Perched 4,000 feet above the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, Chí’chil Biłdagoteel, or Oak Flat, is a mountain refuge where Apache people have danced in ceremony since time immemorial. When the sun rises at Oak Flat, it shines through mountaintops thick with massive red boulders, and the leaves of ancient oaks catch the first light over the ground. I hear the quiet voice of an uncolonized God speaking at Oak Flat. The Spirit is present in the lush tree-lined canyons, as well as in the drumming during the Sunrise Ceremony, held here when Apache girls become women.
If the US government has its way, this sacred site will soon be converted into a massive copper mine. The Trump administration has announced an August 19 transfer of the land to Resolution Copper, a joint venture by two of the world’s largest mining corporations: Australian company BHP and British-Australian company Rio Tinto. If the mine is built, in the course of 40 years Resolution Copper is expected to export more than 40 billion pounds of copper ore to China for processing.
Apache Stronghold is fighting to save Oak Flat. After Congress authorized the Oak Flat land transfer, in 2021 the nonprofit group sued to stop the project on religious freedom grounds. Last year it lost in federal circuit court and appealed to the US Supreme Court.
