Forgotten Keepers of the #RioGrandeDelta

An industrial buildout on the southern tip of Texas is erasing the last traces of an ancient world that still hasn’t died.

by Dylan Baddour
May 13, 2024

"This society has been trying to get rid of #Mancias’ people for 500 years. It couldn’t kill them all, so it’s destroying the evidence that they ever existed. That’s what Mancias sees as 100-ton bulldozers flatten the hills his #ancestors camped on, churn up their bones, and casually crush them into rubble, removing these last traces of their world.

" 'They almost annihilated us, and that #genocide continues,' Mancias said. 'To destroy the #environment you have to destroy the people who protect it.'

"He faces a formidable foe here at the last frontier for oil and gas on the Gulf Coast of Texas. Every other major inlet from the Mississippi River west through Port Arthur, Houston, Freeport, Lavaca Bay, and Corpus Christi is already ringed with #refineries, #ChemicalPlants, and terminals.

"But at the farthest tip of #Texas, the #RioGrande meets the Gulf between #WildlifeRefuges, a #StatePark, and a majestic #wilderness that still shelters endangered and little-known #wildlife.

"This is where Houston-based developer #NextDecade has begun constructing an $18 billion #MegaProject, which it called the 'largest greenfield energy project [financed] in U.S. history' when it announced in 2023 that it had secured investors to proceed.

"Named #RioGrandeLNG, the 750-acre facility will eventually pipe in up to 27 million tons per year of gas from #fracked wells in the #PermianBasin, supercool it to negative 260 degrees fahrenheit, and load it onto #TankerShips for sale overseas as liquefied natural gas (#LNG). It’s part of an explosion of lookalike projects that quickly made the United States the world’s top exporter of liquefied gas and drove soaring gas production at home.

"On an adjacent tract, another project called Texas LNG intends to build atop a site called #GarciaPasture—an ancient village ground where people lived seasonally for almost 800 years. The World Monument Fund calls it 'one of America’s premier #archaeological sites.' That project has its permits and awaits investor commitments before breaking ground.

"And about 5 miles away, #SpaceX continues to expand its #Starbase complex, where it manufactures and launches the most powerful #rockets in the world (which occasionally explode and fall to earth).

"Mancias fears this is just the beginning.

" 'All of this will be gone,' he said, driving his pickup truck down a highway through the marshes. 'They’re going to destroy all of this.' "

Read more:
https://www.texasobserver.org/forgotten-keepers-of-the-rio-grande-delta/

#DefendingTheSacred #SacredSites
#TexasObserver #InsideClimateNews #BigOilAndGas #CulturalGenocide #CorporateColonialism #ElonSucks #MegaProjects #Pollution #Fracking #SpaceIndustry #DefendTheSacred #EndangeredSpecies

Defenders of the Delta: A Tribal Leader Fights for Ancestral Land in South Texas

Juan Mancias leads the Carrizo/Comecrudo, unrecognized and little-known, in a struggle against fossil fuels, SpaceX, and historical erasure.

The Texas Observer

#ApacheStronghold #HolyGround Ceremony

March 28, 2026

"On Saturday, March 28th at 8 am, a Holy Ground Ceremony will be held in #SanCarlosAZ, at the 7 mile Holy Ground. Those who do not know the location are welcome to camp at the Nosie’s Residence Friday night or meet there at 7 am to follow us to 7 mile Holy Ground. More information about Sunday March 29th will be available tomorrow. Announcements will be made in person at ceremony."

https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2026/03/apache-stronghold-holy-ground-ceremony.html

#SaveOakFlat #ChíchilBiłdagoteel #ProtectOakFlat #Arizona #RioTinto #CopperMining #Fight4OurExistance
#SacredLand #TontoNationalForest
#WesternApache #ProtectTheSacred
#IndigenousNews #IndigenousActivism #CorporateColonialism #DefendTheSacred #CensoredNews #ReaderSupportedNews

Apache Stronghold Holy Ground Ceremony March 28, 2026

Censored News is a service to grassroots Indigenous Peoples engaged in resistance and upholding human rights.

#ApacheStronghold 'We Are Still Fighting'

Statement from Dr. #WendslerNosie Sr.
March 20, 2026

"Many of you have heard that on Friday, the Ninth Circuit again refused to stop the Government from giving #OakFlat to #ResolutionCopper for destruction. This is sad news. But we will never stop fighting to protect Oak Flat and each place that is sacred to our people. And we are still fighting—in the courts, in Congress, and, most importantly, spiritually.

