This is the first of a three-part series exploring the conflict over a nickel refinery in Oklahoma.
Across the country, critical minerals are in increasingly high demand for green technology and national defense. But many of those minerals are being mined or processed on Indigenous lands. In the first of a three part series, KOSU’s Sarah Liese reports on a nickel refinery in Oklahoma facing pushback from three tribal nations.
Kathleen Tahah is the lay minister of the Deyo Mission on the Kiowa-Comanche-Apache reservation. The church is only a few minutes drive from the Westwin Elements plant. “We're protectors of the land, of the air, of the communities that we serve, you know,” Tahah said.
This story was produced with support of Internews’ Earth Journalism Network.