A protest east of Phoenix is in its fourth week as a group of Native Americans has gathered in opposition to a proposed copper mine. As Arizona Public Radio’s Ryan Heinsius reports, the area of the Tonto National Forest is a burial ground and considered sacred by several tribes throughout the state...
“Through the years the natives peoples used this place as an area for ceremonial purpose, for harvesting food items for medicinal plants. We’ve been praying here, we’ve been having our ceremonies and we’ve been doing all these things all these years — decades, hundreds of years, thousands of years,” Grant says.
In December, a rider on the federal Defense Authorization Act approved a land swap that would pave the way for the mine operated by Resolution Copper. Supporters include congressional representatives Ann Kirkpatrick and Paul Gosar, as well as senators John McCain and Jeff Flake.
