Kwanamii Spirit Run

Event seeks to raise awareness about projected gold mine on tribal homeland

Community members of all ages are invited to stand – or run, rather – in solidarity with the Quechan Tribe Saturday morning in the Kwanamii Spirit Run.

At 8:30 a.m., participants will start the one-mile run from the tribal office, located at 350 Picacho Rd. in Winterhaven, to the Quechan Community Center at 604 Picacho Rd. From the community center, a smaller group of able-bodied runners will cover the 20 miles to Indian Pass.

The event is aimed toward raising awareness on a projected gold mine near Indian Pass that, if executed, would destroy sacred archaeological sites, contaminate water and damage vital ecosystems – an issue the Quechan have been fighting for the last 20 years, according to elder Preston Arrow Weed.

Now federal property administered by the Bureau of Land Management, the fight over the Quechan’s homeland traces back to the Bush administration, when the proposal of a 1,600-acre gold mine reversed the ruling of former president Bill Clinton’s interior secretary Bruce Babbitt’s ruling that mining “would irreparably harm the environment of Quechan ancestral land,” according to a 2002 New York Times article.

According to Arrow Weed, though the conversation is ongoing, the tribe has not been notified of timelines or plans for initial digging.

Aside from the desecration of its history and culture, one of the tribe’s primary concerns is the release of cyanide, mercury and “other toxic chemicals” used in the mining process, which poses a threat to the environment as well as the aquifer running beneath the land.

“The cyanide could get into the water – we might need it, everybody might need it, and that’s including Imperial Valley, Yuma or our tribe,” said Arrow Weed. “The cyanide hits the air, too, and that’s very dangerous to everyone. That’s what I’m concerned about, and tribal ways also.”

“We once lived in that area, and there are artifacts there that need to be protected,” he added. “You also have to think of the creatures that live out there; they’re not thinking about that. They think it’s vast and desolate, but there are things out there – even on the hottest days, they live out there. That’s their home. The ecology of that area could be destroyed. The ecology, the artifacts, the water. To us, it’s a sacred place. Ecology is a connection to our tribal beliefs.”

According to tribal council member Faron Owl, this issue is not unique to the Quechan; other tribes in the Southwest have been fighting to protect their own lands from mining and green energy development.

Recently halted by the Biden administration, the San Carlos Apache Tribe in southeastern Arizona have spent years battling copper mining companies over a 2,400-acre land transfer. Meanwhile, native tribes near Death Valley are sparring with investors who’ve launched an exploratory drilling program in hopes of establishing a gold mine that, according to the Los Angeles Times, would operate “as a nonstop pit, using tons of cyanide each day to leach gold from heaps of crushed ore” and allegedly answering locals’ prayers for a stabilized economy with the provision of jobs and generated sales tax.

But according to Arrow Weed, these promises are only a ruse.

“I know this gold mine has told them that they’re going to create jobs, that they’re going to get money and donations and this and that, so the people will be on their side,” Arrow Weed said. “They’ve made them believe that they’re doing a good thing. They don’t say, ‘We’re going to do this and you might lose a little bit of your environment or your water’ – they don’t tell them about that.”

Once the land is tampered with, according to Owl, native history will be forever compromised.

“Once they dig and grind up the dirt and use cyanide to get the gold out of there, that ground is no good,” Owl said. “Plus, they’ll be digging a huge pit. Once that happens, that whole landscape is gone. They could try to repair it, put the dirt back or whatever, but that whole area, the plants, the animals, some of our sacred sites that are out there – those will be destroyed forever. Once you go to that destruction, then you’re talking about our native history. And what follows that? Culture, language and beyond.”

According to Arrow Weed, the fight isn’t just about protecting sacred ancestral land; it’s about protecting the safety of the people, and not just the tribes’ own.

“We have been fighting many things to protect the people – and that includes the non-Indian, too,” said Arrow Weed. “Yes, it’s a sacred site, but if the cyanide hits us, it hits everyone. Yuma is a very important place to try and take care of, and our reservation, too. That’s why I’m here, that’s why I do what I do. A lot of people think that we’re just trying to start trouble – no, we’re trying to save people. We’re trying to save the environment, we’re trying to do what’s best and good for the people.”

While taking a stance against mining to protect Indian Pass, Saturday’s event also pays homage to the ancient runners who used the area’s network of trails to deliver messages to neighboring tribes.

“These runners are doing the same thing as the runners from long ago,” said Arrow Weed. “Right now they’re delivering the message of the desert: ‘You can’t do this to us. We’re trying to stop you.’ And I think they’re sacred, too, for doing that.”

Registration for the Kwanamii Spirit Run begins onsite at 8 a.m. Saturday, with the walk/run to follow at 8:30 a.m. Participants can register ahead of the event by emailing Owl at f.owl@quechantribe. com.

Owl noted the event will follow CDC guidelines; runners will be masked and/or socially distanced.