Protected Heritage: Native American Sacred Sites and the Fight for Preservation
The sun beats down on Chi’chil Bildagoteel, or Oak Flat, a revered expanse of Arizona desert where saguaros stand sentinel and ancient Apache spirits are said to dwell. For generations, this land has been a sacred place for the San Carlos Apache Nation – a site for coming-of-age ceremonies, prayer, medicinal plant gathering, and the burial of ancestors. But beneath its hallowed surface lies one of North America’s largest untapped copper deposits, a prize coveted by Resolution Copper, a joint venture between mining giants Rio Tinto and BHP. The proposed mine, a massive block cave operation, would create a crater nearly two miles wide and over a thousand feet deep, swallowing Oak Flat entirely.
This ongoing battle for Oak Flat is not an isolated incident; it is a stark microcosm of a centuries-old conflict playing out across the United States. From the snow-capped peaks of Mauna Kea to the red rock canyons of Bears Ears, Native American sacred sites face an unrelenting assault from industrial development, resource extraction, tourism, and even climate change. These are not merely historical relics; they are living cathedrals, libraries, and hospitals, vital to the spiritual, cultural, and physical survival of Indigenous peoples. The fight for their preservation is a profound struggle for religious freedom, cultural survival, and environmental justice, challenging the very definition of "protected heritage" in a nation grappling with its colonial past.
The Inviolable Bond: What Makes a Place Sacred?
To understand the intensity of the fight, one must first grasp the profound Indigenous relationship with land. For Native Americans, sacred sites are not just locations where religious events once occurred; they are active, dynamic centers of spiritual life. They are places of pilgrimage, prayer, ceremony, and healing. They embody creation stories, hold ancestral memory, and serve as portals to the spiritual realm. The land is not a resource to be exploited, but a relative to be respected and protected.
As the late Lakota scholar Vine Deloria Jr. articulated, "Indian religions are place-centered. Their very being depends on particular places for their sacred power." This inherent connection means that damage to a sacred site is not merely property destruction; it is an act of spiritual violence, severing a people from their history, their identity, and their access to the divine. It is akin to destroying a church, synagogue, or mosque, but often with the added dimension of irreplaceable ecological and cultural knowledge. These sites are also crucial for the continuity of oral traditions, language, and traditional ecological knowledge, representing millennia of sustainable interaction with the natural world.
A Legacy of Dispossession and Disregard
The current threats to sacred sites are deeply rooted in the historical trajectory of European colonization. From the Doctrine of Discovery to Manifest Destiny, the narrative of westward expansion systematically dispossessed Indigenous peoples of their lands, often forcibly removing them to reservations. Treaties, frequently violated, further eroded Native sovereignty. As a result, many sacred sites now lie within federal lands—National Forests, National Parks, and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) territories—managed under a "multiple use" mandate that prioritizes mining, logging, grazing, recreation, and energy development over Indigenous spiritual practices.
The legal framework designed to protect Native American religious freedom has proven largely inadequate. The American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA) of 1978 was intended to protect and preserve the inherent right of American Indians, Eskimos, Aleuts, and Native Hawaiians to believe, express, and exercise their traditional religions. However, AIRFA is a policy statement, not an enforcement mechanism. It lacks specific provisions to prevent federal agencies from allowing development that destroys or impairs sacred sites. Court interpretations have consistently held that AIRFA does not grant Native Americans the right to control access to or prevent development on federal lands, even when such actions directly impede their religious practices.
Similarly, the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) offer limited protection. NHPA primarily focuses on archaeological sites and historic structures, often failing to recognize the ongoing spiritual significance of living sacred landscapes. NAGPRA addresses the repatriation of human remains and cultural items, but not the protection of the land itself. The First Amendment’s guarantee of religious freedom, while seemingly robust, has often been interpreted by courts to protect individual belief and practice, but not necessarily the places where those practices occur, particularly on public lands. This legal vacuum leaves many sacred sites vulnerable, pitting the deeply spiritual practices of Indigenous communities against powerful economic and political interests.
Battles on Sacred Ground: Case Studies in Conflict
The struggle for sacred sites manifests in diverse forms across the country, each highlighting unique challenges and the unwavering resolve of Indigenous communities.
Oak Flat (Chi’chil Bildagoteel), Arizona: As mentioned, the fight for Oak Flat is a quintessential example. In 2014, Congress passed a land exchange bill, tucked into a must-pass defense spending bill, that would transfer Oak Flat from the Tonto National Forest to Resolution Copper. This bill was passed despite vehement opposition from the San Carlos Apache and other tribes. The mine would obliterate the site, and its deep-water demands threaten to deplete scarce desert aquifers. "This is our Holy Land, our place of worship. This is where we go to pray," stated Wendsler Nosie Sr., a former San Carlos Apache chairman and a leading voice in the resistance. "Destroying Oak Flat is like destroying Westminster Abbey or the Sistine Chapel." The legal battles continue, but the looming threat of destruction remains constant.
