GLAMIS, Calif. — Most everyone agrees there is something of enormous importance in this rock-strewn and wind-swept portion of the eastern Imperial Valley bounded by Picacho Peak, Pilots Knob and Muggins Peak.
A Canadian firm believes there is gold buried deep beneath the desert, and it wants permission to create a 1,571-acre open pit mine where 130,000 tons of rock a day would be gouged, blasted and drilled from the earth.
But the Quechan Indian Nation, whose history in the region dates back hundreds of years, believes that something even more valuable than gold lurks here: the religious essence and life force of the tribe. The tribe views the mining proposal as a sacrilege.
"Just because our people did not build a giant cathedral like Europeans doesn't mean the land isn't just as important to our religion," said tribe member Lorey Cachora. "If you destroy the land, you destroy what we believe in, who we are."
This clash between commerce and religion, metallurgy and spirituality has flummoxed the federal Bureau of Land Management, which controls the area.
The dispute marks the first significant test of an executive order issued by President Clinton two years ago requiring federal agencies that oversee the government's vast land holdings to show greater sensitivity to sites held sacred by Native Americans. The bureau has asked for legal guidance from the Department of the Interior, of which it is a part.
"What is decided for the Quechans and Imperial Valley could set precedent for how Native American requests are handled throughout the West and beyond," said Russ Kaldenberg, a bureau archeologist and Native American issues coordinator for California. "What we have here is a clash of two cultures: one modern, one ancient."
The bureau has considerable experience in sorting out the competing interests of the mining industry and the environmental movement. The latter commonly views open pit mining as an ecological abomination.
The Mining Act of 1872, however, tilts heavily toward granting permission for mining on public property if the excavating companies promise to avoid "undue" destruction.
The proposal by Glamis Imperial Corp.--a Nevada corporation whose corporate parent is Glamis Gold Ltd. British Columbia--also has the power of precedence on its side.
