From this to this Sacred Heart Run

Story Culture Shock 7-20-2011

20th Anniversary Mt. Graham Sacred Run Celebration

Dzil Nchaa Si An, also known as Mt. Graham, is sacred to the Apache people, particularly the San Carlos Apaches. Every year since 1992 the Apache have conducted their run up Mount Graham in protest of the desecration of that mountain by the astronomers of the University of Arizona, Germany, Italy and the Vatican.

This year, the celebration begins on Tuesday, July 19^th, 7 pm, at the Apache Gold Casino Resort, located five miles East of Globe on Highway 70, with Hip Hp and Culture Music, featuring live performances by Culture Shock Camp, featuring “the IndiGenius” DJ Shock B; Quese IMC, Chief Nosie, and, Samson and the Bedonkohe Band. Others performers to be announced. This musical event is open fr all ages, with free admission, though, of course, donations are always welcome. For more information on how to get there, visit www.apachegoldcasinoresort.com/Directions.html or call 928-200-5611.

For more information on Culture Shock Camp and DJ Shock B visit www.myspace.com/cultureshockcamp; for Quese IMC, visit www.myspace.com/queseimcmusic

On Wednesday, July 20, Sweat at Oak Flats at 10 am. A meeting with tribal leaders, to sign proclamation, will occur in Superior at 11 am. In the evening, beginning at 6 pm, there will be Cultural Exchange with Apache, Modern Hip-Hop, and Mariachi Band influences, celebrating the beautiful side of diversity, as well as the beautiful side of finding common ground.

Apache/Modern Hip-Hop/Mariachi Bands

Thursday July 21, the run will begin at Superior Oak Flats at 6 am. Dinner at old SC, will be held at 6 pm, followed by the Holy Grounds Ceremony at 7 pm.

On Friday, the run starts at 4 am, continuing to Mt. Graham.

On Saturday and Sunday, July 23^rd and 24^th, everything starts at sunrise.

According to www.silverbelt com: “The Mt. Graham journey initially began years ago as a family was searching for answers to their dilemma that involved their daughter. The honored practice of prayers in search of a solution resulted in dreams that pointed in the direction of the sacred mountain. As a result of the repeated dreams, the family decided it was best to take their concern to the mountain top where a spiritual enlightening experience occurred that strongly reinforced their cultural religious practices.

Since that one trip, individuals, families and groups have joined in annually to seek answers, to learn, to teach, restore spiritual energy and to preserve the holy mountain. Many returned for continued spiritual guidance along with ways to deal with individual challenges and/or issues affecting a family member or someone who may need help in unique circumstances. Wendsler Nosie, Sr., Chairman of the San Carlos Apache Tribe remarked, “We come up here to place prayers for all people. We include everyone. We have people with various challenges and issues, our tribe as a whole have challenges and Tribal Council members who make every effort to meet the needs of our people need strength to carry on the responsibilities.”

In addition to working with the Apache for Cultural Preservation, Wendle Nosie has also organized the Mount Graham Sacred Runs. These runs have been conducted since 1992 and they include runners from many different indigenous Nations. Individual and relay runners will travel almost 200 miles in two days, during this sacred and celebratory event.

In 1998, Wendle Nosie, founder of Apaches for Cultural Preservation, was arrested for trespassing on Mount Graham, by University of Arizona police officers, after he went to Emerald Peak to pray. An

attorney for Nosie, said his client was called upon by a higher power, and that there was more to the case than the university's claim that its property had been breached.

"What was at stake was nothing less than the religious and cultural health of the San Carlos Apache people," Foreman said. Nosie wasquitted, due to the prosecutor failing to make his case.

When, in 2004, the University of Arizona made an offer to the San Carlos Apache of $120,000 for an observatory, Apache elder Ola Cassadore-Davis is quoted as making reply to the offer, saying, in Apache, "You talk to us now, offering bribes of cash in exchange for letting go of our defense for our Apache religion and culture, something like giving us a little ice cream to quiet us down. Money, like ice cream does not last, but our mountain stands there for us and we must stand for our mountain.”

The annual journey, while a spiritual quest for some, is also a symbolic gesture of people of different beliefs and backgrounds coming together. Many come to witness the runners make the journey up to te mountain top, carrying the prayers of the people. Others come in support of the Apache people's rights to the same religious freedoms, life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness that should belong to all people under the laws of the United States of America.

Wendsler Nosie, run organizer, has been quoted, during the preparations for a prior run, as saying “Life is not right when it is too easy. You have to suffer for the things God will bless you with. It has been a Holy Mountain since the beginning of creation. This has been passed orally through our ancestors. It was taught to us that it was given to the world. Our culture, our language, our religion is being threatened. All of this is our identity. Our identity is the land and where God has placed us in this part of the world. We cannot let it end."

For more information on this event, the Apache people, the performers, or, how to find your way, the number to call, again, is 928-200-5611.

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