KUMEYAAY ACTIVISTS TO LEAD SEPT. 25-28 WALK TO PROTEST LITHIUM MINING ON HUALAPAI SACRED SPRINGS IN ARIZONA

By Miriam Raftery

September 8, 2021 (Lakeside) – Kumeyaay activists, including Barona tribal member Bobby Wallace, are organizing a walk in Arizona Sept. 25-28 to protest an Australian mining corporation’s plan to extract lithium that threatens the Hualapai Nation’s water and ancestral sites.

Wallace told ECM that he is “spearheading” the walk and protest against the lithium mining that could “destroy much water, habitats, sacred sites, and change the lives of everyone near to there.”  This includes an ancient hot springs that the Hualapai and other people have used “since the beginning,” according to Wallace.

The “Help Protect Ha’Kamwe and the community of Wikieup’” walk is slated to begin in Peach Springs, Arizona starting at 5 a.m. at the Route 66 Park and proceed to Wikieup.”

The local Kumeyaay activists have joined with coalition members from the Center for Interdisciplinary Envrionmental Justice and the Hualapai to protest against Hawkstone Mining’s Big Sandy Lithium Project. Activists say the company aims to sell lithium to Tsla for use at its Nevada automaking facility. Native American activists contend that America’s energy transition should not replicate the fossil fuel industry’s historic exploitation of Native American lands and people.

You can join the walk, donate, or learn more at https://www.protecthakamwe.org.