Utah. -- Censored News

#endnuclearcolonialism #nonukes #keepitintheground #cleanupthemines #nomorecancer #haulno #protectsacredsites #defendthesacred

A Powerful Voice from Chile's Desert on Lithium Mining and Protection of Mother Earth

A Powerful Voice from Chile's Atacama Desert on Lithium Mining and Protection of Mother Earth

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, May 8, 2025

NEW YORK -- "Land is not a resource but a source of life," said an Indigenous representative from the Atacama Desert in Chile, in her statement to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

"The expansion of mining for critical minerals such as lithium and others without consent, and without respect for our fundamental collective rights, is a serious problem," she said, pointing out that it is an urgent need to confront the climate crisis and energy transition.

"We are not enemies of development, we are not obstacles for the future, we are guardians of the balance,  we are living memory, we are solutions of the future. We want an energy transition that respects and acknowledges our Indigenous Peoples and the rights of Mother Earth."

International investments continue to finance extractive process that violate the peoples rights, pollute the water, fragment their communities and transform their territories as these destroy ecosystems, she said.

Indigenous Peoples rights must be respected and recognized. Free prior and informed consent must be a mandatory condition before any projects in Indigenous territory, in accordance with the law in Chile, and the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Climate funding investment policies must include criteria ensuring human rights and safeguarding the Indigenous communities, and must be supervised by independent mechanisms to ensure transparency in order to avoid economic marginalization, she said.

"It is important to recognize the important role of Indigenous peoples in the protection of the planet."

There must be protocols of Indigenous knowledge, and it is important that Indigenous Peoples participation is guaranteed in all areas related to climate justice.

"We are not enemies of development, we are not obstacles for the future, we are guardians of the balance, we are living memory, we are solutions of the future. We want an energy transition that respects and acknowledges our Indigenous Peoples and the rights of Mother Earth."

'Will lithium mining kill Chile's deserts?" A protest walk across the desert opposing the lithium mining using the precious water in the desert. Watch the video at The Guardian. https://lithiumworlds.com/mining-indigenous-territories/