Dennis Patch: Tribal sacred sites ignored in push for solar energy

The Genesis Solar Energy Project is the first of dozens of large utility-scale solar energy developments constructed or planned in culturally sensitive areas within 50 miles of CRIT’s reservation. Approximately 3,000 sacred objects were unearthed and removed from the Genesis project site, many of which were carelessly destroyed by earthmoving equipment.

Our cultural tradition is to never disturb the artifacts of our ancestors. Alternatively, if areas cannot be avoided, in-situ reburial of artifacts helps us preserve our ancestral footprint on the land. CRIT has asked for in-situ reburial of all artifacts. However, our requests have met with opposition and an outdated and rigid stance.

As the government supports the push to industrialize public lands – and subsidize for-profit developers – CRIT will hold the Obama administration accountable for properly consulting with tribes, minimizing harm to cultural resources by avoiding known cultural sites and allowing for the in-situ reburial of all artifacts disturbed during the construction of renewable energy projects and other development on public lands.

We invite President Obama to visit our ancestral homelands along Interstate 10 and the area of Blythe, to see first-hand the cumulative and cultural impacts to native peoples of covering the desert with utility-scale renewable energy developments.