AND AMERICAN INDIAN PEOPLES

Original of 5 March 1992
Last revised on 8 May 1997

The Vatican Observatory (Specola Vaticana) has constructed the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope (VATT) on Mt. Graham in Graham County in Southeastern Arizona, USA as part of the project known as the Mt. Graham International Observatory (MGIO). Controversies have arisen concerning the relationship of the project to the Apache Indians who reside on the San Carlos Reservation, located about 50 miles north and west of the Pinaleño range that includes Mt. Graham. The Vatican Observatory, as a scientific research institute, wishes to issue the following statement based both upon its evaluation of the historical facts and upon the socio-religious consequences of the project. We have issued a separate Statement on: The Mt. Graham International Observatory, the Ecology of the Pinaleño Mountains, and Related Political Issues.

Historical Considerations.

There are no clear written records of any group of Apaches using Mt. Graham until the mid 1600s. Ethnohistorical research indicates the most probable time of their arrival in the vicinity to have been about 1620. Some oral traditions of the Apaches refer to the Pinaleño range, but there is no clear documentary or archaeological evidence that indicates any continuous, permanent or extensive use of the summit of Mt. Graham by Apaches for seasonal dwellings, burial grounds, or religious rituals. From what has been learned by scholars studying the field notes of Grenville Goodwin, archived at the Arizona State Museum, it appears that the Apaches did revere Mt. Graham as they did many other mountains in the surrounding region, but none of the references single out either the summit or the range itself as unique. Use of Mt. Graham by non-Indians began to occur in the late 1800s immediately after the Western Apaches were brought onto the reservations during the period 1871 to 1873.

The wooded area of Mt. Graham was incorporated into the National Forest system in 1902. It now encompasses an area approximately 10 x 30 miles and is administered as part of the Coronado National Forest. Since the 1970's, the US Forest Service has handled all issues concerning Mt. Graham in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act. It has conducted investigations of areas thought to contain archaeological material or to be biologically sensitive. These investigations have resulted in public hearings and invitations for written responses from interested citizens. The results of these investigative actions have been fully documented and made available to the general public in substantial reports.

Beginning in 1980 the general area was studied to determine if it might be appropriate as a site of major importance for the placement of astronomical (optical/infrared) telescopes. In 1981 the University of Arizona initiated discussions about an observatory on Mt. Graham with Congressional representatives and with civic leaders from communities around the base of the mountain. At that time, the possibility of an observatory was discussed in the press, both in the Gila Valley where Mt. Graham is located and in Tucson where the Vatican Observatory Research Group (VORG) has its headquarters.

In 1985 a plan to construct an observatory was unveiled by the US Forest Service in a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) as part of a plan to develop the entire Coronado National Forest. Copies of this plan were sent to the tribal councils of all major Southwestern American Indian nations, including the San Carlos Apaches. Because intense public interest was aroused and many letters were written about the observatory plan, the US Forest Service announced in the Final Impact Statement that they would file a separate EIS regarding the observatory.

Investigations for this separate EIS included an extensive archaeological survey which drew the US Forest Service's attention to previously undocumented shrines. Because of these findings, a letter, containing the following statement, was sent to the tribal councils of all American Indian nations in the southwest:

We are currently conducting an Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed Mt. Graham Astrophysical Area. A factor that has to be considered in this process is the potential impacts of the proposal on traditional religious practices and beliefs of Native Americans ...

During an archaeological survey a prehistoric site and some rock cairns were found; a brief description of these is attached.

In regard to the above concern we request that you inform us in writing prior to September 15, 1985 of any impact that the construction of an observatory on Mt. Graham (in the Pinaleño Mountains) would have on the traditional religious practices and beliefs of members of your tribe.

As a result of this letter, four Southwestern Indian tribes contacted the Forest Service, but no one from any of the three Arizona Apache tribes made any contact. Only the Zuni nation expressed interest and sent a delegation to investigate the site. They looked for signs of traditional rituals that should have been evident. Since no prayer sticks were found, they concluded that the shrines, which dated from 1200 A.D., had not been visited for a very long time. The position of the Zunis about the observatory site was stated in a letter dated 14 June 1991:

The Zuni tribe requests that the identified shrines and areas of traditional and cultural importance should be protected. These shrines and areas have been identified by tribal religious leaders. Protection of these shrines and areas can be accomplished by not disturbing them, and leaving them in place as they always have been. Any developments should avoid these shrines and areas.

