Earth, Wind, and Fire: Pinal Apaches, Miners, and Genocide in Central Arizona, 1859-1874

Abstract

The San Carlos Apache Tribe is a leading defender of Oak Flat, a large public campground on the western flanks of the Pinal Mountains east of Phoenix. Oak Flat is sacred to many Apaches and other Native Americans and is listed in the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. The Tribe is among the parties gravely concerned about the Resolution Copper Mine, a joint venture of Rio Tinto Group and BHP Billiton Ltd. to privatize and industrialize Oak Flat’s public lands and minerals. Archaeological sites, place names, stories, and ceremonial uses affirm the pre-1875 Apache occupation and ongoing significance of Oak Flat. Historical records reveal how mining proponents combined industrial and annihilationist propaganda to portray Apaches in the Pinal Mountains as subhuman impediments to civilization and profit. This inflammatory rhetoric ignited vigilante and military campaigns between 1859 and 1874 that killed over 380 Pinal Apaches—including many women and children—then confined survivors onto the San Carlos Reservation. Mining across Pinal Apache territory followed promptly, claiming additional Apache lands inside and outside reservation borders. The stark historical injustice of the Pinal Apache Genocide requires recognition and redress via the responsible governments and industries, including their successors today. The obvious first step is simple avoidance of further harm to Apaches and Oak Flat. Truth must be a hallmark for comprehensive cost–benefit assessments of proposed alterations of Indigenous homelands. Reconciliation must be a planning goal for any mining or other consumptive uses of Indigenous sacred sites.

Human remains within an Apache knowledge ecology

“…The authors first met through an event series, 'In their presence: debates on the dignity, display and ownership of human remains' (2020-2021), co-hosted by Bridget Conley and Diane O'Donoghue, to the latter of whom we wish to express our deep gratitude. The series was made possible through the support of Human Remains and Violence 8/2 (2022), [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]…”

“…US governmental forces and armed settler groups regularly targeted Apache civilians with killings and massacres as part of a plan to displace and concentrate the Apache into reservations. 8 Although skirmishes continued through the early 1920s, the wars ended in 1886, a date marked by the defeat of a legendary Chiricahua Apache leader, Geronimo. Geronimo and many Apache soldiers were captured and spent decades in prisons.…”

Erasing and dehumanizing Natives to protect positive national identity: The Native mascot example

“…Nineteenth century rhetoric and policies, for example, compared the Apache Peoples to wolves (Welch, 2017). The New York Times reported: "The Apache is as near the lobo, or wolf of the country, as any human being can be to a beast (Dunbar, 1859)."…”

Changing how archaeology is done in Native American contexts: An Ndee (Apache) case study

“…My research focuses on the traditional homeland of various Ndee tribal nations who, in 2013, signed the Ndee Iłah ık'ai/Nnee Iłah ık'ai (Apache People Joining Together, also known as the Inter-Apache Policy on Repatriation and the Protection of Apache Culture) Welch, 2017). These tribal nations include Fort Apache Indian Reservation, leaders of the Jicarilla Apache Nation, Mescalero Apache Tribe, Fort Sill Apache Tribe, San Carlos Apache Tribe, Tonto Apache Tribe, Apache Tribe of Oklahoma, White Mountain Apache Tribe, and Yavapai-Apache Nation.…”

“…This is something that should always be considered when attempting to do consultation or collaborative research with Native American communities. Basic respect is something that morally should be always a given, but the "archaeological dialect," which continues to define Ndee pasts through Western methodologies, research agendas, and misrepresentations (see Laluk, 2017;Welch, 1997;Welch, 2017;Welch et al, 2009a;Welch and Brauchli, 2010;Welch and Riley, 2001;Welch et al, 2009b, for some exceptions) can be viewed as an act of injustice and misrepresentation. If non-Ndee researchers do not always consider the political, social, cultural, and psychological underpinnings of the past and present that exist within such everyday in-field experiences of Indigenous peoples, then it is very difficult for collaborative archaeological projects to evolve and move forward.…”