By Paul Maryniak | Ahwatukee Foothills News
The Gila River Indian Community told a federal appeals court last week that the government highway agencies ignored the health and traditions of Native Americans, especially the poor who live on the reservation, when they planned the South Mountain Freeway.
“The agencies largely ignored all of the land south and west of the Freeway and the people who live there. Many of those people may be poor, may be Native American, and may work in agriculture, but they count too,” attorneys for the community said in characterizing the actions of the Arizona Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration.
The Gila Community’s brief, filed last week before the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, now throws the next move in the case to the court.
