The Navajo Nation wants to meet with President Barack Obama in hopes of a resolving a sacred site case before it gets to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The tribe is seeking to protect the San Francisco Peaks in Arizona from an expansion of a ski resort. The expansion will lead to the use of reclaimed sewage at the sacred mountain.

An en banc panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Navajo Nation and other tribes failed to show how their religious rights would be violated by the expansion. The tribes have asked the Supreme Court to review the case but the Obama administration has yet to state its views.

Navajo leaders hope to influence the administration before the Department of Justice submits a brief by May 8 in Navajo Nation v. U.S. Forest Service.

Get the Story:
Tribes look to Obama for protection of sacred peaks (The Gallup Independent 4/27)

9th Circuit Decision:
Navajo Nation v. US Forest Service (August 8, 2008)

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