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ALERT: Ski Area Pipeline Construction Threatens Holy San Francisco Peaks

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By Klee Benally – Indigenousaction.org

Flagstaff, AZ — Owners of Arizona Snowbowl ski area have begun moving pipeline and construction equipment to the base of the holy San Francisco Peaks, located in Northern Arizona. The Peaks are central to the ways of life of more than 13 Indigenous Nations.

Snowbowl owner Eric Borowski plans on starting the development today.

Although currently challenged by a legal appeal in the 9th Circuit Court, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has permitted the ski area to begin development.

The Coconino National Forest, headed by the USDA,  manages the Peaks as public lands. Snowbowl has operated under a special use permit since the 1980’s, which was initially challenged by Indigenous Nations and environmentalists all the way up to the Supreme Court.

According to the Forest Service, “Construction is anticipated to begin this month along a segment of Snowbowl Road. . . Snowbowl Road will remain open; however, delays and temporary closures will occur throughout the duration of construction, approximately five months.”
The Forest Service also stated that Snowbowl Road will be closed each day from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.

For more than a dozen years Indigenous Nations, environmental activists, and concerned community members have worked together to protect the holy site and surrounding area from further ecological destruction, public health threats, and spiritual desecration.

Snowbowl’s development plans include clear-cutting 74 acres of rare alpine habitat that is home to threatened species, making new runs and lifts, adding more parking lots and building a 14.8 mile buried pipeline to transport up to 180 million gallons (per season) of wastewater to make artificial snow on 205 acres.

Snowbowl Construction Equipment located at Hwy 180 and Snowbowl Rd

The wastewater, which would be purchased from the City of Flagstaff, has been proven by biologists to contain harmful contaminants such as pharmaceuticals and hormones. In their Environmental Impact Statement the Forest Service did not consider the impact of ingesting waste water in the form of artificial snow or from the storage pond by humans and animals.

This point is the basis of the Save the Peaks Coalition’s current lawsuit which is currently appealing a District Court decision in favor of Snowbowl’s proposed actions.

On April 1, 2011 the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied an emergency motion by the Save the Peaks Coalition to stop Snowbowl ski area and the U.S. Department of Agriculture from cutting down approximately 30,000 trees.

In 2002, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, with no real public process, quietly decided to allow wastewater to be used for snowmaking purposes. Later that same year the Flagstaff Mayor and City Council signed a contract to allow the sale of sewage effluent for snowmaking on the holy mountain. The contract has since been renewed administratively, behind closed doors without any public input.

Snowbowl would be the only ski area in the world to use 100% wastewater for snowmaking purposes.

In 2010 Flagstaff City Manager Kevin Burke revealed a plan, secretly negotiated with the USDA, for use of Flagstaff’s drinking water instead of the sewage effluent. Snowbowl was offered 11 million tax payer’s dollars to subsidize the increased costs of using potable water. Stating that the US government believed drinking water snowmaking to be “less offensive” to Indigenous Nations, the plan was pushed without the consent of or any consultation with Indigenous Nations.

Facing overwhelming community and Tribal opposition, City of Flagstaff officials ultimately rejected the plan.

Following the failed attempt to use drinking water the USDA, while still aggressively battling the Save the Peaks Coalition in court, began listening sessions to hear Indigenous Peoples concerns on the protection of sacred places. Ironically, the sessions were initiated in part due to the Peaks controversy.
The USDA is expected to issue a report for policy changes sometime this year.

In response to threat of development, more than 150 people rallied outside of Flagstaff City Hall and held a march for protection of the holy San Francisco Peaks on April 16th.

 

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5 Comments

5 Comments

  1. admin

    May 24, 2011 at 12:58 PM

    Contact Flagstaff City Officials and urge them to RESPECT the environment, Indigenous culture, and protect public health by finding a way out of their contract to sell Snowbowl wastewater!
    PHONE: (928) 779-7600
    EMAIL: council@flagstaffaz.gov

    Contact Arizona Department of Environmental Quality and express concern that there was no meaningful public process when the agency approved wastewater for snowmaking. File a complaint and demand full public review!

    Arizona Department of Environmental Quality
    1110 West Washington Street
    Phoenix, Arizona 85007
    (800) 234-5677 – Toll Free

    Northern Regional Office
    1801 West Route 66, Suite 117
    Flagstaff, Arizona 86001
    (877) 602-3675 – Toll Free

    http://www.azdeq.gov/function/compliance/complaint.html

  2. admin

    May 24, 2011 at 1:00 PM

    Contact the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), which heads the Forest Service, and urge them to revoke the Special Use Permit for Arizona Snowbowl for greater public interest.
    The USDA has been holding hearings on protection of sacred places due to the Peaks controversy. Urge the USDA to immediately place an administrative hold on all development on the San Francisco Peaks!

