Waya Brown, who is Apache and Pomo, runs towards the Bylas district of the...READ ON
Waya Brown, who is Apache and Pomo, runs towards the Bylas district of the San Carlos Apache Reservation. It was his fourth time running to Mt. Graham. His first time participating in the sacred run was when his cousin, Baase Pike, had her sunrise dance on Mt. Graham following the run that year. Baase was only the second Apache girl, after her older sister Naelyn, to have her sunrise dance on their sacred mountain in over 150 years.
Dr. Wendsler Nosie Sr sits in the back of his truck on the San Carlos Apache...READ ON
Dr. Wendsler Nosie Sr sits in the back of his truck on the San Carlos Apache Reservation following one of his daily runs to train for the Mt. Graham Sacred Run, with smoke in the air from the Mescal Fire raging nearby.
The ceremony at the Old San Carlos Memorial to launch the 30th annual Mt....READ ON
The ceremony at the Old San Carlos Memorial to launch the 30th annual Mt. Graham Sacred Run included singing and praying.
Portrait of Dr. Wendsler Nosie Sr. at Treasure Park on Mt. Graham. Dr. Nosie...READ ON
Portrait of Dr. Wendsler Nosie Sr. at Treasure Park on Mt. Graham. Dr. Nosie says, "It's always amazing when I'm on Mt. Graham to think about the history of our people and what they knew as freedom, remembering over 30 years of this particular struggle against religious discrimination. Knowing in this current generation that we're coming home to what is holy and sacred, our church, is powerful."
Morgun Frejo was the last runner of the first leg of the 30th annual Mt....READ ON
Morgun Frejo was the last runner of the first leg of the 30th annual Mt. Graham Sacred Run. On Tuesday, July 20, the first segment of the run took place between the Old San Carlos Memorial and Noline's store on the San Carlos Apache Reservation.
The second and final day of the Mt. Graham Sacred Run began around 5am on...READ ON
The second and final day of the Mt. Graham Sacred Run began around 5am on July 21 at Noline's store on the San Carlos Apache Reservation. Dr. Wendsler Nosie Sr. speaks to runners to explain how the run is structured and go over safety precautions.
Runners gather around a truck waiting to pick up Dr. Wendsler Nosie Sr. as he...READ ON
Runners gather around a truck waiting to pick up Dr. Wendsler Nosie Sr. as he completes one segment of the Mt. Graham Sacred Run.
Gouyen Brown-Lopez rides with other runners in the back of one of the trucks...READ ON
Gouyen Brown-Lopez rides with other runners in the back of one of the trucks between segments of running towards Mt. Graham.
Thomas Nosie Jr. crosses the San Carlos Apache Reservation line on the 30th...READ ON
Thomas Nosie Jr. crosses the San Carlos Apache Reservation line on the 30th annual Mt. Graham Sacred Run. Through the run, the Apache are returning to their ancestral home, breaking the barriers of the reservation where they've been held for over a century as prisoners of war.
Dr. Wendsler Nosie Sr. talks with his great nephew, Waya Brown, and other...READ ON
Dr. Wendsler Nosie Sr. talks with his great nephew, Waya Brown, and other runners, as they're driven to the next stopping point along the run.
Naelyn Pike, Dr. Wendsler Nosie Sr.'s oldest grandchild, has been...READ ON
Naelyn Pike, Dr. Wendsler Nosie Sr.'s oldest grandchild, has been participating in the Mt. Graham Sacred Run for the past 20 years, since she was 2 years old. When it was time for her sunrise dance, the Apache girl's coming of age ceremony, she chose to have it on Mt. Graham because of her spiritual connection with the mountain. She was the first Apache girl to have her sunrise dance on Mt. Graham in over 150 years, ending a long period of exile from their ancestral home.
Vanessa Nosie speaks to the runners who are about to start another segment,...READ ON
Vanessa Nosie speaks to the runners who are about to start another segment, as the final runner in the last leg approaches. Between the San Carlos Reservation and the base of Mt. Graham, the run is structured with five people running simultaneously, before they trade off with the next five runners. Once the runners begin to climb the mountain, it transitions into a relay of short segments due to the mountain grade and elevation.
Runners participating in the Mt. Graham Sacred Run carry eagle feathers to...READ ON
Runners participating in the Mt. Graham Sacred Run carry eagle feathers to bring their prayers with them along the spiritual journey.
