Emory oak grove at Oak Flat, AZ – Image credit: Copyright © 2020 Elias Butler Photography All Rights Reserved – CC-BY-SA-4.0
PASADENA, Calif. – Last Tuesday, the full eleven-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reheard oral arguments in the case of Apache Stronghold v. United States. Apache Stronghold represented by Becket Fund for Religious Liberty law firm asserts that “Since time immemorial, Western Apache and other native peoples have gathered at Oak Flat (Chi’chil Bildagoteel – the site’s Apache name) for essential religious ceremonies that cannot take place anywhere else. Oak Flat has been protected for decades by the federal government from mining and other harmful practices that would make the land unusable for the Apache’s religious exercise.”
The copper extraction process that would be employed by the mining company of Resolution Copper, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto, is known as “block caving.” Opponents say the use of block caving would result in a giant sinkhole, potentially polluting groundwater, and effectively obliterating the sacred site.
A three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Apache Stronghold last June. Then as TWH reported in September:
“…the full 11-judge Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments to void the June decision. The arguments only concerned the merits and process of the decision of the 3-judge panel.
“This type of judicial review requested by judges in a case that has already been ruled on or resolved is a rarity, occurring only in about 0.5% of all cases. The arguments heard by the full 11-member court did not involve the merits of the original suit, but rather whether the case should be reheard, ‘en banc,’ meaning by the full court.”
In November of 2022, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals announced it would, in fact, rehear the case before the full eleven-judge court.
Apache Stronghold has seen widespread support across a variety of religious and spiritual traditions— ranging from Repairers of the Breach, a nonprofit headed by Bishop William J. Barber II, and the Rev. A. Kazimir Brown, who hosted a “spiritual gathering” online before the hearing, to other mainstream churches that include The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Seventh-day Adventists, the Islam and Religious Freedom Action Team of the Religious Freedom Institute, the Christian Legal Society, the Jewish Coalition for Religious Liberty and the Sikh Coalition.
“The government’s position in this case is that it can obliterate a place of worship for any reason or none at all, and not face consequences under federal religious liberty law,” said Luke Goodrich, vice president and senior counsel at Becket. “We asked the court today to recognize the obvious—that when the government destroys a sacred site, religious liberty law has something to say about it. A win for Apache Stronghold will be a win for people of all faiths.”
A decision on the case is expected this summer. The oral arguments heard by the court can be viewed on YouTube.
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Sign at Four Dances Recreational Area – Image credit: Milonica – CC BY-SA 3.0
BILLINGS, Mont. – The Four Dances site designated by the National Park Service (NPS) as a “Special Recreation Management Area and an area of critical environmental concern” was defaced by Nazi symbols etched into the surface of some of the stones in January.
A group with ties to white supremacy took credit for the crime on the social media platform GAB, according to local reporting by The Daily Montanan that sourced their story from a substack by writer and journalist, Adria L. Jawort who first wrote about the defacement on February 24. According to Jawort the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) “had decided not to do anything because it wasn’t an Archeological Resource Protection Act violation” and “insisted there was little they could do” to prevent future defacements.
According to the Bureau of Land Management website, the area consists of 765 acres of undeveloped open space that are home to “native sagebrush/grassland, ponderosa pine in the rocky outcrop areas near the river cliffs, and cottonwood riparian,” with an “objective to protect the open space and natural and cultural resources, while providing dispersed public recreation.”
The site is named for Native American Apsaalooke (Crow Nation) Chief Four Dances, who was a spiritual and military leader for the Crow Nation. According to n 1830, he fasted and danced in that area, receiving a powerful vision, after being adopted by the great-horned owl.
Elias Goes Ahead, a Crow Nation historian, told The Billings Gazette in 2012 some of the stories about Chief Four Dances, “In these visions, he was shown a war shirt by the owl. So he produced a war shirt as he was shown in his vision. In a battle against the Piegan [another Native tribe] near Pryor Gap, he went among the enemy. His war shirt was riddled with arrows and bullets, but he was not harmed and he led the Crows to wipe out the Piegans.”
There is little information on the extent of the damage done to the site other than the photos and reporting supplied by Jawort. No statements are available on the BLM or NPS sites, or whether the graffiti will be removed or the site repaired.
Announcements:
- The “Pagan and Heathen Political and Social Metrics survey” being conducted by Jonathan Leader of the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology defines it as “a means of gathering information about beliefs, behaviors, and demographics from Heathens and Pagans in the United States and Canada. It will ask you questions about aspects of your religious and personal life, and your opinion on hot-button issues. Its results will tell us what Heathens and Pagans have in common across borders, and how different Pagans are within them.” The survey can be accessed online.
- A new book by Yvonne Aburrow, Changing Paths, “is a book to support people through the process of changing paths (leaving a religion, joining Paganism, or changing paths within Paganism). Part 1 deals with leaving a religion, dealing with spiritual abuse and religious trauma, and having a break from religion. Part 2 deals with joining a Pagan tradition. Part 3 includes contributions from other people about their experiences of changing paths. The book is based on their experience of changing from one religion to another and dealing with the emotional, spiritual, and intellectual upheaval which comes with that change.” It is accompanied by a resources website and even has its own Spotify playlist. The book will be published by 1000Volt Press next month.
- The Fredrick Pagan Pride Day announced that it is seeking applications for entertainers, event sponsors, local groups and charities, vendors, volunteers, and workshop and Ritual Leaders for their 7th annual Pagan Pride event, scheduled for September 9, 2023. Organizers request all inquiries be made via their website.
