Among progressive Christians, there is alarm about the impacts of climate change, and rightly so. According to UNESCO, humanity’s actions on earth are as impactful as a geological force. Climate change, while a threat, is simply a symptom of a much greater problem: ecological overshoot, where humans are consuming the resources of earth at a rate faster than they can be sustainably replaced by natural systems, like the water cycle. I (Sarah) wrote about this with my co-author, Sheri Hostetler, in the book So we and our children may live: following Jesus in resisting the climate crisis (Herald Press, 2023).
As an Indigenous woman, I (Sarah) am acutely aware that the well-being of the earth is inextricably linked to the well-being of my people. We are on the front lines of the impacts of climate change. In the current bid for a “green transition,” the minerals required to fuel stop-gap measures like electric cars must be extracted from the lands of Indigenous Peoples. The Guardian estimates that in order for the US to transition the transportation system to “sustainable” energy, the US alone will need to triple the current global demand for lithium by 2050. The other primary mineral needed for this transition is copper. The demand for copper is expected to swell demand from .8 million metric tons in 2020 to 6.7 million metric tons by 2040. That means more removal of my people from our lands, more oppression for a people already threatened by settler colonialism. The green transition is not “sustainable” at all, for anyone, but particularly not for my people.
This brings us to the conditions at Oak Flat, where the Apache Stronghold stands as land and water protectors for humanity in opposition to unfettered extraction that threatens life and well-being for the land and the earth.
Known in Apache as Chi’chil Biłdagoteel, Oak Flat is on the National Register of Historic Places and is a sacred site cared for by the Western Apache from time immemorial. In 2014, a last-minute provision was added to a must-pass defense bill authorizing the transfer of Oak Flat to Resolution Copper, a foreign-owned mining company that plans to turn the sacred site into a two-mile-wide and 1,100-foot-deep crater.
To protect their religious practices and way of life, Apache Stronghold (a coalition of Apache, and other Native and non-Native activists) has sued to stop the land transfer (Apache Stronghold v. United States). Last year, their case was heard before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, but when the court released their decision earlier this year, they were split 6 – 5 against Apache Stronghold.
In a press release on the ruling Dr. Wendsler Nosie, leader of Apache Stronghold, vowed to appeal to the Supreme Court saying, “Oak Flat is like Mount Sinai to us—our most sacred site where we connect with our Creator, our faith, our families, and our land.”
You have the opportunity to help. Stand with Indigenous land and water protectors in defense of religious freedom, and in defense of the sacred lands and sacred waters of the San Carlos Apache.
We are calling on congregations, organizations, and entire denominations of faith to sign onto amicus briefs (friend of the court) in support of this case.
There will be two rounds of amicus briefs. The first round will ask the court to take the case. If accepted, there will be a second round of briefs in support of Apache Stronghold’s case before the Supreme Court.
If your congregation, conference, or organization would like to join a brief at any stage, email Leigh Brown at Becket Law (lbrown@becketlaw.org) and let her know you are interested in signing an amicus brief. Becket will also need the contact information for the person with the authority to sign on behalf of your church/organization and will match you with a pro bono lawyer to draft the brief.
You can learn more about amicus briefs and the history of Apache Stronghold’s court case in this toolkit.
Christians are the beneficiaries of the Doctrine of Discovery, a legal doctrine adopted by the Supreme Court in 1823 that defines land-tenure in the United States to this day and was created to enable the expansion of European settlement across the continent. Settlers were allegedly ordained by God to wipe out my people and dispose of our lands at their pleasure. None of us who are alive today created the systems we are part of. But some of us benefit from this system of oppression, while others of us are hurt by them.
It is ironic that those of us who are harmed by settler colonialism, Indigenous Peoples, are also the people standing in defense of the earth and her sacred waters. Apache Stronghold is standing in defense of Oak Flat on behalf of humanity. While Indigenous Peoples are on the front lines of climate change and the impacts of ecological overshoot, we are not alone. All of humanity and creation are at risk. My family, and yours, are threatened by systems of extraction that harm the earth and her sacred waters.
We call now on the Church to join us in defense of the Earth, and her people. Stand with us in defense of the earth; so that we and our children may live.
