#apache leap

Apache Leap, Arizona

May the sun bring you new energy by day

May the moon softly restore you by night

May the rain wash away your worries

May the breeze blow new strength into your being

May you walk gently through the world and know it's beauty all the days of your life.

The U.S. Empire Continues To Ethnically Cleanse and Steal Land Belonging To Indigenous American Indians Well Into the 21st Century

Pictured is Apache Chief James Garfield Velarde wearing the Presidential Peace Medal in 1897.

The latest Congressional Budget approved by the House and Senate for fiscal year 2015 being touted by the White House as a “compromise”contains essentially nothing within it which enables the American people to have confidence in their so-called “representative” government. It continues the mindless…

This post is about a very despicable piece of legislation. To me, it redefines all politicians in DC as vile and evil. I won't blame Republicans exclusively on this one, because Senator Tom Coburn, a Republican from Oklahoma who is retiring, tried to get this legislation killed, but he could only gather up 18 votes to support him.

Read and, I hope, weep. Terrible story. By the way, Indian Country Today Media Network has an article about it. Here's the link. Huffington Post also has a good article about it. Here's that link.

One of the riders to the Defense Appropriation Bill authorizes the transfer of land under the control of the U.S. Forest Service, in the Tonto National Forest in Arizona, to Resolution Copper Company, which is owned by two foreign mining companies, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton. The transfer requires that Rio Tinto transfer some scattered parcels of land it currently owns to the U.S. Government. The land to be transferred to the mining company will be used to mine copper.

One of those mining companies has ties to Iran and China. Senator McCain and Senator Flake, both from Arizona, engineered the transfer.

The land to be transferred includes a site known as Apache Leap. The site is sacred to the San Carlos Apache Indian Tribe. Apache Leap is a cliff from which members of the Apache tribe jumped to their death to avoid being killed by settlers in the late 19th century. The other site is known as Devil's Canyon. The San Carlos Apaches and other Native people conduct ceremonies and gather acorns and medicinal plants there. The land is also used by non-Native nature lovers for hiking, camping, bird watching and rock climbing, and is used for field trips by Boy Scout groups.

Apache Leap

Guys, Rio Tino, the same company that sold uranium to Iran, is now named in a bill being voted on in Congress tomorrow (Dec. 10, 2014,) that will allow them to drill in the "Apache Leap" in the Tonto National Forest. It's an incredibly sacred site, one were warriors would leap to avoid being captured in order to keep their dignity.

They put the provision in the Government Funding Bill so that no it would look bad / potentially shut down the government if it does not go through.  This prevision needs to be removed from The Bill, and it needs to be removed soon.