Apache Stronghold | Photo by: Steve Pavey

Apache Stronghold is on a prayer journey to Washington, D.C., to ask the United States Supreme Court to save Chi'chil Biłdagoteel, Oak Flat, and protect Mother Earth.

After the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit declined to hear their case, Apache Stronghold v. United States, Apache Stronghold began their prayer journey in Lummi Nation in July. This case is crucial as it challenges the legality of a land swap that threatens Indigenous Peoples' Human Rights, Religious Rights, Environmental Rights, and the Apache Sacred Site, Chi'chil Biłdagoteel, Oak Flat.

Apache Stronghold's prayer journey across Turtle Island includes visits with Indigenous communities and supporters for prayer and ceremonies, strengthening the bonds of resilience and unity among us all.  

The prayer journey will culminate on September 11, 2024, a day of great significance, when the Apache Stronghold files their appeal at the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, DC, a crucial step in the fight to protect Chi'chil Biłdagoteel, Oak Flat.

ABOUT OAK FLAT

Chi'chil Biłdagoteel (Oak Flat) is a sacred site in the Tonto National Forest for the San Carlos Apache and other Native American Tribes in the region—a place to pray, collect water and medicinal plants, gather acorns, honor the people who are buried there, and perform sacred religious ceremonies. Oak Flat is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a Traditional Cultural Property and protected from mining since 1955 by President Eisenhower. — Apache Stronghold