A group of elders from the San Carlos Apache Nation have gathered to urge Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly to back legislation that will keep lands they call sacred from being torn up for a massive copper mine.
Several school students showed up Thursday to support the half-dozen elders outside Kelly’s Phoenix office.
Tribal members are awaiting a decision from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on their efforts to stop the mine.
Companion bills in the House and Senate aim to overturn a land exchange of the land known as Oak Flat that would let the project proceed.