[video] #Quechan Elder Urges Solidarity in Face of #Mining Efforts

#SMPGold’s #OroCruz Project Threatens #SacredLands, #PrestonArrowWeed Says

by Juan Valencia on October 9, 2023

"IMPERIAL COUNTY — Imagine Jerusalem burning. Imagine Mecca, Bethlehem — any of these cities important to the history and faith of their respective religions — being destroyed, disrespectfully invaded, and irrevocably altered for the sake of exploration, extraction, and #mining.

T"hough these are far-fetched and horrific developments to the imagination, 83-year-old Preston Arrow-Weed — the Quechan tribal elder, cultural bearer, singer of the old songs, as well as author, actor and playwright — today paints a similarly bleak picture regarding the threats being made to his holy place of worship.

"This place is located here in the desert outskirts of #ImperialCounty and in the neighboring #YumaCounty.

"Southern Empire Resources Corp. (SMP Gold) is a company based out of British Columbia, Canada, which for years now has been attempting to mine for gold within these Imperial County areas, specifically the #CargoMuchacho and #IndianPass regions, in a project of mineral exploration for the purposes of extracting gold that they are calling the Oro Cruz Project.

"'We firmly believe that Oro Cruz has exploration potential for more than a million ounces,' states SMP Gold’s project mission on its website. 'We’ll explore the property using modern geological theory and high tech methods of exploration, and see what we can do.'

"For millennia, the Indian Pass area in eastern Imperial County, where SMP Gold plans to drill and disturb the habitat, has held religious and historical significance for the Quechan Tribe. The area contains sleeping circles, #geoglyphs and pottery shards left behind by the tribe’s ancestors, to name some #artifacts."

Read more:
https://calexicochronicle.com/2023/10/09/quechan-elder-urges-solidarity-in-face-of-mining-efforts/

Video:
https://youtu.be/rOIEx1pmVEI?si=9R6b8QULnuJIZHQW

#California #EnvironmentalRacism #WaterIsLife #CulturalGenocide #IndigenousNews #NoConsent #GoldMine #GoldMining #MercuryPollution #Cyanide