Mining company Rio Tinto is working to develop a copper mine on Oak Flats in western Arizona, a place that is sacred to the Western Apache. A decision on the government’s approval of the project is expected in 2022.
In this post, you will take on the identity of anthropologist Keith Basso and will write an opinion piece explaining the potential impacts of the mining project on Apache identity, culture and well-being. As you are writing this post as Keith Basso, the evidence you use to back up your position and argument should come directly from Keith Basso’s ethnography Wisdom Sits in Places. Wisdom Sits in Places is an in-depth ethnographic and linguistic study of Indigenous place-making and place-names among the Western Apache of Arizona, and explores how the Western Apache create meaningful places on the landscape, and how those places in turn work create and re-create the Apache and their way of life. For more than thirty years, Keith Basso worked with and for the Western Apache, and his ethnography describes what he learned of Apache place-names–where they come from, what they mean, and how they are used by the Apache to maintain their identity and culture.
The post should be 1000-1500 words. You do not need to do research outside of the assigned ethnography. The videos from Module 5 also provide more information about the mining project and the response of the Apache community. You will be assessed on how well your post demonstrates:
1. Content – Understanding of content from Wisdom Sits in Places
2. Critical Thinking – Ability to understand and describe how insights and ideas from the ethnography apply to the effects of the proposed mine
3. Writing and organization – Is the post well written and organized effectively?
4. Creativity – Is the post well-designed and does it incorporate images and media effectively?
Questions to consider:
·What is the significance of places and place-names in Apache culture?
·Why is it important for the Apache to maintain connections to the land and named places?
· How does the land help to keep youth connected to their culture and way of life?
· What happens when Apache people become disconnected from their places?
· What is Apache Wisdom and how is it connect to the landscape and named places?
readings and material will be provided for u
