Ed Pastor’s Tohono O’odham Religious Area Restoration Act bill never proceeded to a floor vote, and as a result, the ownership of Baboquivari Wilderness Area remains contentious.1“Tohono O’odham Religious Area Restoration Act,” H.R.4119, 105th Cong. (October 6, 1998), https://www.congress.gov/bill/105th-congress/house-bill/4119/text. In addition to Baboquivari, the Tohono O’odham nation continues to fight the destruction, desecration, and ownership of their historic and cultural sites, both within their reservation and beyond. In 2019, construction began on portions of a wall on the Mexican border that threatened several sacred sites.
The Tohono O’odham do not support a border wall for many reasons, including limiting their access to water and other resources, destruction of the environment, restricting their visits with buried relatives, and because the nation does not believe in a wall as a solution to security problems. The Tohono O’odham want to secure their homeland the same as the United States, and work with border patrol and other agencies to stop illegal smuggling. They are financially invested in the protection of their border, but under their terms so that the aforementioned restrictions do not take place.
