Sisters support defense of Apache sacred site, ‘religious freedom for Native Americans’
Posted on August 1, 2025, by Loretto Community
Published by Global Sisters Report July 31, 2025
With its ancient Emory oaks, canyons and volcanic rock formations, Oak Flat is a place where, in late afternoon, the quiet approach of dusk brings a sense of stillness and serenity, peace and wonder.
This high plateau basin in southeastern Arizona’s Tonto National Forest is not only a place of beauty. It is also the site of the Apache creation story: where humans emerged, God touched the Earth, and where the angelic Ga’an still reside, offering their wisdom.
Yet this most sacred of sites — public land that is used as campground and hiking trails — is now under threat. A possible land transfer backed by the Trump administration would allow a joint mining venture to begin work on a proposed copper mine that would essentially collapse the site into a crater up to 1,100 feet deep and nearly 2 miles wide.
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Nine sisters representing seven congregations joined Apache elders and others during three days of peaceful demonstrations, July 18-20, in defense of Oak Flat, or Chi’chil Bildagoteel, as the Apache call it. The congregations included Sisters of Mercy, Dominicans of Peace, Sisters of St. Joseph, Sisters of Providence, Sisters of Loretto, Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration and Sisters of Charity.
Read the entire story here.
