Molly Peters

Photographer
   
The War America Forgot - Visura Application
Location: Tucson
Nationality: American
Biography: Molly Peters is a photographer and visual storyteller based in Tucson, AZ. She was born and raised on Martha’s Vineyard and has lived in Rome, Boston, New York, and Los Angeles. Molly completed a BA in Photography and Italian Studies at Bard... MORE
Private Story
The War America Forgot - Visura Application
Updated Apr 2022
Summary
The Apache Stronghold's fight to protect Oak Flat and other sacred sites has significant ramifications that will be felt throughout the US on many levels: religious freedom, environmental protection, and the handling of public land. I've been honored with unique access to create a comprehensive project documenting this fight, while examining the historical, spiritual, and cultural context for the issues facing the Apache people today. After 40 years at war defending their land and years of imprisonment on a reservation, they are healing from the past by working toward a better future for all.
"The War America Forgot" documents the Apache people living on the San Carlos reservation in Arizona, focusing primarily on one prominent family, showing their particular history and struggles, which are direct results of the country’s violent founding. These significant issues are not temporary: environmental destruction, lack of religious freedom, and inherited trauma have widespread consequences for the future.  

In early 2021, I began visiting Oak Flat, an Apache sacred site. After many trips, I lived for four months on the San Carlos Reservation with the Nosie family. Dr. Wendsler Nosie Sr. is a former chairman of the San Carlos Apache Tribe and spiritual leader of the Apache Stronghold, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting native sacred land. He has worked tirelessly for decades to hold the US government accountable, leading the effort to protect highly sacred sites Mt. Graham and Oak Flat from desecration and destruction. Dr. Nosie considers the fight for their religion to be the last battle facing all indigenous peoples. It’s one they cannot afford to lose, particularly after losing so much already to colonization and genocide.

Chi'chil Biłdagoteel (Oak Flat), in Tonto National Forest, is threatened by a foreign mining company, Resolution Copper, a subsidiary of mining giants Rio Tinto and BHP. Oak Flat is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and President Eisenhower designated it as a site that should never be mined. The proposed mine will destroy this irreplaceable site, create a crater two miles wide and 1,000 feet deep, raise temperatures, contaminate the land, and use massive amounts of water despite the ongoing severe drought throughout the southwest. Congress exempted the corporation from all federal environmental law, meaning once the land is transferred, there will be no restrictions or oversight of their actions.

The current push to mine minerals nationwide with the ostensible goal of furthering “green energy” production hypocritically disregards the environmental destruction caused by mining. It is pure corporate greed masked by an illusion of “sustainability.” Congress is giving away federal public land to companies for profit, largely ignoring both the cultural and environmental consequences. Many Americans remain unaware that this is happening at all.

The Apache Stronghold filed a lawsuit against the United States to stop this land transfer on two fronts – the imposition on their freedom of religion if Oak Flat is destroyed, and a treaty from 1852, which never transferred Oak Flat to the US, meaning it is technically still Apache territory. They were granted a lien on the land based on this treaty. Regardless of how the lawsuit is decided, the precedent it sets will be felt nationwide on matters of religious freedom, environmental law, and the handling of federal public land.

Initially focused on Oak Flat, my project quickly expanded to examine the larger story, offering context for the fight to protect sacred sites: looking at Apache culture, ceremony, history, and daily life.

Apaches are the last prisoners of America’s first war, waged against its native people. America was founded through a violent genocide, justified by the Doctrine of Discovery, which allowed for Christian domination. With up to 90% of America’s indigenous population exterminated through war and disease, those who survived were deceived, imprisoned, forcefully assimilated, and left with broken promises. The cultural genocide against indigenous people is ongoing. Apaches famously resisted military domination. They paid dearly for their effort to keep their independence and ancestral homelands. Though the Apache Wars officially ended in 1886, conflicts extended into the 1920s, with restrictions on tribal members continuing for decades. The original prisoner-of-war camp was in Old San Carlos, a place known as “Hell’s Forty Acres,” chosen for its harsh desert climate. Surrounding mesas housed snipers who would shoot any Apache who attempted to leave. Today, remnants of military barracks are still visible. The war and its aftermath created a cycle of fear and trauma for generations. Many Apaches I’ve spoken with identify themselves as prisoners of war. They continue to live near the site where the US military imprisoned their ancestors in a concentration camp, now called a reservation.

This story is vastly underreported, yet it affects the entire country. The photographic coverage published to date looks only at the effort to protect Oak Flat on the surface level, without taking into consideration the deeper historical and cultural context, as my work aims to do. I’ve been granted greater access within the Apache community, particularly to the cultural and spiritual side, than any other photographer. I feel a responsibility to complete this project. With the support of this grant, I will produce a comprehensive look into the realities and issues of Apache life today, recognizing the history which led to this point.

So far, I have produced this work independently, but I need support in order to continue. This grant will primarily buy time, so I can dedicate myself to the project as needed in the coming year, including upcoming ceremonies and the ongoing effort to protect Oak Flat.

Planned new areas of coverage include the remnants of the US military presence and sniper outposts on the reservation, historic sites from the Apache Wars and Geronimo’s resistance, and their ancestral homelands. I will document the healing and community development happening on the reservation, including prayer runs, when participants symbolically break the bounds of the reservation by running towards their homelands.

It is impossible to separate Apache life today from the history and generational trauma that led to this point. Through sharing their stories, I aim to highlight the core contradictions generated from the country’s founding, which are particularly evident among native populations: the struggle for religious freedom, personal liberty, and environmental sustainability. The planet has reached a tipping point with climate change. Implementing indigenous teaching about sustainability is more important than ever. Additionally, if the Apache religion is disregarded under US law, no religion is safe. America is fractured today because the foundation, its base, is not solid. By reckoning with the past, there is hope for a better future.

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