“Destruction of a sacred cultural site in international conflict is a war crime”

“I want to be clear: When sacred cultural sites are destroyed in international conflict, it is considered a war crime,” said the subcommittee’s chairman, Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.).

“It’s hard to see the blasting you showed on the video today because I know in my heart and what our elders have told us and what we have learned that that area was home to our ancestors,” said Norris, choking up. “Blasting and doing what we saw today has totally disturbed, totally forever damaged our people.”

Editors note: this story was updated on Feb 28, 2020 at 2:43 PM with more testimony from Tohono O’odham Nation Chairman Norris 

By Brenda Norrell Censored News

Feb 27, 2020

WASHINGTON DC    Tohono O’odham Nation Chairman Ned Norris, Jr., testified before a Congressional committee and described the agony of knowing that as he testified, the Trump administration was blowing up a burial place of his ancestors for the border wall.

“It’s hard to see the blasting you showed on the video today because I know in my heart and what our elders have told us and what we have learned that that area was home to our ancestors,” said Norris, choking up. “Blasting and doing what we saw today has totally disturbed, totally forever damaged our people.”

“This disrespect for our sacred sites and their desecration at the hands of our federal government is deeply painful. These sites are not only sacred to the Nation; they are a part of our shared cultural heritage as United States citizens,” Norris said.

In a bizarre development, Customs and Border Protection invited the media to view the detonation of Monument Hill at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument — a burial place of O’odham on the Arizona border — at the same time that Chairman Norris testified in Washington.

Chairman Norris said, “No one reveres our military veterans more than the O’odham, however, dynamiting these sacred sites and burial grounds is the same as bulldozing Arlington National Cemetery or any other cemetery.”

“I want to be clear: When sacred cultural sites are destroyed in international conflict, it is considered a war crime,” said the subcommittee’s chairman, Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.).

U.S. Rep. Deb Haaland, a New Mexico Democrat and member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe, also spoke passionately, saying: “When tribal leaders don’t have a seat at the table, indigenous history is lost.”

U.S. Reps. Ruben Gallego and Raul Grijalva, both Arizona Democrats, also spoke against the construction of the wall during the meeting of the House Natural Resources Committee’s Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples.

On the Arizona border, Tohono O’odham and others who make the Sonoran Desert their home were shocked and horrified as the explosions blew apart a burial place.

“Blowing up sacred land is horrifying enough, but now the Trump administration will hold a dog-and-pony show to brag about it,” said Laiken Jordahl, borderlands campaigner at the Center for Biological Diversity. “It’s heartbreaking to watch them butcher this spectacular national monument and desecrate sacred indigenous lands. We’ll continue to fight Trump’s despicable border wall every step of the way.”

The destruction comes at a heavy price

There are endangered species here found nowhere else in the world. On Wednesday, the Army Corps of Engineers detonated the O’odham burial place. Already, Trump’s contractor, Southwest Valley Constructors of Albuquerque, have drained precious water here for concrete, destroyed the migration routes to the east and west of jaguars and pronghorns, and destroyed protected Saguaro Cactus.

The destruction comes at a heavy price for a border wall that has proven to be easy to scale in seconds, and easy to cut holes in that are large enough to drive a truck through. The reckless trucks laden with border wall construction supplies have crashed twice on the Tohono O’odham Nation on the route between Tucson and Lukeville, endangering the lives of O’odham, Arizona residents and travelers.

Trump claims to have waived all federal protection laws, including those protecting Native American sacred places, endangered species and the protection of land, water and air.

The Center for Biological Diversity said, “The Trump administration is blowing up Monument Hill in Organ Pipe National Monument, home to endangered species and Native American burial sites, to build the border wall. Contractors are extracting millions of gallons of groundwater to mix concrete for the wall, imperiling Quitobaquito Springs. This rare desert oasis is home to two endangered species, the Sonoyta mud turtle and Quitobaquito pupfish.”

The Center said, “More than 100 miles of new border-wall construction are planned or underway across Arizona, paid for with funds Trump diverted from Defense Department budgets. To rush wall construction, Trump waived dozens of laws that protect public lands, cultural resources, sacred sites and endangered wildlife. The Center and allies have sued to challenge Trump’s emergency declaration, which is funding this construction.”

Copyright Brenda Norrell, Censored News brendanorrell@gmail.com . Republished here with permission.

Read more :  O’odham burial place blown up as O’odham chairman testifies on sacred site destruction Wednesdayby Brenda Norrell

More reading… The Border Patrol invited the press to watch it blow up a national monument  The Intercept.