- The Grey School of Wizardry has launched a fundraising campaign to expand its physical campus in Whitehall, New York. This will enable the school to provide term-long, in-person enrollment. While the school officials say they still have a long way to go, they said things look quite promising.
Upcoming Events:
- Circle Sanctuary announced last week that registration for Pagan Spirit Gathering is now open. The annual event includes a variety of vendors, workshops, music, and rituals.
- The Scottish Goddess Conference 2023 will be held online from September 13 – 17 as well as in person in Paisley, Scotland on September 16, 2023. This theme for 2023 is “Oracles of the Divine, and will be dedicated to all things related to communicating with the other realms and spirits. From oracle work to séance, spiritism, necromancy, omens, trance work, psychedelic plants, medium, divination methods, ancient oracles, and much more!” Speakers include Professor Daniel Ogden, Dr. Jeffrey S. Kupperman, Kristoffer Hughes, Caitlin Matthews, Ivo Dominguez, Jeff Cullen, Chris Allaun, Lucya Starza, Starr Ravenhawk, Susana Aguilar, Michael Mayo, and Cara Hamilton. Super Early Bird Tickets are currently available on the Scottish Goddess Conference Website. The Conference will also hold a Virtual Goddess Market till September and a live Goddess Market at the event venue at the Wynd Centre in Paisley, Scotland, to support the Goddess Temple Alba.
- The Goddess Temple Alba, with its aim to open a Community Space for Pagans in Scotland, will be hosting several Charitable Goddess Markets this year. The first one was held on February 4, and the next is scheduled for April 29 and will celebrate Beltane, and the third market will be held during the Scottish Goddess Conference on September 16. According to the organizers, “All donations towards spaces for traders will go directly to the Goddess Temple Alba Fund towards a space. Ness Bosch, the Head of the Goddess Temple Alba, and some of the members of the Temple are working very hard to open this Temple space! Go and support the Goddess Community in Scotland by paying a visit to the forthcoming Goddess Markets!” Those interested can now also join the Goddess Community In Scotland Facebook Group to keep up with goddess happenings in Scotland. Anyone interested in securing a space as a trader/vendor with the Goddess Markets can email the organizers. All markets will take place at the Wynd Centre in Paisley, Scotland.
In other news:
- Last week, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., announced the return of 29 looted antiquities to Greece. Among the pieces, which are collectively valued at over $20 million, is the extraordinarily rare Eid Mar Coin, which commemorates the murder of Julius Caesar. The antiquities were returned during a repatriation ceremony at the Greek Consulate that was attended by Greek Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni, Consul General Konstantinos Konstantinou, and Ivan J. Arvelo, Special Agent in Charge at Homeland Security Investigations, New York. According to the Manhatten D.A.’s office among the items returned: “The Bronze Calyx Krater, dating to 350 B.C.E., which once held the bones of a deceased individual in a chamber tomb. The Eid Mar Coin, minted in 42 B.C.E., commemorates the murder of Julius Caesar. Eid Mar Coins were minted to pay Brutus’s troops after he fled Greece following Caesar’s assassination. Gold Eid Mar coins are extremely rare, and this is only one of three known coins of its type. The Neolithic Family Group dates to 5000-3500 B.C.E and is valued at $3 million. This group of objects compromises five human and animal figures carved from marble.” All of the repatriated items were obtained as the result of multiple criminal investigations into the trafficking and smuggling of antiquities.
- Excavations at the temple of Ramses II in Abydos carried out by an American team from New York University uncovered a variety of mummified animals. In addition to finding the mummified remains of ewes, dogs, wild goats, cows, gazelles, and mongooses, the team found over 2,000 mummified ram heads which dated to the Ptolemaic period (305 to 30 BCE). Sameh Iskander, the lead researcher, noted that the discovery of such a large number of mummified rams, presumed to be votive offerings and placed inside the temple points to an unprecedented rams’ cultic practice in Abydos during the Ptolemaic period. As well as indicating that Ramses II was still being revered in Abydos a thousand years after his time (1303-1213 BCE). Also discovered was “a large palatial structure with an unusual architectural layout with walls about five metres thick, which appears for the first time in Abydos, and dates to the end of the Sixth Dynasty (c.2181 BCE) of the Old Kingdom. “This structure will provide important, multifaceted, and spectacular information on the activities of the Old Kingdom in Abydos, opening up major new perspectives that will contribute to reestablish the sense of the ancient landscape of Abydos before the construction of the Ramses II temple,” Iskander said.
Over the weekend night skies around the globe were lit up with the “northern lights” or aurora borealis thanks to a powerful geomagnetical storm. The phenomenon is the result of solar energy particles from the sun colliding with the Earth’s magnetic field. The unexpected solar storm was rated a G4 on a scale that goes up to G5.
The lights were reported as far south as Phoenix, Arizona, and observed in many places that rarely see the displays of northern lights.
Tarot of the week by Star Bustamonte
Deck: The Field Tarot, by Hannah Elizabeth Fofana, published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc.
Card: Major arcana – XXI (21) – The Universe
The week ahead is liable to herald the end of a cycle. It is also likely to call for reflection of what has been learned, as well as the choices made.
Conversely, there is the potential for feeling lost or uncertain of one’s place in the larger scheme of things.
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