User:Punkxhazard/Environmental impacts of the Mexico–United States border

Indigenous communities
The traditional homelands of various indigenous people's were split in two by the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and 1853 Gadsden Purchase. This split the traditional homelands of various federally recognized tribes such as the Kumeyaay, Pai, Cocopah, O'odham, Yaqui, Apache, and Kickapoo peoples as well as unrecognized indigenous groups and communities along the Mexico-United States Border.

Construction of the Mexico-United States Border Wall has effected indigenous communities in both countries in a myriad of ways both through the alteration of the physical natural environment and the marginalization of indigenous communities rights, agency, and autonomy. These groups proximity to the border and intrinsic connection to the land in terms of historic, cultural, and spiritual identity, has resulted in the continued struggle for indigenous community advocacy for humanitarian welfare and against indigenous environmental injustice.

Indigenous communities and U.S. border tribes experience negative impacts on their environment. The Border XXI Program Report conducted between 1996-2000 discussed issues the 27 federally recognized tribes face on their environment. "Off-reservation activity like the congestion of traffic, extraction of resources, and the unregulated burning and dumping of hazardous waste" is reported to have led to air pollution on reservations. The interconnectedness of rivers and streams along the border were noted to have been contaminated and to have impacted the water quality that Indigenous communities rely on.

The Tohono O'odham Nation is a tribal group composed of six indigenous villages living on the border region between Mexico and the United States. The 2017 executive order passed by President Trump caused concern upon initialization among Indigenous Tribes like the Tohono O'odham. Enforcement of Executive Order 13767 threatened creation of a physical separation that could impact cultural practices, as well as a symbolic separation of an ancestral connection.

Prior to implementation of Executive Order 13767 O'odham people reported facing heavy patrolling when traveling throughout their reservation. O'odham members that were citizens of Mexico faced the threat of detainment and deportation while accessing land with ancestral belonging.

After the implementation of Executive Order 13767, the U.S. Government Accountability Office ran a report of various impacts of border wall construction. One of the categories it reported on was cultural impacts. Members of the Tohono O’odham tribe were interviewed to understand how border wall construction impacted them. Members indicated damage done to multiple culturally significant sites. Monument Hill being one that holds significance for the tribe in being a site in which ancestral battles occurred. The report found that the process of extending a border patrol road led to site impairment. This site also served as a sacred ceremonial location. The saguaro cactus which is culturally significant to the tribe had difficulty surviving transplants for wall construction.

Quitobaquito Springs is a sacred oasis to Tohono O'odham people located near the border. It is significant in being an area that was used for trade and cultural practices prior to an international border. It holds remains of O’odham ancestors and serves as a sacred cultural site. The Springs were harmed during initial stages of executive order 13767 in which proper environmental assessments were unaccomplished. Forced relocation of O’odham people to reservations put the Springs at high risk of environmental depletion including loss of water and biodiversity because of the loss of human maintenance the site had for thousands of years. “According to Tohono O’odham Nation officials, contractors cleared a large area near the springs, destroying a burial site that the Tribe had sought to protect” whilst preparing for border wall construction. The southern region of the Springs was cut across by the border wall construction and has been speculated to have decreased water content as a result.

Several other indigenous groups have advocated against the construction of and expansion of the Mexico-United States border wall. The Pascua Yaqui Nation have been working to regain tribal sovereignty and ease the border crossings in their tribal lands. Like the Tohono O'odham, the Pascua Yaqui have faced challenges due to the border's impact on their traditional way of life. .

The Cocopah Indian tribe has been advocating against further construction of the border wall on its land near Yuma and near the Colorado River Delta citing it as a safety concern, barrier, and for its impact on native wildlife, vegetation and cultural practices. .

The Lipan Apache have sought United Nations support and have fought an extensive legal battle with the US federal government alleging that the border walls construction discriminates against them for depriving them of their land and prohibiting their right to religious expression. They also expressed frustration at the abuse of power by the federal government for waiving through various environmental protection laws to bypass legal barriers to building or adding more to the wall in environmentally sensitive areas.

The Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Indians and Kickapoo have also advocated against the the construction of and expansion of the Mexico-United States. In fact, both tribes have advocated alongside the Lipan Apache, Cocopah, Pascua Yaqui, Kumeyaay, and Tohono O'odham for its environmental and cultural impact on their communities ways of life.

Feedback from the instructor
Good start on your draft! Be sure to appropriately site all of your text here before starting to make piece of it live. Keep working on smoothing out the writing. For example, "mortified" isn't the right word to use in this context (happy to discuss). Be more specific about the "environmental issues" that negatively impact Indigenous communities on the border in the opening sentence. It looks like there is quotation in the first paragraph, but it is missing the first quotation mark. Be more specific about the bi-national rivers and groundwater basins that cross the river, and how the border impacts them environmentally, and also indigenous communities in that region as a result. Spell out the details of what challenges the Pascua Yaqui are facing regarding the environmental impacts of the border, and how they are trying to address them. Add more links to other Wikipedia articles as possible (ie, tribal soverignty, Pascua Yaqui or Yaqui). This article on Quitobaquito Springs may be useful. Keep up the good work! Saguaro23 (talk) 04:56, 14 March 2024 (UTC)