“We remember those who sacrifice and defended our people–we recognize our great leaders and their respect for those who know freedom. We must guide our people to, once again, hold our destiny in our own hands, so I challenge each of us to overcome the oppression and begin the process of believing in ourselves. This must be the first step… Usen, we ask for your blessing to guide our current and future leadership so that our children and the unborn will inherit our Apache Way of Life…..Wendsler Nosie Sr.

Oak Flat is calling out all Indigenous People to return home to their ancestral lands to reclaim and occupy their sacred sites. The Spiritual War ha begun and we are calling all land defender's to return home to their Sacred Lands to join Apache Stronghold in this Spiritual War!

This is the site of the proposed copper mine that was included in the federal budget act last year, when the Republicans snuck in all sorts of bad provisions to screw the environment and in, a few instances, Native Americans. This area is sacred to the Apaches. The land will be mined by Rio Tinto, an Australian company. Senator McCain engineered this crap.

I signed the petition for the Apaches, which appears at the end of the video.

Description of the video from a press release from the Center for Biological Diversity:

Hundreds of people gathered in central Arizona’s Tonto National Forest over the weekend as part of a rally against mining giant Rio Tinto’s plans to develop a massive copper mine in a place deeply sacred to the Apache people. The San Carlos Apache tribe led a 46-mile march ending at the Oak Flat Campground.

The area, home to wildlife ranging from bears to bobcats to ocelots, was formally withdrawn from mining by presidential order 50 years ago, but Congress recently approved a land swap allowing Rio Tinto to obtain private control of the land and evade environmental laws.

The mine would leave a massive depression in the ground, drain the aquifer, and destroy important streams, springs and habitat.

Downtown Phx. #Save Oak Flat. Mural.

PROTECT OAK FLAT: SAVING APACHE SACRED GROUNDS For nearly a decade, Resolution Copper Mining, a subsidiary of British-Australian mining conglomerate Rio Tinto, had unsuccessfully sought ownership of Oak Flat Campground. Yet, on December 19, 2014, with the help of Senator John McCain, the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act of 2013 resurfaced within the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and was successfully passed by the Senate and signed off by President Obama . The new legislation will open up Oak Flat for copper mining. As part of the deal, Resolution Copper will swap roughly 7.8 square miles of land scattered across Arizona for roughly 3.8 square miles of Tonto National Forest, which includes Oak Flat. Resolution Copper is required to work with the U.S. Forest Service to do an environmental impact study, however, they are guaranteed to get the land, regardless of what the study shows. Also, the company has chosen a cheaper method of extraction called block cave mining. The aftermath of the mining will result in a crater two miles wide and up to 1,000 feet deep, destroying the surface of the land as well as generate nearly a cubic mile of mine waste.

(Text/Video via: Paper Rocket Productions)

Once the land is privatized it is no longer protected by federal laws such as the National Historic Preservation Act, the Archaeological Resources Protection Act, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and Executive Order 13007— Protection of Indian Sacred Sites.

(Text: ICTMN)

(Bonus: Propaganda from Resolution Copper)