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Lily Reeves
Portraits of Dr. Wendsler Noise, Sr.
Apache Stronghold and the San Carlos Apache Fight to Save Oak Flat
2021
Archival print on paper
Portraits of Dr. Wendsler Noise, Sr.
Apache Stronghold and the San Carlos Apache Fight to Save Oak Flat
2021
Archival print on paper
Work Statement: Chi'chil Bildagoteel, or Oak Flat in English, is the ancestral and sacred lands of the San Carlos and White Mountain Apache, as well as other Western Apaches and indigenous peoples. 150 years ago, the Apache were removed from these lands and relocated, and for 150 plus years have returned to Oak Flat to practice their ceremony and religion.
In 2015, Representatives Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and John Mccain (R-AZ) added the "Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act" last minute to a must- pass military spending bill. The legislation was signed into law by Barack Obama, and this act made it possible for the National Forest service to hand over a 2,422 parcel of land, including Oak Flat, to Resolution Copper, a multinational mining company based in Australia, in exchange for 5,344 acres privately owned by Resolution Copper.
This mine would irreversibly destroy sacred indigenous land, creating a crater that would be two miles wide and 1,000 feet deep, to mine copper ore 700 feet in the ground using an experimental technology relatively new to the mining industry. To a community of people whose spirituality and identity revolves around a connection to the land, this destruction would impact generations of people to come. Not only this, but it would jeopardize water security for the already unstable desert communities of Phoenix, Gilbert, and Scottsdale.
This project has been Approved by Dr. Wensdler Noise Sr.
To purchase prints with 100% of proceeds going to the tribe visit ‘She Bends’
www.shebends.com
In 2015, Representatives Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and John Mccain (R-AZ) added the "Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act" last minute to a must- pass military spending bill. The legislation was signed into law by Barack Obama, and this act made it possible for the National Forest service to hand over a 2,422 parcel of land, including Oak Flat, to Resolution Copper, a multinational mining company based in Australia, in exchange for 5,344 acres privately owned by Resolution Copper.
This mine would irreversibly destroy sacred indigenous land, creating a crater that would be two miles wide and 1,000 feet deep, to mine copper ore 700 feet in the ground using an experimental technology relatively new to the mining industry. To a community of people whose spirituality and identity revolves around a connection to the land, this destruction would impact generations of people to come. Not only this, but it would jeopardize water security for the already unstable desert communities of Phoenix, Gilbert, and Scottsdale.
This project has been Approved by Dr. Wensdler Noise Sr.
To purchase prints with 100% of proceeds going to the tribe visit ‘She Bends’
www.shebends.com
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Apache Stronghold
Website: http://apache-stronghold.com Instagram: @protectoakflat Twitter: @ProtectOakFlat |
