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Photo: The Old San Carlos Memorial is located in Peridot on the San Carlos Apache Reservation. (Gabriel Pietrorazio / KJZZ)
The U.S. Supreme Court will not reconsider the nonprofit Apache Stronghold’s effort to preserve sacred lands from a massive copper mining project east of Phoenix, Ariz.
Monday, the justices declined to revisit an earlier decision to throw out the case for a second and final time.
KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio has more.
Court records show conservative Neil Gorsuch stands alone in supporting the nonprofit’s plea.
Justice Clarence Thomas previously joined him in co-authoring a May dissent. Recusing himself once more was Samuel Alito, who has disclosed stock holdings in BHP, the Australian-based minority partner behind Resolution Copper.
In a statement, Resolution Copper told KJZZ it’s pleased the court upheld a split Ninth Circuit ruling that Oak Flat is not subject to religious freedom protections, while on social media, Apache Stronghold says it’s “deeply disappointing” that Mother Earth’s voice goes unheard yet again.
Kloshe Illahee Haws Housing development in Salem, Oreg. (Photo: Brian Bull)
The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians (CTSI) had a grand opening last week for its latest off-reservation housing development in Salem, Oreg.
The site is a mixed-income living facility with 39 units.
Brian Bull of Buffalo’s Fire reports.
An honor song and ribbon cutting officially opened the Kloshe Illahee Haws complex.
About sixty people attended the ceremony, including tribal member Vera Vasquez.
The working mother of three explored the two and four bedroom units, excited for the next day when she’d move in with her family from their much smaller home.
“This is changing my life. We’ve been literally bursting at the seams in our two-bedrooms, so this is just going to be really nice to have space. And what I’m really looking forward to though, is having the community and the garden and the tribal activities. Our kids can play and grow up together, and like we can really connect as people.”
Tribal officials say Native people in Oregon experience homelessness four times more than other demographics. And Salem has the second highest population of Siletz citizens next to the tribal headquarters and reservation area.
Many left for cities and coastal industries after Congress terminated the tribe’s federal status in 1954.
Even after being reinstated in 1977, many Siletz people stayed in those areas.
CTSI Tribal Chair Delores Pigsley speaks before cutting a ribbon as part of the grand opening ceremony for the Kloshe Illahee Haws Housing development. (Photo: Brian Bull)
Tribal chair Dee Pigsley says they’re also looking at the city of Eugene.
“They’ve all been really tough areas to provide housing because we don’t own land there. We have to buy the land, and it’s land that comes at a premium. And then we have to find money to build the homes.”
The Kloshe Illahee Haws complex cost $17 million. Half of that was covered by an Indian Housing Block Grant, while the tribe covered the rest.
The Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes in Oklahoma, in partnership with the US Army, have begun the process of returning 16 children home from the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania.
In a press release Monday, the tribes said it’s a solemn and historic undertaking more than two years in the making.
The disinterment began in September at the Carlisle cemetery.
The tribes say the month-long project represents a moment of healing and remembrance, carried out with descendants, ceremonial leaders, tribal officials, forensic experts, and Army representatives.
The children will be reinterred on Tribal land in Concho, Okla.
Eleven Cheyenne and five Arapaho children who passed away while attending the school are returning home, 13 of the children were under the age of 18.
The federal school opened in 1879.
Native children were forced to assimilate, and were trained in various trades.
According to the tribes, the repatriation marks an important step toward justice and healing for the families and Tribal Nations impacted by the boarding school era.
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Tuesday, October 7, 2025 — Protecting sacred sites in urban areas
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