U.S. DHS Contractors Blast Kuuchamaa Mountain for Border Wall Expansion

Contractors working for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security have been blasting and bulldozing parts of Kuuchamaa Mountain, a sacred site for the Kumeyaay Nation that straddles the United States and Mexico, to make way for additional border wall segments, Indigenous leaders and community members said. The activity in the Tecate area has prompted calls for protections and possible legal action, while U.S. officials said they are working to reduce impacts to cultural and natural resources.

At a wellness resort in Tecate, Mexico, Kumeyaay tribal leader Norma Meza Calles described Kuuchamaa as spiritually significant and said that traditions tied to the mountain are part of how her community maintains its identity. She said, This is sacred to us like a church for you all. The mountain is our healer, our psychologist. According to Meza Calles, a creation story links a shaman to the mountain and explains why it is used as a place for reflection and healing.

Tribal members said the blasting has caused physical damage, with rocks falling onto the Mexico side of the mountain. Emily Burgueno, a Kumeyaay Nation member from California, said no one consented to the use of dynamite on the...