Bears Ears National Monument, Utah: This vast landscape in southeastern Utah is a mosaic of red rock canyons, mesas, and cultural sites sacred to a coalition of five tribes: the Hopi, Navajo, Ute Mountain Ute, Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, and Zuni. For millennia, these tribes have gathered food, medicine, and conducted ceremonies here. In 2016, President Obama designated 1.35 million acres as Bears Ears National Monument, a historic move driven by tribal advocacy and incorporating an unprecedented co-management plan with the tribes. However, in 2017, President Trump drastically reduced the monument by 85%, opening vast areas to potential oil and gas leasing and uranium mining. President Biden restored the monument to its original size in 2021, but the political seesaw underscores the fragility of protections and the constant need for vigilance. The Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, instrumental in the monument’s creation, represents a powerful model of inter-tribal collaboration and advocacy.
Devils Tower (Bear Lodge), Wyoming: Known as Mato Tipila (Bear Lodge) to the Lakota and other Plains tribes, this striking geological formation is a deeply sacred place for ceremonies, vision quests, and prayer. Managed by the National Park Service, it is also a popular rock-climbing destination. The conflict here highlights the clash between recreational use and religious reverence. In 1995, the Park Service implemented a voluntary climbing ban during June, a month of significant ceremonial activity for many tribes. While voluntary, the ban has largely been respected, demonstrating a potential path towards compromise and shared understanding, though the debate over access continues.
Mauna Kea, Hawaii: Though geographically outside the continental U.S., the ongoing struggle for Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii offers a parallel and equally poignant example. This dormant volcano is considered the most sacred peak in the Hawaiian Islands, a place of origin, spiritual power, and ancestral connection. It is also an ideal site for astronomical observation, hosting a complex of world-class telescopes. The proposed construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) ignited passionate protests from Native Hawaiians, who view it as a desecration of their sacred mountain. The conflict underscores the tension between scientific advancement and Indigenous religious and cultural rights, challenging the very notion of who gets to define what is "progress."
The Fight for Preservation: Strategies and Hope
Despite the formidable challenges, Native American communities and their allies continue to fight for the preservation of their sacred sites with resilience and ingenuity.
Litigation: Tribes frequently resort to legal action, though often with mixed success due to the limitations of existing laws. These lawsuits, while challenging, serve to raise public awareness, delay destructive projects, and occasionally win critical injunctions.
Advocacy and Public Awareness: Grassroots movements, inter-tribal coalitions, and partnerships with environmental groups are crucial. Campaigns to educate the public, lobby lawmakers, and engage the media help to shift narratives and build broader support. The #ProtectOakFlat movement and the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition are powerful examples of this.
Legislative Efforts: While federal legislation has been slow, there are ongoing efforts to introduce stronger protections for sacred sites, potentially creating a legal framework that goes beyond AIRFA’s policy statement. Specific designations, like national monuments, when established with robust tribal consultation and co-management, can offer a higher degree of protection.
Co-management and Indigenous Guardianship: The Bears Ears model, with its emphasis on tribal co-management, represents a potential paradigm shift. Recognizing Indigenous peoples as knowledgeable and rightful stewards of these lands can lead to more effective conservation and culturally appropriate management practices. The concept of "Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas" (IPCAs) is gaining traction globally, advocating for Indigenous-led conservation efforts.
Economic Leverage: In some cases, tribes are using their economic power and sovereign status to negotiate better outcomes, or even to purchase back ancestral lands. Divestment campaigns targeting corporations involved in destructive projects also exert pressure.
A Broader Call to Stewardship
The fight for Native American sacred sites is more than just a battle over land; it is a profound ethical challenge for the United States and indeed, the world. It compels us to confront the historical injustices of colonialism, to re-evaluate our relationship with the natural environment, and to uphold the fundamental human right to religious freedom and cultural expression.
Protecting these sites is not just about safeguarding Indigenous heritage; it is about preserving irreplaceable ecological knowledge, promoting biodiversity, and ensuring that future generations can learn from the wisdom embedded in these ancient landscapes. As global environmental crises deepen, the traditional ecological knowledge held by Indigenous communities, often inseparable from their sacred sites, offers invaluable insights into sustainable living and land stewardship.
The struggle for places like Oak Flat and Bears Ears serves as a powerful reminder that our collective heritage is richer and more resilient when the voices and values of all cultures are respected. It is a call to move beyond mere tolerance to genuine reverence, to recognize that the land itself can be sacred, and that its protection is a shared responsibility that transcends cultural boundaries. Only then can we truly begin to heal the wounds of the past and build a future where protected heritage is not just a legal term, but a living reality for all.
