A fight in Arizona over sacred land and a mine raises big issues
A tricky religious-liberty dispute is coming to a head
ABOUT 50 MILES (80km) east of Phoenix, Arizona, the desert turns to mountains. Some 3,000 feet above the plain lies Oak Flat, an 800-acre expanse known in Western Apache as Chi’chil Bildagoteel. The land is sacred to several native American tribes. “For us it’s a female place,” says Wendsler Nosie, a former chairman of the San Carlos Apache, evoking its life-giving quality. “You can be born there and die there and it has everything for you.”
This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “An Apache battle in Arizona”
United States March 25th 2023
- The cases against Donald Trump are piling up
- Spring break is an economic nightmare for the hottest host cities
- A fight in Arizona over sacred land and a mine raises big issues
- White South African farmers are thriving in Mississippi
- Anti-Semitism in America is becoming flashier and louder
- Younger Americans are friendlier to China
- How the Iraq war became a threat to American democracy
From the March 25th 2023 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from United States
A controversial idea to hand even more power to the president
Impoundment is about to come a step closer
Tom Homan, unleashed
America’s new border czar spent decades waiting for a president like Donald Trump
An unfinished election may shape a swing state’s future
A Supreme Court race ended very close. Then the lawyers arrived.
Donald Trump cries “invasion” to justify an immigration crackdown
His executive orders range from benign to belligerent
To end birthright citizenship, Donald Trump misreads the constitution
A change would also create huge practical problems