Not surprising...😠

#ApacheStronghold -- Supreme Court Again Declines to Protect Sacred #OakFlat

By Apache Stronghold, via @bsnorrell.blogspot.com, Oct. 6, 2025

Apache Stronghold - Supreme Court update

"This morning, we received word the Supreme Court has decided not to reconsider our case. While this decision is deeply disappointing, the fight to protect Oak Flat is far from over.
We will continue pressing our case in the lower courts. In addition to our case, three other cases are also seeking to protect Oak Flat, and the Ninth Circuit will hear oral argument in those cases on
January 7, 2026. We’ll also keep urging Congress, the President, and federal agencies to stop the destruction of Oak Flat and protect our ancestral sacred land.

Oak Flat deserves the same respect and protection this country has long given to other places of worship.

Wendsler Nosie Sr. responding to the Supreme Court result, 'First, thank you everyone for all the hard work. You have been a blessing to us all in our country. Most importantly deep within us we
knew, but now we definitely witness the truth of this country, by the Supreme Court taking no action. What is evil created the unfairness, not just to us human beings but to all of God’s creations. When this country was founded, humans with the heart of #greed worked to mute the voice of the Creator. By this undertaking, we now live with a third entity, who was created to take and destroy every blessed
gift God gave us through our #MotherEarth. We know this evil as #Corporations, which comes from
#capitalism which #colonizes people. We must defend what is spiritual, holy and God’s greatest gift to us all, our Mother. Today is a new day for me as I now take the blessings from Usen (God), to walk
the footsteps of the purpose I was blessed with and no longer be a captive.'

America has shown us the government’s true intentions, we are unheard and ignored once again. Our judicial system’s voice is muted by capitalism, the ultimate destruction of Mother Earth has been given permission as if they control her, she supplies our lives not the reverse. Such a sad reality.

We call on all people to pray, to raise their voices, and to join us in defending Mother Earth. Thank you for standing with us."

Source:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/10/apache-stronghold-supreme-court-again.html

#SanCarlosApache #ChichilBildagoteel #WesternApaches #Fight4OurExistence #SacredLand #ReligiousLiberty #CensoredNews #Apache #ProtectOakFlat
#CopperMining #CorporateColonialism #SaveOakFlat #ProtectTheSacred #SCOTUS #SCOTUSIsCompromised #TontoNationalForest #ResolutionCopper #RioTinto

#SanCarlosApache Tribe welcomes Federal Court ruling delaying trade of sacred Oak Flat to Chinese-backed #ResolutionCopper

By San Carlos Apache Tribe, Censored News, June 9, 2025

#SanCarlosApacheNation, #Arizona — "The San Carlos Apache Tribe welcomes Friday’s federal court ruling preventing the Trump Administration from trading sacred Oak Flat to Chinese-backed Resolution #CopperMining no sooner than 60 days after the government releases an environmental report expected to be published later this month.

"The #Trump Administration had indicated that it intended to trade 2,422 acres of #TontoNationalForest 70 miles east of #PhoenixAZ that includes Oak Flat to Resolution Copper immediately upon publication of the mine’s updated environmental report.

U.S. District Court Judge Dominic W. Lanza’s order 'preclude(s) the United States Forest Service from proceeding with the challenged land exchange until 60 days after the issuance of the Final Environmental Impact Statement, which is anticipated to be issued on June 16.'

" 'We are grateful that Judge Lanza has provided us an opportunity to be heard,' said San Carlos Apache Tribe Chairman Terry Rambler. 'The two-month window provides the Tribe an opportunity to file an amended lawsuit challenging the legality of the pending environmental report and request an injunction to stop the land exchange until the merits of our case are settled.'

"The Oak Flat land transfer was mandated by a last-minute amendment to the FY2015 #NationalDefenseAuthorizationAct that was added by the late Arizona Senator #JohnMcCain and former Arizona Senator #JeffFlake. The land transfer provision, which failed to pass Congress in previous years, avoided the normal course of business and was not debated before it was added to the mustsign [#NDAA] defense spending bill that was signed into law by President Barack #Obama.

