Oak Flat | Chi’chil Biłdagoteel
Oak Flat – the loose English translation of Chi’chil Bildagoteel – is land held sacred by the San Carlos Apache Tribe, the Western Apache tribes, and many other Tribes in the Southwest. But these ancestral homelands are now at risk of being obliterated by a copper mining project if Congress does not move to defend religious freedom and Indigenous rights by protecting Oak Flat now.
The Spiritual Connection of Indigenous Women to the Land and its Crucial Role in the Apache’s Battle for Sovereignty
“We are sitting on a female mountain.”1 —Wendsler Nosie Sr., Apache, Leader of Apache Stronghold
“In order to protect our women, we protect Mother Earth because She gives life to us, just as we give life to our children.” –Vanessa Nosie, Apache, Leader of Apache Stronghold
Chi’chil Bidagoteel is a life-giver. Acorn trees provide sustenance, streams flow through her valleys, and songbirds, foxes, deer and other wildlife feast on her abundance. The Apaches have lived, worshiped and cared for these lands since time immemorial. Their identity, their sovereignty, is tied to maintaining this connection with Mother Earth, Nahagosan. Chi’chil Bidagoteel remains a center of identity and culture for many Native tribes, including the San Carlos Apache, Tonto Apache, White Mountain Apache, Yavapai Apache, Yavapai Prescott Indian Tribe, the Gila River Indian Community, the Saltwater Pima Maricopa Indian Community, the Pueblo of Zuni, the Hopi Tribe, and more.
Over a century ago, Apache people were exiled from their ancestral lands within the abundant land of Chi’chil Bidagoteel—now known as Oak Flat, part of the Tonto National Forest in Arizona—and forcibly held within the boundaries of the San Carlos Reservation.
Destroying Oak Flat would be an act of violence against Native women. It would strip young women of their Sunrise Ceremony, the sacred ritual which connects them to the land and helps build their identity as Apache women.
Since then, the federal government and private businesses have been attempting to keep the San Carlos Apache from their homeland indefinitely by mining this sacred site. For the past decade, San Carlos Apache advocates, other Native tribes, and non-Indian allies have been protesting the most recent attempt: the construction of a copper mine that would turn Oak Flat into a 1.8-mile wide, 950-foot-deep sinkhole.
Over a century ago, Apache people were exiled from their ancestral lands within the abundant land of Chi’chil Bidagoteel—now known as Oak Flat, part of the Tonto National Forest in Arizona—and forcibly held within the boundaries of the San Carlos Reservation.
Since then, the federal government and private businesses have been attempting to keep the San Carlos Apache from their homeland indefinitely by mining this sacred site. For the past decade, San Carlos Apache advocates, other Native tribes, and non-Indian allies have been protesting the most recent attempt: the construction of a copper mine that would turn Oak Flat into a 1.8-mile wide, 950-foot-deep sinkhole.
Resolution Copper, a joint venture of two foreign mining companies, is set to acquire Oak Flat for its own mining purposes. President Trump officially set the land swap into motion right before he left office, and President Biden has only temporarily halted the measure. Oak Flat is still in very real danger of total destruction. We must take action.
The Save Oak Flat Act will permanently repeal the federal land exchange and protect this sacred Indigenous site from Resolution Copper: Tell Congress to support this bill now.
