In this episode of the Fight for Our Existence Podcast, I share an immediate update following the recent court decision involving Oak Flat.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled against the three cases challenging the Oak Flat land transfer, including the case brought by Apache women and girls, the San Carlos Apache Tribe, and environmental groups. The court also lifted the order that had been preventing the land transfer.

This moment is deeply personal for my family. Some of the Apache women involved in the case include my daughter, my sister, and two of my nieces.

Attorneys are now preparing an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States as the fight to protect Oak Flat continues.

Oak Flat, known to my Apache people as Chi’chil Bildagoteel, remains a sacred place and the center of an ongoing struggle over Indigenous religious freedom, sacred land, and the future of mining in Arizona.