The Zuni Tribe has not taken, and does not intend to take a position on whether or not the astronomical observatories should or should not be constructed. All that the Zuni Tribe insists upon is the protection of shrines and areas of traditional and cultural importance to the Zuni tribe.

It should be noted that the entire site on which the observatory is now being constructed contains no shrines.

After issuing a draft EIS in October 1986, the US Forest Service held several public meetings, including one in the Gila Valley. It requested oral and/or written input on the proposed observatory. Publicity was intense before the meetings; all major newspapers in Arizona wrote articles and commentaries either supporting or criticizing the endeavor. In the course of the public comment period on the draft EIS the Coronado National Forest Supervisor and staff met with the San Carlos tribal members at San Carlos to discuss the proposed astrophysical facility. During that entire public process, there was no statement of concern that the observatory might impact Apache religious practices or traditions. More specifically, the only communication from the Tribal Council of the San Carlos Apaches was the return of a postcard to the US Forest Service requesting a copy of the final EIS. Some ambiguity regarding subsequent communications with the San Carlos Apaches has arisen because US Forest Service documents show that communications were sent, but the Chairman of the Tribal Council reported that he did not see the final EIS. Whatever the tribal disposition of the final EIS report may have been, the Forest Service records show that in January 1989 a copy of the decision was sent to the San Carlos Tribe.

After four years of discussions and investigations regarding the observatory, some Apache concerns began to emerge in the fall of 1989. This happened one year after Congress had passed the Arizona-Idaho Conservation Act which defined the conditions under which the observatory would be built. By this time architectural schema and preliminary engineering designs for the construction of the observatory were already being developed. A program to monitor the red squirrel population, which was under observation as an endangered species on Mt. Graham, was well underway. Also, a narrow, limited access road to the observatory site was under construction.

In May 1990 a corporation with the title, "Apache Survival Coalition," was formed in Arizona. It described its mission as:

. . . to protect the summit of Mt. Graham, a sacred Apache mountain, from destructive development and to preserve Apache religious and cultural traditions.

The Apache Survival Coalition began with sixteen members, only some of whom were San Carlos Apaches living on the San Carlos Indian Reservation. The Apache Survival Coalition does not officially represent the San Carlos Apache Indians. Among the non-Native Americans in the Coalition were several long-standing opponents to the observatory. Dr. Robin D. Silver, M.D. and Dr. Robert Witzeman, M.D., of the Maricopa Audubon Society are prominent leaders in the Coalition's activities. Dr. Silver has represented the Coalition in its dealings with the Forest Service, and Dr. Witzeman has been responsible for the group's press releases.

As of June 1990, the Forest Service informed Dr. Silver that:

To date we have received no formal response or contact from the San Carlos Apache tribe regarding their religious or cultural claims to Mt. Graham.

This situation changed in July 1990 when the San Carlos Tribal Council passed the following resolution:

Whereas for generations our elders have instructed us on the sacredness of Dzil nchaa si an ("Big Seated Mountain," aka Mt. Graham) and its vital importance for maintaining the integrity of our Apache culture and tradition and . . . Whereas, this mountain, Mt. Graham, is essential to the continued practice of physical and spiritual healing by Apache Medicinemen/women, and to their apprenticeship as competent traditional religious specialists, and . . . Whereas any permanent modification of the present form of the mountain constitutes a display of profound disrespect for the cherished feature of the Apache's original homeland as well as a serious violation of Apache traditional religious beliefs . . .  Now therefore be it resolved that: The San Carlos Apache tribe states its firm conviction and total opposition to the construction of a telescope on the top of Mt. Graham and the tribe stands ready to defend its constitutional rights if this project is allowed to continue.

