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Published July 2, 2025

The Land Is an Ancestor We Refuse to Abandon

As my family and neighbors in Arizona rally to fight a proposed mining operation, I reflect on all that we could lose if the land is polluted.
In a tumultuous and divided nation, a rural Arizona border town came together to agree on one thing: to do whatever they could to protect the land from becoming the site of a mine processing plant. By Ree Artemisa.My mom and I face each other in her garden, looking at a flower and an anthill between us. Mom says, “The bats didn’t come back to our garden this year. I think it’s because of the mines.”A view of the Rio Rico Valley, including local monuments and animals. The caption says, “My family lives in the rural Sonoran Desert, right at the Mexican border in a small town called Rio Rico, Arizona. A town surrounded by vast sky, striking wilderness and border patrol checkpoints.”The caption says, “It’s a place that, despite its serene beauty and resilient spirit, remains steeped in the painful, long-term effects of colonialism and mining practices in the area.” A tan hand belonging to me drops seeds into the red desert Earth, surrounded by nopal, saguaro, ocotillo, storm clouds and sun. The caption says, “I spent a lot of time with my family in these rural borderlands as a child and I’ve come to tend my roots in the rural desert as an adult.”The caption says, “The land here and the land that surrounds us are a part of my ancestral heritage and memory. The land reflects my own family’s complex personal history of indigeneity, mexican heritage, colonialism and forced assimilation.”Storm clouds at the Mexican American border wall, border patrol cars and barbed wire. A sonoran dove in flight and monarch butterflies split the panel with speech bubbles to talk about the threat of hydraulic mining. The caption says, “There are a lot of desperate and pressing issues happening in this area at the border. But one that’s lesser known to the world outside is the threat of hydraulic mining, specifically for zinc and manganese.”crushing/covering it all up, while explaining the mining process. The caption says, “The South32 Hermosa mining project has started unfurling its plans in the area, sparking outrage in many of the local residents, most of whom happen to be working class, POC, and resilient elders.”The white scroll continues. The caption says, “The Hermosa mine, proposed by South32—an Australian mining company—would be a zinc and manganese mining complex in Arizona’s Patagonia mountains. While waiting for federal permits for that project, the company has begun exploratory drilling and sought to build a processing plant nearby.”A long white scroll. The caption says, “In summer 2023, a developer named Andrew Jackson sought to rezone 3,550 acres of Rio Rico land, sparking local residents’ worries about the area becoming the site of a mine processing plant—and the ecological impacts that would cause.”
The white scroll from the previous panel is stopped halfway, scribbled and crumpled up. There are people holding signs, holding their children and pushing back against the scroll to reveal natural, beautiful land. The caption says, “Over the past few years, these residents have begun to organize against local government corruption and mining land grabs. After their diligent grassroot organizing turned out residents for heated public meetings, the mining company announced it would NOT build a processing plant in the Rio Rico Valley.”I sit on a brick wall in my parents backyard looking down across the valley where I can see people, plants, animals and a pink sunrise. Just out of frame someone is handing me a bowl of soup and a bolillo. The caption says, “As a fellow concerned citizen of the land, I saw how this affected our community — and how some of us debated it.”It’s a cold winters day and our neighbors Ariel and Anthony, identical twin brothers, have made us soup and toasted buttered bolillos to share together. The twins are brown and look tough but are gentle giants. The twins and their Abuela sit at the table while she holds her chihuahua, Pepe, wrapped in a blanket like a baby. Anthony is animatedly speaking over his bowl of soup. Anthony, “I can tell you why this seems like a good idea to some people!” Me, “Seriously?”Anthony, “Look. There’s only 5 ways for you to earn a living here.” Anthony holds his fist in the air and slowly unfurls it. Anthony, “Retail. Produce. Agriculture. Border patrol…and narco trafficking!” He waves his hand in the air dramatically.Ariel dips his bread in his soup and looks at me Ariel, “It’s true though! The mining companies know that. They’re bringing jobs to a depressed economy. The company even bought the local public school a new swimming pool and computer lab equipment."Ariel, “Showing the kids what they can offer them. They even set up mining recruitment tents at the high school for career day.” A