The federal government forced the Apaches off their land and onto a reservation in the 1870s, to permit miners to work the property. The Eisenhower administration expressly protected Oak Flat from mining activities there, in recognition of its religious significance.
An unusual case is winding its way through the federal court system, one that tests whether the Constitution truly guarantees that each American has the freedom to practice the religion of his choice.The United States has an unfortunate history of making, then breaking, promises to Native Americans.The controversy is centered on Oak Flat, which houses Tonto National Forest in central Arizona.
Because of the land’s documented significance, Oak Flat has also been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since March 2016, and its religious importance has been compared to that of Mount Sinai for Jews. After Apache Stronghold lost in both the Federal District Court and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty asked the full 11-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit to rehear the case on the First Amendment religious freedom issue.
In this case the government fully acknowledges that the proposed Arizona mining project would obliterate the sacred Oak Flat land with a 2-mile wide, 1,100-foot deep crater, making the Apaches’ religious practices impossible."Congress has passed laws to say that if there’s a burden like this, they really need to justify it, and they haven’t.
In essence, "It’s really failing to live up to our commitment to religious liberty for all, and failing to live up to our promise of freedom and diversity and letting people have their own religions and their own opinions. There’s no reason Native Americans should be second class citizens on that."
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