In the courts, there are still four lawsuits seeking to protect Oak Flat. All four cases are still going. And any one of these cases could still put a stop to the Government’s and Resolution’s plans to destroy Oak Flat:

- In Lopez v. United States, on the day after Friday’s ruling, seven brave Apache women filed an emergency appeal in the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the Court to stop the mine and protect Oak Flat. The Supreme Court could rule on that appeal any day. The women in that case can also ask the Ninth Circuit to reconsider its ruling in their case. The deadline to ask for reconsideration is April 27, 2026. That case focuses on religious freedom.
- In #SanCarlosApache Tribe v. United States, also part of Friday’s ruling, the Tribe can also ask the Ninth Circuit to reconsider its ruling and/or appeal to the Supreme Court. That case focuses on the Tribe’s rights, tribal consultation, and the inadequacy of the government’s decision-making process.
- In Arizona #Mining Reform Coalition v. United States, also part of Friday’s ruling, several environmental groups and the Inter-Tribal Association of Arizona can also ask the Ninth Circuit to reconsider its ruling and/or appeal to the Supreme Court. That case focuses on the government’s unfair appraisal of Oak Flat and inadequate #EnvironmentalReview.
- Apache Stronghold v. United States, which is our case, has been 'stayed' (or temporarily put on hold) waiting for the Ninth Circuit’s ruling, which came on Friday. Now that the Ninth Circuit has ruled, our case will start again in the district court. We will continue making every possible legal claim to protect Oak Flat.

In Congress, on Tuesday, Representative #AdelitaGrijalva introduced legislation to preserve public lands in the Chí’chil Biłdagoteel Historic District and fight back against the proposed mine. This bill is an important part of the fight to protect Oak Flat.

But even more than legally and politically, we are continuing to fight spiritually. This fight has never been primarily about law or politics. It is about who we are as human beings, religiously and spiritually. If we allow sacred places to be destroyed for profit, we are saying that nothing is truly sacred. We are losing something essential about our humanity—our ability to respect #MotherEarth, to honor what is holy, and to live in balance with the world around us.

That is why we are calling on all people to continue raising their voices, in prayer and protest, to protect Oak Flat—to protect the sacred. We, the Apache Stronghold, invite you to an upcoming spiritual gathering on March 28-29, 2026 at Oak Flat.

The legal system may try to reduce our struggle to questions of ownership and profit. But our connection to Mother Earth predates those systems. It is something each one of us is born into, something we carry in our prayers, our songs, and our way of life. No matter what the courts rule, no matter what the government tries to do, we will never stop fighting to preserve our sacred places. We will not lose our connection to the Creator."

Source:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2026/03/apache-stronghold-we-are-still-fighting.html

#ChíchilBiłdagoteel #ProtectOakFlat #SanCarlosApache #ResolutionCopper #Arizona #RioTinto #SaveOakFlat #CopperMining #Fight4OurExistance #SacredLand #TontoNationalForest #WesternApaches #ProtectTheSacred #IndigenousNews #IndigenousActivism #CorporateColonialism #DefendTheSacred #CensoredNews #ReaderSupportedNews

Apache Stronghold 'We Are Still Fighting'

Censored News is a service to grassroots Indigenous Peoples engaged in resistance and upholding human rights.

#OakFlat March and Run: #ApacheStronghold Photos

By Apache Stronghold, Censored News, Feb. 9, 2026

"12th Annual #OakFlatMarch/Run. The final day of the run, Saturday, February 7, 2026, the experienced runners passed through the final corridor, ending at the Oak Flat campground. The annual gathering followed, with speakers representing many tribes, backgrounds, and ages sharing their thoughts on Oak Flat and the importance of protecting this sacred and irreplaceable site. Photos by Molly Peters.

Apache Stronghold is battling to protect Oak Flat from becoming the gigantic crater of a copper mine, that would destroy the Sacred Ceremonial Place, seize and pollute the water, and poison the air and land."

Source (includes photos):
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2026/02/oak-flat-march-and-run-apache.html

#ProtectOakFlat #SanCarlosApache #ResolutionCopper #Arizona #ChichilBildagoteel #RioTinto
#SaveOakFlat #CopperMining
#Fight4OurExistance #SacredLand #TontoNationalForest #WesternApaches #ProtectTheSacred #IndigenousNews #IndigenousActivism #CorporateColonialism #DefendTheSacred #OakFlatRun #CensoredNews #ReaderSupportedNews

Oak Flat March and Run: Apache Stronghold Photos

Censored News is a service to grassroots Indigenous Peoples engaged in resistance and upholding human rights.

