Mary Cathleen Wilson

The battle for critical minerals on and near tribal homelands As the Wasai Gakidag (September dry grass month) sun dawns over sacred Baboquivari Peak on the Tohono O’odham Nation, the desert begins another day of remembering the Cypress Tohono Mine Site, a water-polluted copper mine that will take 30 years and $126 million to rework back into meaningful homeland.

The Tohono O’odham Nation’s traditional homelands span across southern Arizona and northern Mexico. In the United States, those lands encompass 2.8 million acres with 34,000 tribal members. Moreover, the nation extends 62 miles along the U.S.-Mexico border with 14 Tohono O’odham villages in Sonora, Mexico. The Tohono O’odham have lived and farmed in the Sonoran Desert since ancient times. Today, the Sonoran Desert faces growing climate-related drought, excessive heat, and cultural disruption.

The Tohono O’odham Himdag (way of living in the world) has guided our actions since time immemorial. It also holds valuable lessons for the future. By Mary C. Wilson.