    CALL CRAIG JOHNSON USFS TRIBAL LIAISON IN FLAGSTAFF, AZ AT: 928 525 6578.

    Tom Vilsack
    U.S. Department of Agriculture
    1400 Independence Ave., S.W.
    Washington, DC 20250

    Phone: 202-720-3631

    Email: TribalSacredSites@fs.fed.us

    Send Letters to the Editor of your local papers.
    Arizona Daily Sun: rwilson@azdailysun.com

  3. Christine Prat

    June 1, 2011 at 9:00 AM

    Traduction en Français sur http://www.chrisp.lautre.net/wpblog

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Ox Sam Camp Update: Land Defenders Arrested, Camp Raided After Blocking Excavator

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From www.oxsam.org (follow for more updates).

Read the new press release from 6/8/23 here: https://www.indigenousaction.org/ox-sam-camp-raid-update-one-arrested-as-prayer-tipis-are-bulldozed-and-ceremonial-items-confiscated/

6/7/23
First arrests are underway and camp is being raided after land defenders halted an excavator this morning at Thacker Pass.

OROVADA, NV — This morning, a group of Native American water protectors and allies used their bodies to non-violently block construction of the controversial Thacker Pass lithium mine in Nevada, turning back bulldozers and heavy equipment.

The dramatic scene unfolded this morning as workers attempting to dig trenches near Sentinel Rock were turned back by land defenders who ran and put their bodies between heavy equipment and the land.

Now they are being arrested and camp is being raided.

Northern Paiute and Western Shoshone people consider Thacker Pass to be sacred. So when they learned that the area was slated to become the biggest open-pit lithium mine in North America, they filed lawsuits, organized rallies, spoke at regulatory hearings, and organized in the community. But despite all efforts over the last three years, construction of the mine began in March.

That’s what led Native American elders, friends and family, water protectors, and their allies to establish what they call a “prayer camp and ceremonial fire” at Thacker Pass on May 11th, when they setup a tipi at dawn blocking construction of a water pipeline for the mine. A second tipi was erected several days later two miles east, where Lithium Nevada’s construction is defacing Sentinel Rock, one of their most important sacred sites.

Sentinel Rock is integral to many Nevada Tribes’ worldview and ceremony. The area was the site of two massacres of Paiute and Shoshone people. The first was an inter-tribal conflict that gave the area it’s Paiute name: Peehee Mu’huh, or rotten moon. The second was a surprise attack by the US Cavalry on September 12th, 1865, during which the US Army slaughtered dozens. One of the only survivors of the attack was a man named Ox Sam. It is some of Ox Sam’s descendants, the Grandmas, that formed Ox Sam Newe Momokonee Nokotun (Indigenous Women’s Camp) to protect this sacred land for the unborn, to honor and protect the remains of their ancestors, and to conduct ceremonies. Water protectors have been on-site in prayer for nearly a month.

On Monday, Lithium Nevada Corporation also attempted to breach the space occupied by the water protectors. As workers maneuvered trenching equipment into a valley between the two tipis, water protectors approached the attempted work site and peacefully forced workers and their excavator to back up and leave the area. According to one anonymous land defender, Lithium Nevada’s action was “an attempted show of force to fully do away with our tipi and prayer camp around Sentinel Rock.”

Ranchers, recreationists, and members of the public have been allowed to pass without incident and water protectors maintain friendly relationships with locals. Opposition to the mine is widespread in the area, and despite repeated warnings from the local Sheriff, there have been no arrests. Four people, including Dorece Sam Antonio of the Fort McDermitt Paiute-Shoshone Tribe (an Ox sam descendant) and Max Wilbert of Protect Thacker Pass, have been targeted by court orders barring them from the area. They await a court hearing in Humboldt County Justice Court.

“Lithium Nevada is fencing around the sacred site Sentinel Rock to disrupt our access and yesterday was an escalation to justify removal of our peaceful prayer camps,” said one anonymous water protector at Ox Sam Camp. “Lithium Nevada intends to desecrate and bulldoze the remains of the ancestors here. We are calling out to all water protectors, land defenders, attorneys, human rights experts, and representatives of Tribal Nations to come and stand with us.”

“I’m being threatened with arrest for protecting the graves of my ancestors,” says Dorece Sam Antonio. “My great-great Grandfather Ox Sam was one of the survivors of the 1865 Thacker Pass massacre that took place here. His family was killed right here as they ran away from the U.S. Army. They were never buried. They’re still here. And now these bulldozers are tearing up this place.”

Another spiritual leader on the front lines has been Dean Barlese, a spiritual leader from the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe. Despite being confined to a wheelchair, Barlese led prayers at the site on April 25th (shutting down construction for a day) and returned on May 11th.