On 19 August 1991 the Apache Survival Coalition filed suit against the US Forest Service in the US District Court in Phoenix, Arizona, asking that development of the observatory be stopped. On 10 February 1992 the Coalition, in the same court, filed a Motion for Partial Summary Judgement in which it asks the court to declare unconstitutional Title VI of the Arizona-Idaho Conservation Act, whereby the US Forest Service issued the permit for the construction of the observatory. Both the suit and the Motion were defeated in the courts. On 10 April 1992 the US District Court in Phoenix, Arizona denied a request of the Apache Survival Coalition for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction against construction of the MGIO. Subsequently, the first two telescopes were constructed on Mt. Graham. These are the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope and the Sub-Millimeter Wave Telescope of the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy. Ground was cleared in late 1994 for the third telescope, the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT). Upon request by the U.S. Forest Service the original site for the LBT was moved to a site which was less sensitive ecologically. The Mount Graham Coalition requested an injunction against further clearing at this new site and the injunction was granted by the District and upheld by the Ninth Circuit Court. The Tribal Council of the San Carlos Apaches has not become a party to these court cases. In April 1996 legislation was passed in the U.S. Congress to reaffirm the wishes of Congress expressed in the Arizona-Idaho Act that the first three telescopes, including the LBT, be constructed without further delay. This is allowing the completion of the first phase of the MGIO, the operation of the first three telescopes on Mt. Graham.

Responses to Date of the Vatican Observatory

It has been difficult for the Vatican Observatory to identify the responsible persons within the San Carlos Apache Tribe with whom to discuss the concerns of the Apache people with respect to the Observatory. Because we do not wish to enter into the internal political or juridical affairs of the San Carlos Apaches, we have taken the position of welcoming any meeting with anyone who claims to represent the San Carlos Apaches. If, however, such meetings are to result in any important decisions on our part, it will be necessary to identify the true constitutionally established representatives of the San Carlos Apache People. It became clear at a public forum held on the University of Arizona campus on 27 March 1992 that the Apaches are divided among themselves over the MGIO. At that forum approximately as many Apaches spoke in favor of the MGIO as those who spoke against it. Furthermore, the Apache Survival Coalition declared at the hearing on 9 April in the US District Court in Phoenix, Arizona that it did not at that hearing represent the San Carlos Apache Tribe.

In the autumn of 1991 Right Reverend Manuel Moreno, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Tucson, and Christopher Corbally, S.J., Project Scientist for the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope, met with some members of the Apache Survival Coalition. On 11 February 1992 George V. Coyne, S.J., Director of the Vatican Observatory, met with Dr. Manuel T. Pacheco, President of the University of Arizona, to discuss Dr. Pacheco's meeting of December 1991 with the Tribal Council of the San Carlos Apaches. We were profoundly concerned that at that meeting, breaking a seven year precedent, the Tribal Council voted unanimously to oppose the observatory. On 11 February 1992, Father Coyne and Father Corbally met with some members of the Apache Survival Coalition. At that meeting it was stated that Father Coyne would be invited to a meeting of the Apache Tribal Council. No such invitation was extended. On 23 March 1995 Coyne, together with representatives of the University of Arizona and the Italian National Committee for Astrophysics (partners in the MGIO), met with Chairman, Vice-chairman and several members of the San Carlos Apache Tribal Council at the Council headquarters on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in order to discuss the current status of the position of neutrality taken previously by the Council with respect to the MGIO. It was stated that neutrality still held.

The Vatican Observatory has attempted to respond to all major correspondence received from whomsoever and to all correspondence received from Apaches. This includes correspondence directed to whatever Vatican office and referred to the Vatican Observatory.

Socio-Religious Concerns

Two issues have emerged during the controversy, and each requires some discussion: 1) the specific use of sites on the mountain by Apaches for burial and for religious rites; (2) the generic "use" of Mt. Graham as religious symbol, or in Apache terms, "the shape of the mountain."  The Mt. Graham International Observatory, and particularly the Vatican Observatory, has maintained the deepest respect for these concerns ever since they were first expressed and we continue to be prepared to discuss them at any time with the San Carlos Apache people.