12th Annual Sacred Chi'chil BIł’dagoteel #OakFlat Run

February 5-8 pm, 2026

Schedule:

Thursday, Feb 5th - 4 pm Holy Ground Blessing and Dinner at Old San Carlos Monument. Run will follow after blessing

Friday, Feb 6th- 8 am March/Run will begin at the New Skate Park (Sport Complex) and will end in Miami, Arizona, at the Shrine

Saturday, Feb 7th - 8 am Run will begin at the Shrine in Miami, Arizona, to Oak Flat

Sunday, Feb 8th - 9 am Holy Ground Blessing at Oak Flat and then departure

FMI (Apache Stronghold website):
https://www.apache-stronghold.com/oak-flat-run

FB page:
https://www.facebook.com/SaveOakFlatArizona

Source:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2026/02/sacred-chichil-bidagoteel-oak-flat.html

#ApacheStronghold #ProtectOakFlat #SanCarlosApache #ResolutionCopper #Arizona #ChichilBildagoteel #RioTinto
#SaveOakFlat #CopperMining
#Fight4OurExistance #SacredLand #TontoNationalForest #WesternApaches #ProtectTheSacred #CorporateColonialism #DefendTheSacred #OakFlatRun #CensoredNews #ReaderSupportedNews

Many years ago (I think back in 1987), I had a vision of being in #PortlandME, on a hill by the ocean (Munjoy Hill), at a protest, and was assassinated (shot in the back). That vision has never scared me off, and I even organized protests in that spot... Because, to know that I might die defending the rights of others to exist (and Mother Earth to flourish), and to possibly die standing up for what I believe is right, is to die as a warrior. And to be a warrior for human rights and Mother Earth is what is so needed right now. I'm not afraid to die. And I'm not afraid to live. I've lived my life fully, and have had close brushes with death. But to me, to die a coward is a fate worse than death.

#USPol #Authoritarianism #DefendTheSacred #DefendHumanRights #DefendMotherEarth

Walking #BeyondCapitalism, #WendslerNosie Journeys to Federal Court in Phoenix

via #CensoredNews, January 3, 2026

Statement by Wendsler Nosie:

"Good afternoon to all my family, friends, relatives, and people. I come to you in this moment in time, knowing we all have been born into from our parents and those before. We all know those before us, suffered from a great #evil, who tried to destroy them. This evil still exists today.

Every day it works to control us and make its way to have us deceive our own children's lives, by them not being told the truth. We teach them to live and embrace a system of #capitalism that we surely know won't secure the future.

Through every passing generation, it clearly shows it has failed. From the birth of Europe to their unauthorized arrival here and the taking of the East Coast, wrongfully establishing their 13 colonies, they then turned toward the west, breaking all treaties that were dishonest from their inception, establishing a dishonest trust system allowing them to take more and more.

Their human ideology, their way to survive through their economic engine, has been a disaster. It takes and it takes and gives nothing back. No care for any kind of life, no care for the next generation. It's about living for now and being #greedy and destroying communities of people with their power of capitalism.

Since the beginning, through #colonization and capitalism, many here and around the world have suffered. People cried then and still today for a better day and still ask God, what have I done?

The political agenda of capitalism is to put fear in each of us. Pushing each of us towards the illusion that #MotherEarth and ourselves are useless. From fear we lose hope, the journey of spirituality and everything on mother earth, becomes disposable. Our mother earth is the timeline to everything. It gives us the water of life, it gives us the oxygen of life, it gives us the food of life, and it blesses us with life for our children and those yet to come.

It saddens me when this country does not prioritize all the sacred elements that give us life. It saddens me to witness that some no longer care to keep God's greatest gift alive. From a spiritual understanding, our love for one another is critical, our morals to make right decisions is critical and the love for our mother earth should be embedded forever.

We have all been taught not to recognize our mother and forced into a life to be colonized. We were blessed, in the beginning, with the tools of how to survive in the world that provides for us all.

This evil took those tools away and taught us how to be selfish, greedy, impassive and assimilate our minds and hearts to believe in capitalism. For what I have witnessed, I now can say, I see as what my father, my grandfather and great grandfather witnessed before me.

