McCain and the Selling Off Of Apache Holy Land

[G_j]

http://nyti.ms/1M1iMhi

Selling Off Apache Holy Land


ABOUT an hour east of Phoenix, near a mining town called Superior, men, women and children of the San Carlos Apache tribe have been camped out at a place called Oak Flat for more than three months, protesting the latest assault on their culture.

Three hundred people, mostly Apache, marched 44 miles from tribal headquarters to begin this occupation on Feb. 9. The campground lies at the core of an ancient Apache holy place, where coming-of-age ceremonies, especially for girls, have been performed for many generations, along with traditional acorn gathering. It belongs to the public, under the multiple-use mandate of the Forest Service, and has had special protections since 1955, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower decreed the area closed to mining — which, like cattle grazing, is otherwise common in national forests — because of its cultural and natural value. President Richard M. Nixon’s Interior Department in 1971 renewed this ban.

Despite these protections, in December 2014, Congress promised to hand the title for Oak Flat over to a private, Australian-British mining concern. A fine-print rider trading away the Indian holy land was added at the last minute to the must-pass military spending bill, the National Defense Authorization Act. By doing this, Congress has handed over a sacred Native American site to a foreign-owned company for what may be the first time in our nation’s history.

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It’s worth noting that Rio Tinto affiliates have been McCain campaign contributors, and that Mr. Flake, before he made it to Congress, was a paid lobbyist for Rio Tinto Rössing Uranium (a huge uranium mine in Namibia). Mr. McCain and others assert that the mining project will be a boost to the local economy, though it’s unclear how many of the 1,400 promised jobs would be local; a Superior-area miners’ group, in fact, opposes the swap on the basis that it won’t help the local people or economy. Rio Tinto, incidentally, has been called out in the past for environmental devastation.

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[joeybee12]

1. Disgusting...knr

[JEB]

2. K&R for exposure.

[AtomicKitten]

3. Disgraceful.

k&r

[harrose]

4. Considering the fact that McCain admitted on 60 Minutes that he's a war criminal...

... who bombed innocent women and children, why would you be shocked that he's stealing land from native Americans?

[brer cat]

5. We "gave" them so little land

and most of it uninhabitable. Do we have to steal even more? McCain is still a disgusting POS.

[Enthusiast]

6. The interests of Native Americans should always come before foreign-owned companies. WTF?

If Eisenhower decreed and Nixon renewed, that means President Obama can stop this atrocity.

Where are you at, Mr. Obama? Did you fail us once again?

[monmouth4]

7. McCain is being slammed on FB over this and people doubt he will be re-elected...n/t

[G_j]

8. That's good to hear! nt

[caballojm]

17. As someone who has lived in AZ for more than 20 years now,

I can tell you that McCain not being reelected will be no reason to celebrate. We have a strong history of replacing scumbags with mouth-breathing scumbags and then replacing them with knuckle-dragging, mouth-breathing scumbags. Whatever the GOP and their army of trained-seal voters have in store for us won't be good.

[DesertFlower]

20. i'm also in arizona -- north of phoenix.

been here almost 26 years and i don't like the growth i've seen. yes, it's easy to get around with all the freeways, but i miss the things that are gone like orange groves. they were all sold off and torn down to build more houses.

[Raster]

21. I don't think McCain cares. He's profited handsomely off his tenure as Senator from Arizona.

And the "Thrill-ah from Wasilla" debacle should have put to rest any questions of good judgment. My home state of Arizona deserves better.

[valerief]

9. Nothing is holy in America but embryos. nt

[tclambert]

10. Ah, stealing Native American's land to "boost the local economy." I think I heard that argument

pretty much every single time white people stole Native American's land.

[Paka]

11. Rio Tinto!

Ready to devastate the environment globally wherever they can make a profit.

This is so sad.

[jtuck004]

12. "...McCain and others assert that the mining project will be a boost to the local economy..." <

So would selling off all the churches and opening them as topless coffee bars.

Lots of things you could do to "boost" your economy, but at what cost?

[63splitwindow]

13. The Keating 5

Is what I'm reminded of.
"It’s worth noting that Rio Tinto affiliates have been McCain campaign contributors,..."

[yuiyoshida]

14. agree disgusting

and disturbing. Maybe McCain will sell off parts of Arlington Cemetery to dig for oil as well. Just throw out those veterans there, Mr. McCain, who cares ne? Fool! Baka!

[SusanCalvin]

15. Expediency over principles and honoring committments.

Typical. Of so many, not just repugs and not just politicians.

[Loryn]

16. This is unbelievable.

SMH!

[DesertFlower]

18. K&R. nt

[Omaha Steve]

19. K&R!