Tohono O'odham chairman to testify as U.S. blows up burial place today

Article by Brenda Norrell
Photos by Laiken Jordahl
Censored News
Feb. 26, 2010

Tohono O'odham Chairman Ned Norris, Jr., will testify before a Congressional hearing on the destruction of sacred sites today, Wednesday, at 2 pm.

On this same day, the United States will blow up Monument Hill on Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, where O'odham burial remains were recently found.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection, with the Army Corps of Engineers, is planning to carry out the detonation of Monument Hill and posted a notice for media viewing.

Currently, federal court cases have been unable to halt the destruction of sacred places, burial places and endangered species for the border wall construction here, near Ajo, Arizona.

Trump has waived all federal laws, including those that protect Native American burial places and endangered species to build the border wall.

Already, the border wall is viewed as a symbol of hate and racism. Besides this, it is ridiculous. An eight-year-old scaled a mock border wall in seconds. In California, a hole was cut out of the wall large enough to drive a truck through it.

In other places, flood gates are necessary at the bottom, which are kept open, providing an open door to anyone. Further, ladders have been used for easy access over the border wall.

The expensive border wall is being constructed at an incredible price to the pristine Sonoran Desert, the people, plants, animals, the water and the ancestors.

Laiken Jordahl, with the Center for Biological Diversity, has documented the destruction. There are endangered species found nowhere else in the world but here, in this special place in the Sonoran Desert. Quitobquito Spring is a sacred place for Tohono O'odham.

On Monday, Laiken said, "A massive excavator just arrived at Quitobaquito Spring."

"It’s digging in the Roosevelt easement just south of the pond, in an area known to contain archeological resources. It’s the same area the O’odham chairman repeatedly requested not be disturbed."

"They’re excavating a literal stone’s throw from Quitobaquito pond—the only place in the world where the endangered Quitobaquito pupfish live. DHS waived all laws that protect endangered species, cultural resources and Indigenous graves."

Chairman Norris is scheduled to testify before the Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States.

Subcommittee Hearing: Destroying Sacred Sites and Erasing Tribal Culture: The Trump Administration’s Construction of the Border Wall

Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States

Date: Wednesday, February 26, 2020 Time: 02:00 PMLocation: Longworth House Office Building 1324 Presiding: The Hon. Ruben Gallego

On Wednesday, February 26, 2020, at 2:00 p.m. in Room 1324 Longworth House Office Building, the Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States (SCIP) will hold an oversight hearing entitled, “Destroying Sacred Sites and Erasing Tribal Culture: The Trump Administration’s Construction of the Border Wall.”

Witness List

The Honorable Ned Norris, Jr.
Chairman The Tohono O’odham Nation
Sells, AZ

Dr. Anna Maria Ortiz
Director, Natural Resources and Environment
U.S. Government Accountability Office
Washington, D.C.

Ms. Sarah Krakoff
Moses Lasky Professor of Law
University of Colorado Law School
Boulder, CO

Ms. Shannon Keller O’Loughlin
Executive Director
Association on American Indian Affairs
Rockville, MD

Mr. Steve Hodapp
Retired Independent Contractor and Environmental Specialist
Lexington, VA

Article copyright Brenda Norrell