“I’m asking people to come to Peehee Mu’huh,” Barlese said. “We need more prayerful people. I’m here because I have connections to these places. My great-great-great grandfathers fought and shed blood in these lands. We’re defending the sacred. Water is sacred. Without water, there is no life. And one day, you’ll find out you can’t eat money.”

The 1865 Thacker Pass massacre is well documented in historical sources, books, newspapers, and oral histories. Despite the evidence but unsurprisingly, the Federal Government has not protected Thacker Pass or even slowed construction of the mine to allow for consultation to take place with Tribes. In late February, the Federal Government recognized tribal arguments that Thacker Pass is a “Traditional Cultural District” eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. But that didn’t stop construction from commencing.

“This is not a protest, it’s a prayer,” said Barlese. “But they’re still scared of me. They’re scared of all of us elders, because they know we’re right and they’re wrong.”

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O’odham Executed by Border Patrol: Statement by Raymond Mattia Family

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Raymond Mattia of the Tohono O’odham Nation was executed by US border patrol agents on May 18th at his home. He was reportedly shot 38 times.

A peaceful gathering to support all victims of the
unmonitored violent actions of the Border Patrol and other agencies will be held at The Border
Patrol Station in Why, Az, and Tucson on Golf Links Road this Saturday, May 27th, from
10:00am-Noon.

For more information please visit: https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2023/05/us-border-patrol-shoots-tohono-oodham.html

Statement by Mattia Raymond’s family:

We have been trying to find the strength to write this statement. This tragedy is so
grievous because it is apparent what had happened. Raymond called for help and, in turn, was
shot down at his doorstep. Raymond’s rights were violated by the authorities whom we trust to
protect our Nation. Improper and unprofessional actions of the agencies involved were witnessed
by family members present near the crime scene. Loved ones sat in agony, not knowing of
Raymond’s condition until they were told that he had passed hours later. Raymond lay in front of
his home for seven hours before a coroner from Tucson arrived.
In our eyes and hearts, we believe that Raymond was approached with excessive and
deadly force that took his life. He was a father, brother, uncle, friend, and an involved
community member. Raymond always fought for what was right, and he will continue to fight
even after his death. This is not an isolated incident, but it should bring awareness of the
oppression our people live through.
We want to thank so many of you for your condolences and support. A GoFundMe for
defense funds will be available soon. A peaceful gathering to support all victims of the
unmonitored violent actions of the Border Patrol and other agencies will be held at The Border Patrol Station in Why, Az, and Tucson on Golf Links Road this Saturday, May 27th, from 10:00am-Noon.

Contact for support: justiceforraymattia@gmail.com

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#mmiwgt2s

People Take the Streets in Occupied Flagstaff to “Honor & Avenge” #MMIWG2ST

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Brief report back filed by anonymous.


Occupied Kinłani, May 5, 2023 — Tonight a fierce crew held a vigil and rally then took to the streets of occupied Flagstaff on the national day of awareness for missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, two-spirit, and trans relatives. Family members and friends of Arielisa Bryant & Nicole Joe spoke about the injustices they had faced at the hands of law enforcement. Others shared their stories with five families speaking out about their missing or murdered relatives. Speakers connected the desecration of sacred sites as violence against the land being violence against our bodies. After a moment of silence (which was turned into a moment of rage), the group headed through the crowded streets. Intersections were held. A round dance was done. Chants echoed, “No More Stolen Sisters!” “No Justice No Peace, Fuck the Police!” and “Who keeps us safe? We keep us safe!” while relatives of MMIWG2ST spoke. At one point the group stopped near where Vanessa Lee was found (2018) and created a memorial. After the action, the massive red dress banner that was carried through the streets was dropped.

This action came as U.S. Secretary of the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland prepares to hold a “Not Invisible Act Commission” hearing in Flagstaff on May 9th at a so far unannounced location with little community outreach. The commission is filled with cops, judges, and politicians who seek to further colonial policing and laws over Indigenous lands. Haaland is also complicit in allowing the Willow Project to proceed which furthers resource colonial violence that is directly linked to #MMIWG2ST.

A 2017 study from the Urban Indian Health Institute found that so-called Arizona has the third-highest number of #MMIWG2ST in the country.

That study reported a total of 506 known cases in 71 urban cities across the country and 54 cases were identified in Arizona.

In memory:

Ariel Bryant, found deceased 2019 outside of Kinłani.

Vanessa Lee, found deceased 2018 in the Rio De Flag downtown Kinłani.

Nicole Joe, deceased on christmas day 2017, her ex was ultimately found guilty of second degree murder.

Loreal Tsingine, shot in 2016 five times by Winslow police officer Austin Shipley.

And all those missing and murdered relatives!

As you rest in power, we will rage!

#mmiw#mmiwg2st #mmir #mmip

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