Editor:

While (President) Clinton was forced to sign a rider in the Republican Appropriations Bill desecrating our sacred Apache mountain, Dzil Nchaa Si An (Mount Graham), the good news is that on May 24, Clinton signed an executive order to protect American Indi an sacred sites.

One aspect often overlooked in the sacred geography of Mount Graham is that the University of Arizona would force a telescope project on a mountain starting just five miles from our Apache reservation boundary. Apaches in the second largest community in S an Carlos see it every morning in the East with the sun.

In July 1994, the honorable Judge Alfredo C. Marquez ruled that construction of the telescopes be halted until environmental and Native American religious studies were completed. In spite of that, the Republicans sneaked the rider into their Appropriation s Bill.

I am an Apache elder and one of the medicine people for the San Carlos Apache. Although our ancestors were the first Americans, we were not recognized as U.S. citizens until 1924. We were not given the right to vote until 1948. We were not even allowed to practice our Apache religion until the American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978.

The words of General Custer still ring in our ears: "Think not of pity, only of extermination ... " Regardless, Mount Graham has always been sacred to us.

Why are the UA lawyers asking a judge to lift the injunction and prevent the cultural studies? What is there to hide? This is another saga of Cowboys vs. Indians. But this time the Indians will be the survivors - because our beliefs are not for sale.

Audrey Johnson
Peridot