Burial grounds may block freeway
Ancient artifacts raise Gila River concerns

Betty Beard
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 1, 2005 12:50 PM

Altars and burial grounds are in the broad Gila River valley that runs south of Ahwatuke Foothills, which served for eons as a major passageway and home for prehistoric and modern Native Americans.

And for that reason, the Gila River Indian Community has been reluctant to offer it up as a site for the proposed South Mountain Freeway, said Mary Thomas, the community's lieutenant governor and former governor.

Thomas said it's still possible that the freeway would be allowed but said: "It's not so simple. There is a lot to consider. We are still, as they say, mulling it over."  

The Arizona Department of Transportation is considering a route along Pecos Road for the proposed South Mountain because it has been unable so far to get the Gila River community to even consider putting the freeway on the reservation. Discussions have been going on for many years.

The proposed freeway would connect with Interstate 10 just south of Ahwatukee Foothills, run west along the southern border of South Mountain and then swing north to connect with Interstate 10 in west Phoenix. Exact routes are still subject to discussion and study.

Thomas said the Gila River valley, as well as South Mountain and all the other mountains in the area, have deep historical and cultural significance for the resident Pima and Maricopa Indians, as well as other tribes that migrated along the once flowing river.

At a meeting of the South Mountain Citizens Advisory Team on Thursday, Steve Thomas, environmental programs manager at the local office of the Federal Highway Administration, said he has sent out surveys to 25 tribes, including all 23 tribes in Arizona, asking them if the area has any historical significance to them. He is still waiting for responses.

Under modern laws, the federal government is required to mitigate a freeway's impacts on any historical or cultural buildings or places near it. But Mary Thomas said, "You can't mitigate spiritual grounds."

Recently, ADOT officials briefed the Gila River Indian Community Council on plans for the South Mountain Freeway and the widening of Interstate 10.

Freeways are still a sore point for some residents. When I-10 was built on the reservation in the mid-1950s, there was no mitigation or environmental considerations, said Nathaniel Percharo, a Gila River resident and one of many owners of reservation allotments. "Nothing was paid," he said.