On February 26, around 100 people gathered at the West Steps of the Capitol building in downtown Sacramento in solidarity with the San Carlos Apache and their resistance to the sale of Oak Flat to a multinational mining corporation.
Assembled in a circle, there was a blessing followed by a traditional Apache song. After a brief introduction, the march was then led by local Aztec Danzantes to the nearby Southside Park. At the park, well known for its long history of activism in the community, speakers touched on a variety of topics from Indigenous self determination to the need for political action. Amelia Garcia, daughter of Yolo County political prisoner Luis V. Rodriguez, read a statement from her Tribal Chairman Manuel P. Sanchez on behalf of the Chihene Nde nation of New Mexico.
In response to the illegitimate sale of their land in 2015, the San Carlos Apache began an occupation of Oak Flat with the purpose of preserving their ancestral homelands. The action in Sacramento was one of several that took place in solidarity across the country including in Hawaii, Seattle, and Los Angeles. Supporters of Oak Flat are advocating for Congressional Bill H.R. 2811 that would reverse the back room deal between the federal government and Resolution Copper. This reversal would be a victory for the struggle of the Apache and all Indigenous communities seeking to protect their sacred lands from greedy capitalists.
Oak Flat is currently considered by the law to be a part of the Tonto National Forest which was founded in Arizona in 1905 following the forced dispossession of the Tonto Apache and their relocation to reservations. What was once the site of sacred Apache coming of age ceremonies was transformed into a tourist attraction and camp site. Following this, the Apache have been in a struggle to protect their traditional lands.
The most recent act of transferring this land from the federal government to Resolution Copper, an Australian mining corporation owned by Rio Tinto, was buried deep in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2015. In the past, the desire to use destructive block cave mining, which Resolution Copper has acknowledged would result in the eventual collapse of Oak Flat, has met great opposition. Knowing that it had previously been defeated several times when presented on its own, it was put into a bill that the establishment had deemed a necessity for maintaining “National Security.”
The people have come to know very well that this so called national security is nothing more than the protection of the ruling class’ ability to accumulate profit at the expense of the environment and the working class. The surveillance state that has arisen following 9/11 has been a thin disguise for counterintelligence activities aimed at slowing the momentum of a growing movement for radical change in the United States. The NDAA was key in upholding the supposed legality of these repressive measures.
In reality, this is just the latest example of a process of colonization and genocide that began with the “discovery” of the America’s by Columbus and has continued alongside the development of capitalism. Countless horrors later, following the completed westward expansion of the United States, indigenous communities of the United States continue to be targeted for assimilation or extermination. To this day, these crimes of genocide have not been answered for. The reservation system can hardly call itself a just reparation for the large scale theft of Indigenous land carried out by the American government. Until full treaty rights are restored, police brutality against Native peoples is brought to an end, and self determination is guaranteed, the struggle will continue against corporate and federal encroachment.
HANDS OFF SACRED SITES, LANDS AND WATERS!
PROTECT OAK FLAT!
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