/Submitted by Ned Norris Jr.
By Steven Hsieh | Phoenix New Times
Construction of President Trump’s border wall already has damaged cultural sites that are sacred to the Tohono O’odham Nation, including burial grounds, the tribe’s chairman said during a Congressional hearing on Wednesday.
The Tohono O’odham Nation in southern Arizona shares a 62-mile border with Mexico which splits the tribe’s ancestral territory in two, and which has become increasingly militarized in recent decades.
Among the affected areas were Monument Hill, a ceremonial and historic battle site, and Quitobaquito Springs, an important water source that tribal members visit annually as part of a salt pilgrimage. Archaeologists have found human bone fragments in both areas.
