11 Most Endangered
Kw'st'an Sacred Sites at Indian Pass
Year Listed: 2002
Location: California
Current Status: Endangered
Threat: Development
At a sacred place near the lower Colorado River in Imperial County, California, Native Americans from the Quechan Tribe have come for thousands of years on spiritual pilgrimages. In religious ceremonies known as Keruk, they've cremated their dead and assisted in bringing them to the next world. Among the artifacts they've left are pottery shards, petroglyphs and ancient rock sculptures that lie untouched in the sand. A land of serene beauty, this isolated and rocky section of desert known as Indian Pass could soon be desecrated by a massive 1,600-acre cyanide heap-leach gold mine that will leave a gaping hole in the ground and a skyscraper-size mound of toxic waste.
Update
In November 2001, Interior Secretary Gale Norton revived plans for an open-pit gold mine located on sacred lands at Indian Pass, near El Centro, in California’s Imperial County. The project had been blocked since January 2001, when prior Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt argued that mining would cause irreparable damage to cultural and religious sites sacred to the Quechan Indian Tribe. In September 2002, defying the Senate and the California Legislature, the Interior Department found that the mining claims were valid. While the Interior Department’s ruling moves the mining company closer to actual excavation of the site, it does not authorize mining to begin. In the wake of these findings, the California Legislature introduced several sacred places and mining bills, culminating in April of 2003 with the passage of legislation requiring new open pit mines to be backfilled. In July 2003, the Canadian-based mining company announced its intent to file a claim against the United States under NAFTA, claiming its property interests were expropriated by the California measures. It seeks over $50 million in damages. Final arbitration will take place in August and September 2007.