The Vatican Observatory offers no opposition to the continuance of Apache religious practices or the preservation of traditional Apache religious sites on Mt. Graham. It, too, has a profound respect for the integrity of the mountain and its environs. Contrary to erroneous information that has been supplied to the press, the Vatican Observatory finds no conflict whatsoever between the construction of the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope and Apache religious practices or site preservation. This conviction is based on open, public remarks made by Pope John Paul II and on the principles which protect the rights of citizens of the United States of America according to which Federal land is not excluded to anyone. Public lands of this nation are open and available to all religions and all cultures.

Unquestionably, decisions about land use must follow the rule of law that governs the nation. Real or apparent conflict must be subject to resolution by the courts who alone are the competent arbiters of laws set down by the nation's elected representatives. In the opinion of the Vatican Observatory due process has been scrupulously pursued, and it seriously questions the intentions of those who continuously attempt to obstruct the deliberate decisions of elected representatives and responsible officials.

After extensive, thorough investigations by Indian and non-Indian experts, there is to the best of our knowledge no documented evidence for religious or cultural significance at the specific observatory site. If the objection is pressed on the grounds that the observatory is merely on the mountain, then, why has there been no outcry concerning more widespread encroachment on other, higher peaks and on demonstrable prehistoric sites?  Much change has come to Mt. Graham in the last century, perhaps the greatest being the construction of a thirty-mile long highway in the 1930s. This highway continues to provide unrestricted public access for the myriad activities permitted across the mountain top. Past uses included lumbering, hunting, communication facilities, ranches, and recreational areas. Mt. Graham has been everything but an isolated, pristine wilderness.

We are not convinced by any of the arguments thus far presented that Mt. Graham as a whole possesses such a sacred character that it precludes responsible and legitimate use of the land. Such use has not been precluded in the past; we fail to see why it should be precluded now. In fact, we believe that responsible and legitimate use of the land enhances its sacred character. Land is a gift of God to be used with reason and to be respected.

The Vatican Observatory must and does maintain a profound respect for the religious practices of the American Indians, and especially in this case the San Carlos Apaches. We are prepared, even anxious, to discuss specific religious concerns that might relate to specified locations on Mt. Graham. We are not anxious, however, to allow the heat of controversy to generate meaningless generalizations that tend to overrule reason and common sense. We do not expect the Apache nation to subject their divinities to the self-interest of a few any more than we would reduce the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that is, God Our Father, to self-interested science. Just as the Apaches through all their wanderings on this continent have always looked to the heavens for guidance as they live the cycles of change, so too, does the Vatican Observatory respect the quest for the discovery of the truths about the universe which God has made. We wish, frankly, to preserve the sacred character of Mt. Graham by assuring that public access associated with the Observatory will not contribute to the degradation of the mountain. We are dedicated to assuring that the platform from which we observe the heavens will not become a staging area for the destruction of the earth.

Conclusions

The Vatican Observatory is extremely sensitive to criticism of religious indifference. It is, however, also deeply concerned that this issue is being exploited by outsiders who are radically opposed to the observatory and who have declared that they will use any means to stop it. They had previously sought to stop it by manipulating the Endangered Species Act. They now seek to manipulate the American Indians for the same purpose. No mountain is as sacred as a human being and there is no desecration more despicable than the exploitation of a human person for self-serving purposes.

On the other hand, the Vatican Observatory recognizes that there are some San Carlos Apaches who have sincere concerns about the observatory that have not been addressed because of the unmitigated polemical attitude of some opponents to telescopes on Mt. Graham. The Vatican Observatory would like to learn about any such genuine concerns of authentic Apaches. We invite our Apache brothers and sisters to join in finding the Spirit of the Mountains reflected in the brilliance of the night skies.

In pursuing its goal to construct and operate an astronomical facility on Mt. Graham, the Vatican Observatory judges its actions to be completely consonant with the statements of the Holy Father concerning the rights of Native Americans. In fact, through the manner by which we have dealt and continue to deal with the issues raised by American Indians, we believe that we are making a positive contribution to seeing that their rights are fully respected according to the principles enunciated by His Holiness.

Since no credible argument has been presented for not doing so, the Vatican Observatory will continue with the operation of the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope on Mt. Graham and with further possible collaboration with its partners in the Mt. Graham International Observatory, one of the most promising and important astrophysical ventures of this decade.

George V. Coyne, S.J.

Director

Vatican Observatory

Telephone: (520) 621 7855