Copyright © 1999 NLThomas
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San Carlos, Arizona - The sacred run of the San Carlos Apaches from their reservation up to the top of Dzil Nchaa Si An (Mount Graham) this year, August 14, 1999, had good weather and the assistance of runners from the White Mountain Reservation.

Every year since 1992 the Apache have conducted their run up Mount Graham in protest of the desecration of that mountain by the astronomers of the University of Arizona, Germany, Italy and the Vatican.

The night before the run 16 religious Apache songs were sung. The Medicine Men gave their blessing to the runners for a successful outcome for the arduous 130 mile run upthe mountain.

Wendsler Nosie, San Carlos resident and organizer of the run had arranged a full week of activities on the reservation preceding the run including exhibits, a concert, sweats, and prayers for the runners. Nosie stated that the run filled his expectations by creating awareness among both Apaches and non-Apaches about the observatory's profound desecration. He said the public is now more aware the University of Arizona should take their telescopes off Mount Graham at once, and should rescind the 1988 congressional rider which allowed them to go there exempt from U.S. cultural and religious protection laws.

As if in answer to the prayers and blessings, the next morning was overcast and the runners were protected from the desert sun -- where temperatures can exceed 100 degrees. In past years runners have experienced everything from slippery ice and hail storms to violent summer monsoon cloudbursts during their ascent up the mountain.

The runners who carried the sacred staff up the mountain were from different tribes. Delegations of Native Americans arrived from the Fort Apache, Yaqui, and Fort Mohave Reservations. Native American and non-Indian individuals from throughout the U.S. participated in the run to show their support for the Apache. Also present this year were supporters from Italy and France.

Apache elder Ola Cassadore Davis, long time observatory opponent, prepared the meals on the mountain for the hungry runners. She expressed her thanks to the runners for their show of solidarity in defense of the mountain.

Davis announced a resolution was passed at the most recent National Congress of American Indians convention in Vancouver, Canada, calling for the relocation of the telescope observatory off Mount Graham.

The Italian delegation reflected the concern of a large number of people throughout Italy seeking to terminate funding by their government of the telescope now under construction on Mount Graham. Thus far, almost 100 members of the Italian Parliament have signed on to a parliamentary motion to halt funding for the Mount Graham observatory.

Many Italians are concerned that financial participation by their government in this desecration of an Apache sacred mountain brings shame and dishonor to their country.

The delegation of French citizens were likewise distressed that Germany, Italy and the Vatican would participate in a project which had been exempted by the U.S. Congress from U.S. cultural and religious protection laws. They noted that while many Europeans had emigrated to the U.S. in order to obtain freedom of religion, the descendants of those same White settlers, years later passed riders in Congress in 1988 and 1994 for the University of Arizona depriving the Apache of that same freedom.

{Source: Robert Witzeman}