Runners ride in the bed of a truck as they leave the lunch break to begin the...READ ON
Runners ride in the bed of a truck as they leave the lunch break to begin the relay run up Mt. Graham. Each runner remains focused on their own personal spiritual journey throughout the day.
Adam Barnes tosses a water bottle to another runner. The bottles have ties on...READ ON
Adam Barnes tosses a water bottle to another runner. The bottles have ties on them and are used to mark the distance of each segment so the runners know where to stop.
A runner waves from the lead truck as others are dropped off to begin the...READ ON
A runner waves from the lead truck as others are dropped off to begin the relay up Mt. Graham. Cousins Wendslyn Hooke and Lozen Brown-Lopez, both age 7, ran together. Many children have been raised in the run over the years, including some who began participating as young as two years old.
Cousins Waya Brown and Lozen Brown-Lopez ride along with other runners as...READ ON
Cousins Waya Brown and Lozen Brown-Lopez ride along with other runners as they climb Mt. Graham, waiting to be dropped off for their next run.
Vanessa Nosie speaks to the runners when they reached their destination on...READ ON
Vanessa Nosie speaks to the runners when they reached their destination on Mt. Graham. She has helped coordinate the run for most of her life, but this year was the first time she took the lead in managing the run, which was started by her father, Dr. Wendsler Nosie Sr. She is holding her youngest daughter, Shayu Frejo, and at her feet are two of her daughters, Baase Pike and Nizhoni Pike, and her nephew Philippe D'Avignon.
Dylan Sloan ran the final leg of the Mt. Graham Sacred Run. This year was his...READ ON
Dylan Sloan ran the final leg of the Mt. Graham Sacred Run. This year was his fourth time participating in the run. He ran three years in a row before missing a few due to work conflicts, but he returned to participate for the 30th anniversary.
Lightning flashed across the mountains surrounding Old San Carlos in the evening on July 20, 2021, as a prayer ceremony, songs, and dancing launched the 30th Annual Mt. Graham Sacred Run. Old San Carlos is the location of the prisoner-of-war camp where the US military held the Apaches, chosen for its harsh desert climate and surrounding mesas, which housed snipers who would shoot any Apache who attempted to leave. The conditions in the prisoner-of-war camp created a cycle of fear and trauma lasting through generations that Apaches are now breaking and healing through participation in the run.
Today, remnants of military barracks are still visible, and a memorial erected in 2009 commemorates the 100th anniversary of the death of Chiricahua Apache warrior Goyathlay (known in English as Geronimo) as a prisoner of war in Ft. Sill, OK. Prior to his imprisonment in Oklahoma, Geronimo successfully escaped from Old San Carlos multiple times and evaded 5,000 US troops for months with only 35 Apache men fighting with him. The monument depicts a family of four, mounted on horseback with their arms raised in prayer, representing all Apache people. The area around Old San Carlos is no longer inhabited, with tribal members now living in other parts of the reservation.
Dził Nchaa Sí'an ("big-seated mountain" in Apache, named Mt. Graham by Lt. William Emory after his fellow officer Lt. Colonel James Duncan Graham) is the home of the deities and highly sacred to the Apache. For over 30 years, telescopes have desecrated its summit, which were built with disregard for the environment and despite the objections of native communities.
The Mt. Graham International Observatory consists of 3 telescopes - the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope, the Heinrich Hertz Submillimeter (Radio) Telescope of the Arizona Radio Observatory, and the Large Binocular Telescope, the world's most powerful telescope. Though there were plans for more than 30 telescopes originally, the presence of even one is one too many.
Dził Nchaa Sí'an is part of the Coronado National Forest, yet environmental law was bypassed in the telescopes' construction when Congress granted an exemption from the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The area surrounding the summit, which houses the telescopes, is a refugium for the Mt. Graham Red Squirrel, an endangered species. US citizens are forbidden by law to enter this area, their own public land, but telescope traffic is permitted.
For over 30 years, Dr. Wendsler Nosie Sr, former chairman of the San Carlos Apache Tribe and spiritual leader of the Apache Stronghold, has led the fight to protect Dził Nchaa Sí'an from desecration and destruction. Dr. Nosie is a Chiricahua Apache, descended from the same clan as Geronimo. The monument at Old San Carlos was erected during his time as tribal chairman, the culmination of his extensive efforts to honor Geronimo's legacy. He has worked tirelessly for decades to hold the US Forest Service and, by extension, the entire US government accountable for their infringement on Apache religious freedom, forcing them to recognize and honor the right for the Apache to freely practice their religion on their sacred ancestral homeland.
