Trump's fast-tracked deal for a copper mine heightens existential fight for Apache
CBSN
OAK FLAT, Ariz. — Carrying eagle feathers and chanting prayers, Western Apache runners hit the road on a roughly 80-mile journey this month to try to save their sacred land from being fast-tracked by President Trump into a copper mine. This nationally watched battle, which hinges on religious freedom, awaits the U.S. Supreme Court.
The prayer run aimed to defend a 6-square-mile piece of land in rural Arizona outside of Phoenix called Chi'chil Biłdagoteel, or Oak Flat, where tribes have held ceremonies for centuries. The U.S. Forest Service, which owns the site, plans to trade a portion of it to a foreign-owned mining company, Resolution Copper, in exchange for other environmentally sensitive properties.
The battle over Oak Flat traces back 30 years, when prospectors found a massive copper deposit beneath the ground. The proposed land swap, which Congress approved in 2014 through a defense spending bill, has been stalled by three lawsuits.
