My name is Laak’os Dagozhoogo Parsons. I am Chippewa Cree from Northern Montana, and I come from the “In the front at the end” Bedonkohe band of the Chiricahua Apache in Arizona.
As it has for generations before me, the United States government is continuing its mission to erase Indigenous people from our land and our religion.
On April 18, Donald Trump’s administration decided to push the Resolution Copper Mine at Oak Flat to a new priority list in part of the president’s executive order to increase domestic mineral production, which he signed March 20, despite the awaited decision by the Supreme Court on lawsuits over the proposed mine.
I am urging not only the federal courts to wake up but for the whole country to wake up! This fight goes beyond the boundaries of Indigenous people. Not only are our religious rights being affected, but our water, land and human rights are also being threatened.
Oak Flat is a holy place where God touched the earth and from where my people originated. God created Oak Flat — just like the Garden of Eden — for the people and the animals. For Apache people, we have a spiritual connection that is intertwined with the land. If Oak Flat is destroyed, how would future generations feel the same connection as those before us?
As Indigenous people, we feel that the land and the people are one. Our people are not only connected to the land inside the boundaries of the reservation created by the United States when they made us prisoners of war but all the land.
Six months ago, I was blessed to have my coming-of-age ceremony at Oak Flat. I had dreamt of having this dance as a little girl while watching those before me do the same. Many spiritual things happened during my dance, but three memories stick out the most to me.
The first is when I saw a gila monster roaming the area of my camp. The gila monster represents strong medicine and is the oldest reptile among those that lived when my ancestors were free. I felt as though the gila monster represented my ancestors watching over me during this spiritual time.
Second, I saw little girls looking at me with admiration during the ceremony. This was the same way I once felt seeing those before me and knowing I was one day going to become the White Painted Woman. It was also incredible to watch the little boys standing with pride as they drummed and sang our Apache songs next to the medicine men and camp singers. How can we not fight for their existence?
Lastly, at the end of my ceremony, when my godmother took me to Nizhoni Butterfly Spring Canyon to clean the gleesh (white paint) out of my hair, there was no water left in the spring. Resolution Copper had already begun pumping out the groundwater, and now the spring sits empty. Without water, there is no life.
When will we wake up? The earth is getting warmer, we will need all the water we have in Arizona to live — and the rest of the world will need their water too. How can our country do this to its own people to benefit a foreign mining company? And let’s not forget about the toxic waste that will be left for us to deal with. What happens when Resolution Copper leaves with their wallets full? We will be left with pollution, contamination, illness and no water.
I urge the Supreme Court to not only protect my spiritual religious rights, but my human rights to this holy place, as they would give the same protection to the holiest churches throughout this country.
I urge the people across this country to wake up and realize that the United States government is choosing greed over my people and the people of this nation. Our fight is your fight. We are no different.
I am the product of my ancestors — they shed their blood for me to continue with our traditions and culture. I am resilient, and I will keep fighting for my way of life so future generations and those yet to be born can see, live and touch this holy place. I will continue to fight for those who have no voice because they too deserve to be heard. I will defend Oak Flat because no one should ever have to feel like they are getting ripped away from their mother.
We cannot let the United States and corporations keep stripping minerals from Mother Earth. We must not forget that Mother Earth is the reason we live and breathe every day.
Laak’os Parsons is a 14-year-old Chippewa Cree / Chiricahua Apache. She is an Apache Stronghold member and a Spirit of the Mountain Runner.
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