Capitalism demands your loyalty, to destroy every moral ethic, spiritual belief and God's way of life. I too know who cares and protects what God and Jesus had warned the world about. I will not be one who is loyal to capitalism, you will not fool me. If we really think it through, from those who say that capitalism will solve our problems, and when we actually understand it, disaster will occur, i.e. billions of gallons of water can remain forever, no contamination to the environment, no climate changes, one of the oldest religious ceremonies before the beginning of time continues, etc.

The United States of America clearly violated procedures and laws and ignored not only the #NativeAmericans, but also the state of #Arizona and the people of this country. Their decision to give full exemptions from the law has opened the door forever for #corporations to follow suit.

America, our civilization is in trouble and it needs your attention. As you and I today, as did our ancestors had encountered centuries ago, we are also in that moment. We cannot lose our mother earth, if she is lost, there is no life.

The sustainability of the Mother Earth ensures our children’s children will live . So, preserving mother earth today, will guarantee future generations.

I will be departing from #OakFlat on Sunday, January 4th at 11 AM. I will be walking and a little jogging to arrive in downtown Phoenix to attend the court hearings (#AZReform Mining Coalition, ITCA, San Carlos Apache Tribe and Lopez/Kinsey (Burdette) cases vs. U.S., which begin at 10 a.m. on January 7, 2026.

For those who do know me well, I had a spiritual encounter and must travel in this spiritual way. I ask each of you, if possible, to make a ceremonial fire, light a candle, or be in prayer.

The decision of the federal judges will weigh heavy on the future for water, environment, religion, and the ability to give federal exemptions to corporations without following legal policies.

#Usen (Creator), hear my prayers, as I make this journey to encounter many ugly obstacles but also witness the beauty of all life. I will let No Fear distract me, for all the beautiful spirits will be in all four directions."

Wendsler Nosie Sr.

Source:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2026/01/walking-beyond-capitalism-wendsler.html

#SaveOakFlat #WaterIsLife #ProtectOakFlat #DefendTheSacred #NativeAmericanActivism #CorporateColonialism #CapitalismMustDie #ApacheStronghold #SanCarlosApache #ResolutionCopper
#Arizona #ChichilBildagoteel
#RioTinto #CopperMining #Fight4OurExistance #SacredLand
#TontoNationalForest #WesternApaches #ProtectTheSacred

Walking Beyond Capitalism, Wendsler Nosie Journeys to Federal Court in Phoenix

Censored News is a service to grassroots Indigenous Peoples engaged in resistance and upholding human rights.

[LIVE] #NationalDayOfMourning 2025, (27 November 25 @ 12pm ET)

"Since 1970, Indigenous people & their allies have gathered at noon on Cole's Hill in Plymouth to commemorate a National Day of Mourning on the US Thanksgiving holiday. Many Native people do not celebrate the arrival of the Pilgrims & other European settlers. Thanksgiving Day is a reminder of the genocide of millions of Native people, the theft of Native lands and the erasure of Native cultures. Participants in National Day of Mourning honor Indigenous ancestors and Native resilience. It is a day of remembrance and spiritual connection, as well as a protest against the racism and oppression that Indigenous people continue to experience worldwide."

National Day of Mourning
Thursday, November 27, 2025
12:00 Noon
Cole's Hill (above Plymouth Rock), Plymouth, MA

Livestream: https://www.youtube.com/live/6u-jF6pHDBg

#UnitedAmericanIndiansOfNewEngland #UAINE #PlymouthMassachusetts #ClimateJustice #DayOfMourning #NoDAPL #LandBack
#DefendTheSacred #MMIWG #NoPipelines #LeaveItInTheGround #HumanRightsAreNeverWrong #LoveYourMotherEarth #ResistWhiteSupremacy #CorporateColonialism #Capitalism
#NativeAmericanActivism #DayOfMourning #Solidarity #WeWillContinue #PlymouthRock
#Wampanoag #FrankJames #FrankWamsuttaJames
#SettlerColonialism #IndigenousHistory
#AmericanHistory #Mayflower
#ThanksgivingMyth #InTheSpiritOfMetacom #LGBTQ #TwoSpirits #MMIWG #LandBack #Resistance #ProtectMotherEarth #FreePalestine #CorporateColonialism #Capitalism #NoMiningWithoutConsent #ColonialismIsACrime #IndigenousResistance #DefendTheSacred #ManifestDestiny

[LIVE] National Day of Mourning 2025, (27 November 25 @ 12pm ET)

YouTube