OPINION:
As a lifelong member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe, I am proud of our history and traditions that have been passed down from generation to generation. My late grandmother Mable Dosela-Kitcheyan taught me to take pride as a San Carlos Apache because we are resilient people who do not need pity for the challenges that we face.
But lately, it pains me to see how my tribe has been misrepresented to the world regarding the ongoing issue of the federal land in Arizona known as Oak Flat and the falsehoods about our ties to that land.
Simply put, our culture and customs are being abused by a member of our tribe.
A group known as the Apache Stronghold — which should not be confused with the entire San Carlos Apache Tribe — suggests that this small piece of land outside of our reservation is vital to the survival of our traditions. This group’s statements paint a misleading picture of Oak Flat, where Resolution Copper is trying to build a mine that would bring significant benefits to local communities and our tribe.
My late husband was a miner, and I am familiar with the hardships that miners and their families face. Historically, mining has been one of the few ways the San Carlos Apache men have supported their families. This mine will create much-needed, stable, well-paying jobs near our reservation so they can provide for their families. If the mine proposed by Resolution Copper becomes a reality, it will provide food, clothes, shelter and employment for the Apache people and those who live in the nearby communities of Globe, Miami and Superior, and other tribes in Arizona.
The company has been working with the local communities and tribes for over 10 years and has worked to preserve our ancestral ties to the land and minimize the impact on Oak Flat.
We will also need mines like Resolution Copper to produce the minerals needed to slow climate change. Copper plays an important role in building renewable energy, and by opposing this mine, individuals are slowing down our ability to protect our land by addressing climate change.
My grandmother taught me the importance of the land around us and how they help us stay connected to the spirits of our ancestors and our creator God. However, in my 64 years of life so far, I have come to realize that the single most important thing keeping our tribe together is not physical plots of land like Oak Flat but our commitment to preserving the intangible, sacred core of our people: honesty, peace, unity, respect, and faith in our God. The lands around us can change, but the focus on our key values must remain for our culture to flourish.
This is why I am choosing to stand up on behalf of my fellow tribal members — with their blessing — and speak out on this issue.
What upsets me even more about what the Apache Stronghold is doing is that they are spreading information on the internet that falsely portrays our religion. One YouTube video with a group called the Becket Fund has a young fellow tribal member saying that “Oak Flat is the cornerstone of our religion. … Without the land, we have no spirit.”
It breaks my heart to hear this. Because just within San Carlos, there are 10 other ceremonial sites we hold sacred that allow us to connect with God and feel his Spirit. Everyone is being led to think that without Oak Flat, the San Carlos Apache will be threatened as a people, and that is not true. Oak Flat is not the only place where sunrise ceremonies can be held. In fact, the only time they started happening at Oak Flat was because of the Apache Stronghold’s lies to the world that this was the only place the ceremony can happen.
Instead of Oak Flat, our people are more concerned about real problems on our reservation such as safety, addiction and employment.
For the rest of us, there is nothing else about the mine that we want to argue about. If we truly care about the well-being of our people, we should not stand in the way of development guaranteed to bring about significant benefits to our tribe and local communities.
• Karen Kitcheyan-Jones is a member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe in San Carlos, Arizona. She is an Apache elder and has lived on the San Carlos Apache Reservation for more than 60 years. She has participated in numerous Apache cultural ceremonies.
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