" 'The bill that authorized the land exchange is not in the best interest of the American people, Arizona or the San Carlos Apache Tribe,' Chairman Rambler stated. 'We have filed this lawsuit because of our concerns of the mine’s massive use of groundwater, which will be devastating for both Arizona
and eventually the Tribe. We are also deeply concerned about the environmental destruction and the obliteration of Oak Flat will have on Apache culture and religion.'

"Resolution plans to collapse Oak Flat, known as Chi’chil Biłdagoteel in Apache, into a two-mile wide, 1,100-foot-deep crater. Chi’chil Biłdagoteel is listed in the National Register of Historic Places as a Traditional Cultural Place.

"Resolution Copper is owned by Melbourne-based #BHP (45%) and London-based #RioTinto (55%), the two largest mining companies in the world. The Chinese state-owned Aluminum Corporation of China, which spearheads China’s acquisition of strategic minerals worldwide, is Rio Tinto’s single largest investor with a 14.6% stake. Both BHP and Rio Tinto rely on China for the majority of their revenue.

" 'We fully expect Resolution’s copper to be exported to China, which poses a national security threat,' Chairman Rambler said. “The United States already exports 30 percent of the copper produced by U.S. mines because of a lack of copper smelting capacity.

"'The Trump Administration’s Oak Flat appraisal concludes that Resolution’s copper will be exported to southeast Asia,' Chairman Rambler added. 'It’s clearly in the best interest of the United States to withhold publication of the Resolution environmental report at least until there is a change in the ownership of this project to companies that are not reliant on China for more than half their business.' "

Source:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/06/san-carlos-apache-tribe-federal-court.html

#Fight4OurExistence #ProtectOakFlat #LandBack #sacredland #OakFlat
#SaveOakFlat #SanCarlosApache #Apache #ReligiousLiberty #NativeAmericans #FirstNations #CensoredNews #ReaderSupportedNews
#ProtectTheSacred #ApacheStronghold #NativeAmericanNews #NativeAmericans #RioTinto #CopperMining #Arizona #LeaveItInTheGround #ChichilBildagoteel #WesternApaches #BecketLaw #ResolutionCopper #USPol #MiningTheSacred #NationalForests #CorporateLandGrabs #CorporateColonialism #CulturalGenocide #McCainShame

We live in a f*cked up world when #Republican #SCOTUS members are the only ones who do the right thing. WTF!

BREAKING! Supreme Court Refuses Plea to #ProtectOakFlat

#ApacheStronghold said it will continue the fight in the courts

#WendslerNosieSr. said, "While this decision is a heavy blow, our struggle is far from over. We urge Congress to take decisive action to stop this injustice while we press forward in the courts."

By Becket Law, Censored News, May 27, 2025

WASHINGTON – "The Supreme Court today refused to protect a Western Apache sacred site, #OakFlat, from destruction by a Chinese-owned mining giant. In Apache Stronghold v. United States, a coalition of Apaches, other Native peoples, and non-Native allies will now continue to fight in court to
stop the government from transferring Oak Flat to #ResolutionCopper and turning the site into a massive mining
crater, ending Apache religious practices forever.

"#JusticeGorsuch, joined by #JusticeThomas, dissented from the Court’s refusal to hear the appeal,
saying that the Court’s 'decision to shuffle this case off our docket without a full airing is a grievous mistake—one with consequences that threaten to reverberate for generations.'

"Since time immemorial, Western Apaches and other Native peoples have gathered at Oak Flat, outside of present-day Superior, Arizona, for sacred religious ceremonies that cannot take place anywhere else."

Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/05/supreme-court-refuses-plea-to-protect.html

Link to PDF (with Gorsuch's full dissention):

https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24-291_5i26.pdf

#Fight4OurExistence #SCOTUS #ProtectOakFlat #LandBack #sacredland #OakFlat
#SaveOakFlat #SanCarlosApache #Apache #ReligiousLiberty #NativeAmericans #FirstNations #CensoredNews #ReaderSupportedNews
#ProtectOakFlat #ProtectTheSacred #ApacheStronghold #NativeAmericanNews #NativeAmericans #RioTinto #CopperMining #Arizona #LeaveItInTheGround #ChichilBildagoteel #WesternApaches #BecketLaw

via @bsnorrell.blogspot.com

#ApacheStronghold: Fight For Existence Podcast 'A Halted Land Transfer, A Continued Fight'

"U.S. #SupremeCourt: May 22 is the next possible date for considering the case

"The federal district court in Phoenix has issued an injunction, halting the land transfer of Apaches Ceremonial Place of Oak Flat -- which is targeted to be destroyed by a copper mine -- until the U.S. Supreme Court hears the case."

Source:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/05/apache-stronghold-fight-for-existence.html

Fight for Our Existence podcast, Episode 32 is now available!

Apache Stronghold: A Halted Land Transfer, A Continued Fight

Now streaming on all platforms!
https://linktr.ee/Fight4ourexistence

YT: https://www.youtube.com/@fight4ourexistencepodcast912

#Fight4OurExistence #SCOTUS #ProtectOakFlat #LandBack #NativePodcast #sacredland #OakFlat
#SaveOakFlat #SanCarlosApache
#Apache #ReligiousLiberty
#NativeAmericans #FirstNations #CensoredNews #ReaderSupportedNews
#ProtectOakFlat #ProtectTheSacred #ApacheStronghold #NativeAmericanNews #NativeAmericans #RioTinto #CopperMining #Arizona #LeaveItInTheGround #ChichilBildagoteel #WesternApaches #BecketLaw

BREAKING: Federal court halts destruction of #OakFlat

Judge blocks feds’ rush to transfer #Indigenous #SacredSite to foreign mining giant for destruction

By #BecketLaw, Censored News, May 9, 2025

WASHINGTON – "A federal court today blocked the U.S. government from plowing ahead with plans to hand over the #WesternApaches’ most sacred site at Oak Flat to a multinational mining giant for destruction."

Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/05/breaking-federal-court-halts.html

#CensoredNews #ReaderSupportedNews
#SaveOakFlat #ProtectOakFlat
#ProtectTheSacred #ApachStronghold #NativeAmericanNews #NativeAmericans
#RioTinto #CopperMining #Arizona #LeaveItInTheGround #ChichilBildagoteel

URGENT! #PhoenixArizona - #ApacheStronghold: Run from Oak Flat to Phoenix Courthouse, Run Begins May 4, 2025

By Wendsler Nosie, Sr., Apache Stronghold
Censored News, April 29, 2025

"I am putting out the call to all spiritual runners (runners and walkers), Native and nonnative, to stop the destruction of Chi'chil Bildagoteel. Oak Flat is now on death row!

"On Sunday, May 4th, Spiritual runners will begin the trek from Oak Flat to the Federal court house, Sandra Day O’Connor Court Building, for the Apache Stronghold vs. U. S. hearing, asking for a preliminary injunction to stop the land transfer of Oak Flat to Resolution Copper, because of the US Forest Service intention to publish the Federal environmental impact statement before June 16 -- which allows a foreign mining company, #ResolutionCopper, to take possession of the land!

"The hearing is scheduled for May 7th at 9:30 am.

"In the next few days the details will be finalized for the run . Take a stand for future generations. Save this Sacred site for the next generation. This is urgent. Please contact us for more information or let us know you are coming.

"No drugs or alcohol. This is a spiritual journey.

