MOUNT GRAHAM

In the 1978, the U.S. Congress passed the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, saying it would "protect and preserve: the religious freedoms of Native people in the U.S. Since that time, this Act has proven itself almost entirely ineffective. Many sites sacred to Native people have been damaged and many more are in immediate danger of being desecrated or completely destroyed by vandalism, tourism, development and greed, without any protection from the U.S. government.

One of the sites in danger is Dzil nchaa si an, or Mount Graham, in Arizona's Coronado National Forest. Since the early 1980's, the San Carlos Apache tribe has been fighting a project led by the University of Arizona, the Max Planck Institute of Germany,Italy's Arcetri University and the Vatican to build a telescope on top of Emerals Peak, one of Mount Graham's summits. The Apaches are fighting this project with all their resources because to them, the mountain is sacred. It is the site of many ceremonial dances and home to a mountain spirit who helps the people choose their leaders. The water that flows in the area is holy water. It is where the San Carlos Apache people pray.

When the San Carlos Apaches began to protest the observatory, the investors stated they would continue with the project because there was no proof the mountain was sacred. Jesuit Father George Coyne, director for the Vatican Observatory said, "If we were building telescopes on ground that could be identified as sacred,that would be very serious. At that point, we would not build the telescope". However, at the University of Arizona the notes of anthropologist Grenville Goodwin were found. These notes discuss in depth the religious significance of Mount Graham to the San Carlos Apache people. And in 1985, the U.S. Forest Service proposed that sites on Mount Graham qualified for the National Historic Register because of the religious significance to the First Nations people.

Now, the organizations supporting the project, along with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals say construction will continue because Emerals Peak, the proposed telescope site, has not been proven sacred, only the surrounding peaks. To people who have grown up at the foot of Mount Graham,who have prayed to the Mountain Spirit their whole lives, these allegations are offensive and ridiculous. The entire area is sacred.

Questions have emerged about the astronomical quality of the peaks at Mount Graham. The Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy and the New Technology Telescope considered and then withdrew from the Mount Graham project, citing poor astrological quality as well as the greater suitability of other sites. This specifically because of it spiritual significance. The extreme inconsideration of the Vatican in particular to the religious freedoms of others is particularly offensive. Not only do Native people have to worry about their sacred sites being illegally seized by the U.S. and its corporations, but by other countries and their organizations as well.

One of the main arguments used in Apache Survival Commission --vs-- the USFS was that the tribe didn't respond to letters issued bythe USFS about the proposed construction at Mt. Graham until construction was already underway. Representatives from the tribe say they responded immediately and were ignored. It would be easy to turn this issue into a bickering match about one person's work against another. But the real issue is about First Amendment rights to Freedom of Religion so long denied to Native people in this country.

The situation at Mount Graham is not isolated. Currently,similar struggles are going on at Medicine Wheel, in the BlackHills, in the Sweetgrass Hills, and at Big Mountain, to name just a few. The fact is, there should never have had to be a Native American Religious Freedom Act. The religious freedoms of everyone in this country should be protected under the First Amendment of this country's constitution.

WE URGE THAT CONSTRUCTION ON MOUNT GRAHAM CEASE IMMEDIATELY.

WE URGE THAT THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF CHURCHES, AMERICAN CATHOLIC CONFERENCE OF BISHOPS AND THE US AMBASSADOR TO THE VATICAN INSIST THAT THE VATICAN HALT THE MOUNT GRAHAM TELESCOPE PROJECT.

WE URGE THAT THE RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES AND SACRED SITES OF NATIVE PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY BE PROTECTED UNDER THE FIRST AMENDMENT AND THE AMERICAN INDIAN RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ACT OF 1978.

WE URGE THAT THE PROPOSED NATIVE AMERICAN RELIGIOUS FREEDOM RESTORATION ACT BE PASSED IN CONGRESS.

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