Photo special to the Times Alfredo Figueroa and Donna Charpied, Citizens for the Chuckawalla Valley.

Alfredo A. Figueroa, a longtime Blythe Chicano activist, miner and descendant of Chemehuevi and Yaqui cultures, was honored at a victory celebration held when the courts ruled in favor of environmental groups, stopping a proposed mega-waste dump at the former Kaiser Mine at Eagle Mountain.

The landfill would have been the destination for most of Los Angeles County’s trash and would have encompassed a portion of the Joshua Tree National Park.

Many of the activists had been fighting for the protection of Eagle Mountain for the past 18 years.

Representatives from numerous environmental organizations including Donna and Larry Charpied of Citizens for the Chuckawalla Valley, who were at the forefront of the fight, Penny Newman of the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice, Judge Richard Marsh of the Desert Protection Society and Howard Gross of the National Parks Conservation Association, were also on hand to receive their awards of merit.

Figueroa, who joined the battle 15 years ago, conceded that Los Angeles officials would just try and find another site in the desert to dump their trash, but urged others to take up the fight.

“There has to be other people who get involved in these struggles,” he said. “More people have to get involved in recycling - everything has to be recycled.”

Figueroa said that in dump sites in Japan and Germany, you’ll find nothing but trash.

“You see no cars, refrigerators or tin cans in those dumps,” he said. “We need to recycle in the United States and then we wouldn’t have so much trouble with finding a dump, especially locating one in a national park - that’s just crazy.”

Figueroa was honored in recognition of his invaluable contributions and commitment to improve the health and quality of life of all members of his community, and Joshua Tree National Park.

Based on his 46-year investigation of Aztlan, the place of origin of the Mexica/Azteca, he was honored for having taught the environmentalist community about the metamorphosing of Cuauhtemoc (Eagle that descends) on Eagle Mountain as revealed during the Summer Solstice, June 21-23. The notation on the award reads: “For the many years and many walked miles through the desert that led you to the location of the Petroglyphs within Eagle Mountain range inside the border of Joshua Tree National Park. Your continued involvement with the Citizens for the Chuckawalla Valley, and your desire to teach everybody the sacredness of the Eagle Mountains will protect them now and in the future. Best wishes for continued success with all your endeavors.”

The celebration was held on Nov. 4, at the Miracle Springs Resort in Desert Hot Springs. This special gathering was held to thank everyone who helped achieve the impossible task of stopping this mega dump that would have destroyed precious desert habitats and ancient sacred sites. During the award ceremonies, spiritual runner, Jesus Figueroa, accompanied by his nephew, Lucas Piñon, sang blessing songs and indigenous chants.

Figueroa noted that a series of petroglyphs and sacred sites throughout the mountains surrounding the Palo Verde, Parker and Coachella valleys are indicators that the lower Colorado River Valley between Laughlin and the Gulf of California is “La Cuna de Aztlan, the cradle of the Aztec people.”