thought bubble depicts a job fair booth, labeled "Bright Futures."Mom shakes her head, “It sounds good on paper for sure, but…” Ariel shoves his meal away from him in frustration. Ariel, “So they wanted to mine for manganese and zinc right? Well that would require hydraulic mining.”Ariel, “That takes a lot of water and we’re living in the middle of a desert where there’s drought.” A two headed faucet, one pouring water into the Hermosa mines and the other giving just one tiny drop to a flower with the words “everyone else” underneath the flower)A big shipment truck on a dark road, crushing flowers behind it with its headlights shining on a flower about to be crushed. Caption, “They’d also need to transport the materials through the area to be processed somewhere else. Those minerals are a fine powder, like flour, and they’re toxic. They could easily contaminate the land and the air in transport. If the mining took place here or close by, it would not only deplete the water table that we depend on. It would poison it.” A large water drop with a skull and crossbones in it, right underneath the road that the truck is driving on.A Venn diagram of the farmers/ranchers and the native animals/plants overlapping, representing a symbiotic relationship with speech bubbles of text around them) Caption, “And since we’re talking about jobs, what about the farmers and ranchers out here? They’d be left with nothing. And what about the land and the animals? The winters already get drier every year. There’s fewer birds and we’re noticing less white tail deer to hunt.”A circular panel with a border of local flowers depicting the local mountain range is shown. Ariel, “It may sound good on paper, but it’s not worth screwing over something we can’t replace.”The kitchen table we were all sitting at is now empty with our chairs pushed out, as if we got up abruptly. Just outside the panel, a brown hand offers a clementine orange.We are sitting in my parents patio with cups of tea and peeling clementines with our neighbor Caroline, an elder with light colored brown hair and blue eyes, who volunteers at the hummingbird sanctuary at the Patagonia wildlife preserve just 30 minutes outside of our town.Caroline holds her cup of tea with both hands to warm them up. Caroline, “We all want “clean energy” and a low-carbon future. Zinc and especially manganese are required to make electric car batteries…but is it selfish that I don’t want it being mined where I live?”Mom peels an orange. Mom, “I don’t think that’s selfish at all. It’s more than just an aesthetic issue for us!” Caroline, “I guess you’re right.”Hummingbirds fly around Caroline and my mom. Caroline, “I guess you’re right. The people running the mining campaign claimed environmental studies were done and everything was above board, but they weren’t specific about who or what organization. The birders that came to visit the sanctuary were worried and upset over the news. Even Tucson’s Audubon Society got involved!” Me, “How did word initially get out? How did people find out what mining project was happening or who was behind it?”My mom, an elder brown woman, drives down a desert road past Mesquite Woods, and into town Mom, “The first thing I noticed when I was driving across town were the billboards advertising mining jobs.” She drives past a billboard advertising the mines bringing jobs to town and abruptly stops the car.My mom is depicted, holding a little blue shopping bag full of oranges. She approaches a group of majority Black and brown women, like her, holding signs). Mom, “When I got into town, I spotted a group of women standing outside Garrett’s called Mothers Against the Mine, so I walked up to them to ask questions. They are the first group of people who let me know what was going on.”A large scene of the town hall meeting. Caption, “The town hall was packed. So many people showed up they had to accommodate some of us in a separate room with a TV monitor to livestream the meeting.”Ariel and Anthony are depicted with their faces in the middle of the crowd talking. The twins, “There was a line going out the building!” My mom is depicted talking on the bottom right hand side, holding a hot cup of tea. Mom, “The people came ready to fight for the land they love.” Caroline, “”They were surprised to see how many of us were informed, already had eagle eyes on local corruption”Authors note, their town treasurer who had made some sketchy land sale deals, was ousted from their position and as of 2024 was found guilty of embezzling $39 million from Santa Cruz county.