WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th February, 2020) The US border wall construction on tribal lands in southern Arizona is highly destructive to indigenous culture and environmental resources, Tohono O'odham Nation Chairman Ned Norris said in congressional testimony on Wednesday.
"We strongly oppose the construction of a border wall on our southern boundary," Norris said in prepared remarks to the House Committee on Natural Resources. "A wall is extremely expensive for the American taxpayer, is ineffective in remote geographic areas like ours, and is highly destructive to the religious, cultural and environmental resources on which our members rely and which make our ancestral lands sacred to our people."
Norris said the Federal government ignored the tribe's concerns about planned construction on a sacred site known as Monument Hill in the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.
The tribe was not notified about the government's plans to conduct blasts in the area until the day that blasting occurred, Norris said.
Norris added that Congress must pass legislation that better limits the federal government's ability to circumvent laws protecting lands of local communities.
Norris said the tribe cooperates with US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to secure the southern border on its reservation. However, he said there needs to be better consultations between tribes and the federal government when it comes to addressing concerns.
