Credit: Wendsler Nosie Sr., leader of Apache Stronghold and former chairman of the San Carlos Apaches, addresses a crowd of supporters in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on Sept. 11, 2024, in Washington, D.C. Alongside him are his granddaughters. (Photo by Kadin Mills, ICT)

Kadin Mills
ICT

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Eighty-five religious organizations stepped up to support Apache Stronghold in asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review an appeals court decision over the Oak Flat copper mine, saying it discriminates against Native religious beliefs.

The organizations filed an amicus brief, known as a “friend of the court” brief, on Monday, Oct. 14, supporting Apache Stronghold’s challenge of a federal land transfer that gave away land in the Tonto National Forest to Resolution Copper in exchange for other lands. 

In the process, the mine would destroy parts of Chí’chil Biłdagoteel, the sacred Oak Flat site important to several tribes including the Apache.

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“Because the federal government’s action here will prevent the Western Apaches from engaging in religious practices at Chí’chil Biłdagoteel — practices that cannot take place anywhere else — the outcome of this case should have been straightforward,” the brief reads.

Members of Apache Stronghold, a nonprofit group of San Carlos Apaches and other tribal members, marched cross-country to Washington, D.C., to deliver a petition asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear their case.

The group convened in front of the Supreme Court on Sept. 11, filing a petition asking the justices to reconsider a narrow 2023 decision from the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The Ninth Circuit Court declined to rehear the case in May 2024.

Credit: About 100 supporters gathered at the U.S. Supreme Court on Sept. 11, 2024, to hear from organizers from the Apache Stronghold and other grassroots movements. Many hold signs that read, “Protect Oak Flat, Apache Stronghold” in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. The reverse side reads, “Pray for Oak Flat, Apache Stronghold.” (Photo by Kadin Mills, ICT)

The Supreme Court likely will decide whether to hear the case by late December or early January 2025.

Monday’s filing came on Indigenous Peoples’ Day. The brief is filed on behalf of more than a dozen denominations and organizations, including Methodists, Presbyterians, Churches of Christ, Quakers, Mennonites, Catholics, Episcopal and Christian churches, Buddhists, Jewish organizations and environmental groups.

The brief argues the lower court’s decision is legally unsound, relying on misinterpretations of legal precedent, including the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

The proposed mine would result in a crater two miles across and more than 1,000 feet deep, large enough to fit the Eiffel Tower.

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