Despite America's foundational principle of theoretically offering religious freedom for all, the Apache face religious discrimination that is recognized by faith leaders of many ethnic backgrounds and denominations. Rev. Dr. John Mendez, who served as pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in North Carolina for 36 years and worked alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, among other civil rights leaders, has supported the Apache fight to freely practice their religion for decades. When discussing the religious discrimination the Apache face, he identified it as "another form of genocide, which is cultural genocide, where you take or rob a people of their beliefs, their traditions, and their way of life."
Vanessa Nosie, Dr. Nosie's daughter, spoke as well about this cultural genocide and the need for change, saying, "the trauma, the continued genocide of our religion still exists today, but we have to acknowledge it. Those people that are in power [need] to start making moral decisions so that our future generations have a right to live, and have a right to pray, and have a right to believe in who they are."
In 1991, Dr. Nosie began the Mt. Graham Sacred Run, which covers the roughly 120-mile distance between the San Carlos Reservation and Dził Nchaa Sí'an in under 10 hours. Over the years, hundreds of both native and non-native runners have participated; some run only once, others return year after year. Many of the adults running today were raised participating annually, including Dr. Nosie's eldest grandchild, Naelyn Pike, who has run to Dził Nchaa Sí'an for 20 years now, beginning when she was just 2 years old.
This anniversary year was one of transition, as Vanessa Nosie, who had helped her father organize the run for many years, took the lead in managing it for the first time. They both described this transition as bittersweet, but essential to ensure the run continues while Dr. Nosie is still able to act as a reference in guiding it forward.
Tying the ramifications of history to the present-day circumstances, Vanessa said, "the government has used pretty words to hide the actual truth of what’s happened to our people. So as a federally recognized tribe, we are still awarded to the government. I am still property of the government. And where we sit, it is the concentration camp. Like I said, the government used pretty words, so it’s the 'San Carlos Apache Reservation.' This is where they originally held us as prisoners, when they exiled us and took us from our homeland."
She continued, "That’s where this run is so important, and... why I wanted to take the lead [this year]. I didn’t want my dad’s work and all his sacrifice to end. Because our people need this, all people need this, because of telling the truth of what happened. What people don’t understand or even acknowledge is that historic trauma... This run has brought healing to our people."
Dr. Nosie elaborated, saying, "The one thing that we don’t ever want to give them is our spirit, our connection to the creator... So [by] getting to the mountain, we’re breaking those barriers... That’s one thing that the mountain does. It releases us from being a prisoner of war, spiritually. Physically, we’re all captives of America... But spiritually, we cannot give that to them, nobody should."
The run is structured in mile-long segments, with runners trading off to conserve energy and cover distance quickly in the blistering heat of midsummer in the Arizona desert. Upon reaching the base of Dził Nchaa Sí'an, it transitions into a relay of very short distances, as runners ascend to an elevation of roughly 9,000 feet. Prayer and the individual spiritual journey of each participant are central to the experience, as the Apache believe sacred places must be approached properly, through the appropriate corridors and with respect, in order to be granted entry to holy land.
The route was chosen for maximum visibility, as the run is also symbolic. As Dr. Nosie put it, "We want to be seen. If we’re seen, we can be heard." After over 150 years of exile from DziÅ‚ Nchaa Si’an and their other ancestral land, held as prisoners of war by the US military when they refused to give up their territory and ancient life ways, the Apache are coming home.
Legal and judicial precedent to this point unfortunately do not favor indigenous rights regarding their religion, which directly contradicts the supposed right of religious freedom for all Americans. Even when presented with undeniable evidence that proposed activities (construction, extractive industry, etc) on land considered sacred by indigenous people would result in the destruction of their religion, courts tend to side against the native people, as was recently outlined by The Arizona Republic.
Dr. Nosie considers this to be the last battle - the fight for indigenous religion and holy places - and it’s one they cannot afford to lose, particularly after having lost so much already to colonization and genocide. Through the current ongoing legal fight for another Apache holy place, Chi'chil Biłdagoteel (Oak Flat), the Apache Stronghold, led by Dr. Nosie, is taking aim at the Constitution to force the US government to extend the freedom of religion to include indigenous religions. They hope to set a new precedent, to protect places that are sacred to tribes across the country that are currently under threat of destruction and desecration.
Molly Peters Photography
Molly Peters is a Tucson-based photographer working in fine art photography and documentary storytelling.