“They were mostly surprised to witness how deeply we cared. Conversations got very heated and eventually, the company wanted to wash their hands of the whole thing.”The land buyers and hermosa mining company, depicted as white buttoned shirts, roll up their white scroll full of legal jargon and a faceless man in a business suit, addresses the crowd. Pat Risner, Hermosa Project President August 2023, “We will not be conducting mining or mining activities in Rio Rico and I apologize for any information, or misinformation, that’s been circulating around that.”My mom laughs and puts up her hand as if to silence someone. Mom, “Please. They saw us come together and backpedaled so hard!”I am on a walk on a path in the mesquite woods near my home. Me, “It’s true.” I watch a child fly past me on a bike, pedal through the mesquite woods on a dirt path, laughing, into the wilderness. Caption, “All talks of the Hermosa mining project taking place in Rio Rico have officially been halted due in large part to the residents’ protesting efforts and ability to organize quickly toward a common goal.”I walk through the woods and step across a small stream. Caption, “The overwhelming consensus was that if these mines were built on our rural border town, it would have permanent and devastating impacts on the depletion of our precious water resources,"Caption, “the environment of the area, vital agriculture of the surrounding areas, and the health of the people who will live here for generations.”I step into a clearing and find cigarette butts and litter all over the ground, trains and trucks rattle in the distance. Me, “And yet the struggle continues…” Caption, “The Hermosa mine project has recently set their eyes on the Patagonia mountains just 30 minutes outside of RR. In the fall of 2024 they were quietly tapped to receive a US government grant, upwards of $166 million, to produce zinc and manganese.”People starting to line up at the water refill station, with their empty, big blue water jugs. Caption, “While many residents may feel satisfied with this outcome, most still hold little trust toward the company or its projects. We know the history of the land and have witnessed the toxic impact of abandoned mines and mining towns all over the state.”Caption, “Many people, including my parents, get and haul their own drinking water from “clean” refill stations in town, due to heavy mineral deposits and contamination in the tap water from previous mining operations. People are wary and used to false promises.”My mom comes up behind me and hands me two empty drinking water jugs to re-fill Mom, “It still feels like something else is coming. I feel that the Patagonia mining project is still going to affect our water and the animals around here.” She sighs and birds fly overhead. Mom, “We’ll keep on fighting for the right things.” A drop of rain water falls into the empty jug I’m holding as we look up at the sky.My dad is watering a palo verde tree while bees fly around us, drinking a hot beverage with the other. Caption, “When I ask my dad about the land here, he tells me how he sees himself as a caretaker who’s been made for it, that it is our duty.” My mom is saving native wildflower, Raramurí corn and melon seeds, organizing them at a small table outside. Me, “When I tell my mom how organizing against human greed feels impossible, she says that the people here give her hope.”Caption, “She says we must remain patient and keep going.” Mom, “because the work in our garden never ends.” My dad breaks apart an old tree outside, my mom tends to the hummingbird feeders. Together, they scatter seeds as the clouds change in the skyCaption, “I put mesquite from the land in the wood-burning stove in the morning, I boil my tea in the same kettle my paternal grandfather used, sitting in the same spot to keep warm where he looked at the same mountains.” The white chalky spirits of my ancestors sit with me while, from where I’m sitting, I look out into the valley below.The spirit of the ancestors begin to morph into past versions of themselves, depicting different eras of ourselves, of the people of the town, blending with the trees and wildflowers of the hillside we live on. Caption, “The mesquite have been growing on this hill since all of us were children and now some of them are keeping me warm on a cold day.”Close up of a drop of rain about to fall into the center of a flower. Caption, “The land radiates its gifts to us. Life is reborn from ashes all the time, but what becomes of land, of water, of people robbed and poisoned? We can’t replace this.” Flower petals float away into the sky and across the land.The land is an ancestor we refuse to abandon.

The comic was published in partnership with The Revelator at the Center for Biological Diversity. 

Sources

Possible mine support facilities along I-19 worry Rio Rico residents, Henry Brean, Arizona Daily Star, July 19, 2023  

South32 mine boss: No manganese plant planned for Rio Rico, Daniel Shailer, Tucson Sentinel, August 18, 2023 

South32 could receive $166 million from Dept. of Energy, Daisy Zavala Magaña, Nogales International, Oct. 2, 2024

Former Santa Cruz County Treasurer Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Stealing Over $38 Million in County Funds, Department of Justice, June 24, 2025

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