What You Can Do
Give $11 to help support the 11 Most Endangered Places.
11 Most Endangered
Kw'st'an Sacred Sites at Indian Pass
Year Listed: 2002
Location: , California
Current Status: Endangered
Threat: Development
Latest News
On June 9, 2009 a NAFTA tribunal found that the State of California's and the United States' actions in regulating hard rock mining on public lands did not violate the NAFTA. The decision is a major victory for the Quechan Nation which is the first tribe to participate as amicus curiae in a NAFTA claims dispute.
Indian Pass at Indian Pass, California. Kw'st'an Sacred Sites at Indian Pass was on the 2002 list of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places.
Credit: Quechan Indian Tribe
Significance
For thousands of years, Native Americans from the Quechan Tribe have come on spiritual pilgrimages to a sacred place near the lower Colorado River in Imperial County, California. In religious ceremonies known as Keruk, the Quechan cremate their dead and assist in bringing them to the next world. Among the artifacts left behind are pottery shards, petroglyphs and ancient rock sculptures lying untouched in the sand. A land of serene beauty, the isolated and rocky section of desert known as Indian Pass is an integral part of the Quechan cultural tradition.
Updates
June 2009: The tribunal found that the State of California's and the United States' actions did not expropriate Glamis's property interests and that these actions did not treat Glamis unfairly. The NAFTA tribunal did not have the authority to rescind the existing mining claim, however, and Glamis may try again to get approval to develop the site. The Tribe has vowed that they will continue their fight to see that the sacred area does not get mined and is protected.
In January 2001, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt found that a proposed gold mine on the sacred lands at Indian Pass would cause irreparable damage to cultural and religious sites sacred to the Quechan Indian Tribe. That decision was rescinded in November 2001 by then-Interior Secretary Gale Norton so that the mine permit could be reconsidered. In September 2002, Interior validated the claims of Glamis Gold, Inc., a Canadian corporation, further reviving the company's plan to build an open-pit gold mine located on sacred lands at Indian Pass, near El Centro, in California's Imperial County. The proposed 1,600-acre cyanide heap-leach gold mine would leave a gaping hole in the ground and a skyscraper-size mound of toxic waste.. While the Interior Department's ruling moved the mining company closer to actual excavation of the site, it did not authorize mining to begin.
In the wake of these actions, the California Legislature introduced several sacred places and mining bills, culminating in April 2003 with the passage of legislation requiring all new open pit metallic mines to be completely backfilled. In July 2003, Glamis filed a claim against the United States under NAFTA, claiming its property interests were expropriated by the California measures and prior federal actions, seeking over $50 million in damages from the U.S. government.
Read More:
Share your memories of this endangered place
