The Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma is worried that its members won't have access to a sacred site where a gravel mine is planned.

Longhorn Mountain was once owned by the tribe. But after it was allotted to tribal members, it fell out of Indian hands during the 1930s and 1940s.

"We've got so many people who are concerned. It's not federal land. It's not trust land. We can only go so far," tribal historian Phil Dupoint told the Associated Press.

Two of the landowners on the mountain leased water and land rights to Material Service Corp. for the gravel mine. Operations could start soon.

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Okla. tribe fears losing access to mountain (AP 7/31)