Tohono O’odham and Trump’s Wall: The Destruction of Sacred Land




Written by: Jacy Welling


© Rafael Bernal/The Hill   
https://thehill.com/latino/484853-native-american-leader-denounces-destruction-of-sacred-sites-for-border-wall



The Tohono O’odham is an Indigenous tribe that have land in Arizona and Northern Mexico. They are a federally recognized tribe that were split in half in these two areas because of the Gadsden Purchase in 1853. Of course, this treaty promised all land rights to the native tribe and of course this promise was broken. Because of this tribe being split by the Mexico and US border, there have been issues surrounding the crossing of the border by this tribe. Many people of the Tohono O’odham tribe have traveled into Mexico and vice versa in order to visit sacred lands and family (History & Culture). The issue that is and has been occurring is the prevention of the O’odham people being allowed to visit their sacred lands because the border will not let them through. They have been detained, deported, and had sacred items taken from them in the action of traveling on their own land (History & Culture).
            The extremely current and ongoing issue happening today in 2020 is the destruction of sacred land in order to build the Mexico/US border wall. This wall is a plan that President Trump has conducted in order to keep people from people from immigrating into this country. This is a plan made from the ideals that undocumented immigrants are stealing our jobs, bringing drugs into our country, and are here to hurt and rape our American citizens (Scott). This border is based on an incredibly racist belief that people of any other color than white are lesser. Either way, this border is being currently built in the last year of Trump’s term. As discussed previously, the Tohono O’odham tribe currently resides in Arizona along the Mexico Border. Many sacred lands have already been destroyed and are currently being threatened because of this already destructive wall.
            Ned Norris Jr. is the Nation Chair for the Tohono O’odham. Norris testified against The House Natural Resources Committee’s Subcommittee on Indigenous Peoples of the United States because of the destruction to their sacred land sites (Nauman). There have been many laws ignored by the Department of Homeland Security and they have destroyed sacred lands, which include burial sites, without the permission from the O’odham. Norris has spoken for his culture and community and has gotten no reply. The Gadsden Purchase was a treaty that stated that the O’odham Tribe would be recognized with the same rights as any other American citizen and the destruction of their land without permission is breaking this treaty. The NACI (National Congress of American Indians) made a statement about the harm the destruction of these lands has caused in respect for the tribe. Talli Nauman, a health and environment editor for Native Sun News Today, stated “The statement pinned the blame on U.S. President Donald Trump, whose Administration suspended at least 41 laws to build the wall between the United States and Mexico” (Nauman). This is current information that is ongoing to this day.
    There are many issues with the destruction of land whether it be law, cultural insensitivity, or in this case, both. The amount of laws being broken as stated before, is a lot. This is confusing because how could this many laws be broken by the President and it be okay? Well, something called The REAL ID Act of 2005 is an act that gives government right to waive laws if they are considered a threat to our country’s security (Saxon). The reason the destruction of land was allowed in the first place is because the President considers undocumented immigrants as a threat to our security therefore, he needs to destroy sacred land in order to build a wall. Although he could waive a law, there are cultural and racial issues that come with this. No one asked permission of the Tohono O’odham Tribe or even gave a warning. Many people might find it confusing as to why land would be so important to a culture and their beliefs, but it is sacred and a part of their identity and history. This is not just a matter of land ownership, but a matter of what this land means to the Tribe. These lands have spiritual meanings to their culture as well as history like the burial grounds. Part of the land that was destroyed are burial grounds of their ancestors. Imagine a cemetery where your relatives have been buried being completely blasted for a wall that has racist meaning behind it to be built without your consent.
In the country we live in, Indigenous tribes are consistently going through cultural issues from insensitivity to pure racism. This tribe is not the only group dealing with these issues nor is this only a current issue. Indigenous tribes have been displaced and forced to abandon their cultures in order to adapt to Western culture and it has been happening since the late 1400s. This topic is not new, but most tribes are still dealing with these issues to this day. The egocentric view that our country has continued to follow has caused many Indigenous cultures to become extinct or close to it. It is important for our country to begin being more culturally relative. This issue of destroying sacred land is extremely dehumanizing to the Indigenous people. It is important for anthropologists to remain culturally relative, teach others what it means to do this, and to become more involved in politics and human rights associations because the leaders of our country right now are extremely egocentric and do not look at the Tohono O’odham Tribe, or any Indigenous tribes, as equal.




Sources

“History & Culture.” Tohono O'odham Nation, www.tonation-nsn.gov/history-culture/.

Nauman, Talli. “Native Sun News Today: Tohono O'odham Demand End to Blasting of Sacred
Sites for Border Wall.” Indianz, IndianzWww.indianz.com/Z.png, 11 Mar. 2020,
www.indianz.com/News/2020/03/11/native-sun-news-today-tohono-oodham-dema.asp.

Saxon, Shani. “Sacred Indigenous Burial Sites Destroyed to Make Room for Border Wall.”
Colorlines, 10 Feb. 2020, www.colorlines.com/articles/sacred-indigenous-burial-sites-
destroyed-make-room-border-wall.

Scott, Eugene. “Analysis | Trump's Most Insulting - and Violent - Language Is Often Reserved for Immigrants.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 2 Oct. 2019, www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/10/02/trumps-most-insulting-violent-language-is-often-reserved-immigrants/.


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