The Surveillance State of O’odham Lands By Nellie Jo David The Border Patrol operates in O’odham territory Our sacred lands, Our indigenous lands. Our people are hospitable. Our beautiful desert landscapes were not meant to be death traps. And yet here we are. Straddled by an international border line, In the middle of a ‘drug war’. Lands unjustly taken from O’odham turned into a military playground of global destruction, These military bases, the National Park Services, the Department of Homeland Security Ensure that our homelands are inaccessible to us. They’ve taken our old villages and turned them into Strategic military vantage points And Practice for killing (in wars abroad). This Surveillance State was definitely not put in place to keep us safe. Each version of the Towers - temporary, mobile, integrated, fixed, permanent – embolden some deadly strategic function in their “Prevention Through Deterrence” policy. The Towers ensure that those fleeing from already difficult circumstances head into increasingly hostile terrain. The chance of death is higher if one has to scale a mountain to avoid the detection of a tower. and in an area where water is so scarce, even a blister could mean death. Such death is not part of our normal way of life. Our people are hospitable. Our sacred lands, Our indigenous lands, Our beautiful desert landscapes, were not meant to be deathtraps. 28