"Please, please share this post we don’t have a lot of time. Your help in gathering people together is important. Blessings."

https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/04/apache-stronghold-run-from-oak-flat-to.html

#CensoredNews #ReaderSupportedNews #SaveOakFlat #ProtectOakFlat #ProtectTheSacred #NativeAmericans #RioTinto #CopperMining #Arizona #LeaveItInTheGround #ChichilBildagoteel

Trump to approve land swap for Rio Tinto copper mine opposed by Native Americans

By Ernest Scheyder
April 18, 2025

- Forest Service to republish environmental report within 60 days
- Publication needed to approve land swap for Resolution project
- Native groups oppose project on religious grounds
- Related case still pending at Supreme Court

"The #Trump administration said on Thursday it would approve a land swap needed for #RioTinto and #BHP to build one of the world's largest copper mines, despite concerns from Native Americans that it would destroy a site of religious value.
The move is likely to escalate tensions between Indigenous groups vocal about the need to preserve historical lands and Western governments eager to boost critical minerals production and offset China's sector dominance.

"The U.S. Forest Service, which is part of the Agriculture Department, said it will republish within 60 days an environmental report needed for the #ResolutionCopper project land swap to occur.

"Congress and then-President #BarackObama approved the mine in 2014 after it was added at the last minute to a must-pass military funding bill [#NDAA] with the condition that an environmental report be published.

"The underground mine - which President Donald Trump approved in his first term before successor Joe Biden reversed him - would supply more than a quarter of U.S. appetite for copper and be a key part of Trump's plan to boost U.S. mining.

"Copper is used in construction, transportation, electronics and many other industries. The United States imports roughly half of its copper needs each year.

"Yet the mine's construction would cause a crater that would swallow the Oak Flat site where Arizona's San Carlos Apache worship. That has fueled strong opposition from all but one of the state's 22 Native American tribes, as well as the National Congress of American Indians.

"Apache Stronghold, a nonprofit group comprised of the San Carlos Apache Tribe and conservationists, asked the U.S. Supreme Court last September to block the land swap. The court has not yet decided whether to take that case.
Were the court to do so, however, the Forest Service said on Thursday it 'may reevaluate how to proceed' regarding the land swap.

" 'The U.S. government is rushing to give away our spiritual home before the courts can even rule, just like it's rushed to erase Native people for generations,' said #WendslerNosie, an #ApacheStronghold leader."

Read more:
https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/trump-approve-land-swap-rio-tinto-copper-mine-opposed-by-native-americans-2025-04-18/

#Apaches #WesternApaches #NativeAmericans #SacredSite #ResolutionCopper #SaveOakFlat #ChichilBiłdagoteel #CorporateColonialism #ProtectOakFlat #ReaderSupportedNews #SCOTUS #DefendTheSacred #CopperMine
#WaterIsLife #CulturalGenocide #WesternApache #SacredSites #NoMiningWithoutConsent #RecycleCopper #TontoNationalForest

#Apaches ask lower court to stop government’s imminent transfer of #SacredSite

Becket Law, via #CensoredNews, April 25, 2025

There will be a Hearing May 7, 2025 @ 0930 @ Sandra Day O’Connor
U.S. Courthouse, 401 West Washington Street, Phoenix, Arizona 85003

WASHINGTON – "A coalition of #WesternApaches, other #NativePeoples, and non-Native #allies asked a federal court late yesterday to stop the U.S. government from handing over their sacred site at Oak Flat to a multinational mining giant as early as June 16, 2025.

"In #ApacheStronghold v. United States, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals last year refused to stop the federal government from transferring #OakFlat to #ResolutionCopper, a Chinese-owned mining company that plans to turn the site into a massive mining crater, ending Apache religious practices forever (Watch the short video linked below to learn more).

"The emergency appeal comes after the government announced last week it will forge ahead with the transfer even though the case is currently under consideration by the #USSupremeCourt."

Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/04/apaches-ask-lower-court-to-stop.html

Video link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zh68xOn0B_8

#SaveOakFlat #ChichilBiłdagoteel #CorporateColonialism #ProtectOakFlat #ReaderSupportedNews #SCOTUS #DefendTheSacred #CopperMine
#WaterIsLife #RioTinto #RecycleCopper #CulturalGenocide #NDAA #WesternApache #SacredSites #NoMiningWithoutConsent #RecycleCopper #TontoNationalForest

Breaking News! (via @bsnorrell.blogspot.com )

Feds Charge Ahead with Plan to Destroy #OakFlat

#SupremeCourt poised to consider #ApacheStronghold’s appeal

By Becket Law, Censored News, April 17, 2025

WASHINGTON – "The U.S. government today announced that it is forging ahead with plans to transfer a #NativeAmerican #SacredSite to a multinational mining giant in as few as 60 days, despite a
federal lawsuit challenging the action as illegal.

"In Apache Stronghold v. United States, Apache Stronghold—a coalition of #Apaches, other Native peoples, and non-Native allies—sued to stop the federal government from transferring Oak Flat to
Resolution Copper, a Chinese-owned mining company that plans to turn the site into a massive mining crater, ending Apache religious practices forever.

"The government has announced it will now forge ahead with the transfer even though the case is currently under consideration by the U.S. Supreme Court.

"Since time immemorial, #WesternApaches and other Native peoples have gathered at Oak Flat, outside of present-day #SuperiorAZ, for sacred religious ceremonies that cannot take place anywhere else. Known in Apache as Chi’chil Biłdagoteel, Oak Flat is listed in the #NationalRegisterOfHistoricPlaces and has been protected from #mining and other harmful practices for decades.
These protections were targeted in December 2014 when a last-minute provision was slipped into a must-pass defense bill [#NDAA] authorizing the transfer of Oak Flat to the Resolution Copper company.

"#ResolutionCopper now plans to turn the sacred site into a two-mile-wide and 1,100-foot-deep crater.

"The majority owner of Resolution Copper, Rio Tinto, sparked international outrage when it deliberately destroyed 46,000-year-old Indigenous rock shelters at one of Australia’s most significant cultural sites.

" 'The feds are barreling ahead to give Oak Flat to Resolution Copper, even as the Supreme Court considers whether to hear the case,' said Luke Goodrich, vice president and senior counsel at Becket. 'This makes the stakes crystal clear: if the Court doesn’t act now, Oak Flat could be transferred and destroyed before justice can be served.' "

Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/04/feds-charge-ahead-with-plan-to-destroy.html

#SaveOakFlat #ChichilBiłdagoteel #CorporateColonialism #ProtectOakFlat #ReaderSupportedNews #SCOTUS #DefendTheSacred #CopperMine
#WaterIsLife #ResolutionCopper #RioTinto #RecycleCopper #CulturalGenocide #NoMiningWithoutConsent #RecycleCopper #TontoNationalForest

#ApacheStronghold: U.S. Give-Away would Destroy Spiritual Home of #Apache

By Wendsler Nosie, Apache Stronghold, March 13, 2025, via #CensoredNews

"In the heart of #TontoNationalForest in #Arizona lies a place that my people, the #WesternApache, still hold above all others. This place is Chi'chil Biłdagoteel, also known as Oak Flat. To us, it is more than a stretch of land; it is sacred and holy. It is where our ancestors walked, where we gather to pray, to carry out ceremonies passed down through generations, and to speak to our Creator.

"This land is part of who we are as a people, and its spirit is bound to our own.
Now, the federal government plans to give our sacred Oak Flat to a multinational #mining #corporation owned by the Chinese Communist Party. This will not just scar the land; it will destroy it, poisoning the environment and trampling on our tribal rights. But the deepest wound will be the loss of our spiritual home, a place our people cannot exist without. We are fighting this in the courts, all the way to the #USSupremeCourt. But this is about more than law and policy—this is about survival of our way of life and the spirit of this sacred land.

https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/03/apache-stronghold-us-give-away-would.html
#SaveOakFlat #ChichilBiłdagoteel #CorporateColonialism #ProtectOakFlat #ReaderSupportedNews #SCOTUS #DefendTheSacred #CopperMine
#WaterIsLife #ResolutionCopper #RioTinto #RecycleCopper #CulturalGenocide #NoMiningWithoutConsent #RecycleCopper