Together with leaders of the Mennonite Church USA and the Lipan Native American Church, the Rev. Jihyun Oh has signed a friend of the court brief in the U.S. Supreme Court case of Apache Stronghold v. United States et al. Read the brief here by scrolling down to the Oct. 15 filings.
Apache Stronghold is making a cross-country trek to preserve sacred land in Arizona and is garnering continued support from Presbyterians and other allies along the way to the nation’s capital.
The Native American-led community organization, based in San Carlos, Arizona, is making a prayer journey to the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington D.C., in an attempt to preserve Oak Flat, a site in Tonto National Forest known to the Apache as Chi’chil Bildagoteel, from corporate destruction.
On Nov. 4, about 150 people gathered in prayer at Chi’chil Biłdagoteel (Oak Flat) in the Tonto National Forest of Arizona, sacred land of the San Carlos Apache and other Indigenous nations.
A bill introduced Friday in the U.S. House of Representatives to prevent copper mining on a location sacred to several tribal nations in Arizona is being applauded by two Presbyterian pastors who have visited the Oak Flat site and met with tribal leaders there.