Eye Recommend --- Congress Giving Sacred Apache Lands to Foreign Mining Company

CONGRESS GIVING SACRED APACHE LANDS TO FOREIGN MINING COMPANY, by Reverb Press --
http://www.tulalipnews.com/wp/2014/12/10/congress-giving-sacred-apache-lands-to-foreign-mining-company/

This is a disgusting illustration that proves the mistreatment of Native Americans is not something that ended in the era romanticized by 1950s black and white cowboy movies.  It continues today and Senator John McCain should hang his head in shame. 

(Any underlines are mine.)

"In a late night addition to the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) bill, Congress slipped in a provision that would hand off 2,400 acres of land sacred to the San Carlos Apache to a foreign mining concern.  The ancestral and ceremonial lands, a part of the Tonto National Forest, includes the site, Apache Leap, where Apache warriors jumped to their deaths rather than be captured by US troops.

(Terry Rambler, Chairman of the San Carlos Apache Tribe said,) 'Since time immemorial people have gone there.  That's part of our ancestral homeland.  We've had dancers in that area forever--sunrise dancers--and coming-of-age ceremonies for our young girls that become women.  They'll seal that off.  They'll seal us off from the acorn grounds, and the medicinal plants in the area, and our prayer areas.'"

Can you imagine the outrage if some foreign company was given a license to rape the land under a Christian church and its members were told they would no longer have access to their sanctuary?  

"The measure which has failed several times in the past, but was inserted into the must-pass defense appropriation bill thanks to the efforts of Arizona Republican Senator John MeCain.  On passage of the NDAA, the land will be given over to Resolution Copper, a subsidiary of the Rio Tinto, a massive mining concern based in London, England and Melbourne, Australia that has been salivating over the prospect of mining the area for years...

...When the latest version of the bill was read on Tuesday evening...there was no mention of the Apache land.  On Wednesday morning, there it was...

...Interior Secretary, Sally Jewell was critical of the way the provision moved forward...she said, 'I'm happy to see public lands bills make progress. The preference on public lands bills is that they go through a typical process...and they get debate and discussion.'"

The way that Mr. McCain snuck the provision in under cover of darkness indicates that he knows it is wrong and would fail if presented in the light of day. He just doesn't care. 

 "Perhaps ironically, tribe Chairman, Terry Rambler was in Washington DC at the time for the White House Tribal Nations Conference.  Leaders from the 566 federally recognized Native nations engaged with the President, Cabinet Officials and the White House Council on Native American Affairs on key issues facing tribes including, respecting tribal sovereignty and upholding treaty and trust responsibilities...

...Beyond the symbolic and spiritual importance of the lands involved, Rambler is also concerned about the potential ecological aspects of the mine and how it will affect his people in years to come.  The company plans to use a mining technique called block cave mining which digs under the ore and then lets it collapse into the hollow for recovery.  Eventually, the land above it will subside as well...

...'What those mountains mean to us is that when the rain and the snow comes, it distributes it to us,' Rambler said. 'It replenishes our aquifers to give us life.'"

The paragraphs below are taken from a petition being prepared asking President Obama to veto this provision.  You can view and sign the petition here.

"The company even admits this will cause 'a little subsidence' of these lands...They do not even talk about the fact that this sacred mountain is an important part of the water supply to the entire very arid region.  Another fact ignored is that they will have to pollute the water resources that are already used in this area in order to get the 'Low grade copper ore' out from under them since water is necessary for ore processing...

...Why are we even talking about allowing a foreign company to destroy Native American property?  This does not benefit anyone except a (foreign) company...Or perhaps certain politicians."

(We're looking at you, John McCain. How much money did it take to get you to turn on the people you are supposed to serve?)

"The Native Americans have been lied to and cheated by the American Government too many times already.  Now they want to allow San Carlos Apache Tribe's most sacred lands to be destroyed so a foreign company can get richer?  This is completely immoral...

...Why is this all hidden away inside a defense bill when it has nothing to do with defense, but everything to do with greed?"

Why, indeed.