Around the world, indigenous communities are defending their homelands and sacred sites from mining companies with more urgency than ever. With the fictional Avatar receiving so much media attention, it’s important to realize that very real battles between indigenous communities protecting sacred sites and corporations infringing on them are happening in the real world. Rio Tinto has from the beginning played out the role of the big bad mining company in its plans to mine nickel and copper in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The project has been marred by a flawed approval process, with one expert hired by the state insisting the project could collapse on workers. Despite unresponsive regulators and politicians, a persistent grassroots movement has stalled the company plans by years already.
See http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cynthia-pryor/a-sacred-fire-is-burning_b_567652.html.
See also: Defending sacred Eagle Rock, http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/national/92880679.html.