www.wordsasweapons.com > Western Shoshone

words as weapons
Inspiring social change through print, spoken word, and creative action.

"It is my opinion, and I think history will show, that only dictators and tyrants
have and will take control of land that does not belong to them."

(Carrie Dann, Shoshone elder)

Site search Web search
 
powered by FreeFind
An introduction to the struggle:

Indigenous peoples are one of the most marginalized social groups in modern society. Egregious human rights violations against native peoples have been occurring around the world for centuries and continue today as is reflected by the situation of the Western Shoshone people. The increase in corporate globalization and aggressive development projects, particularly in oil and mining industries are posing increased threats to traditional indigenous peoples and their survival. Indigenous peoples have not remained silent in the face of this onslaught. They have fought back by waging a relentless struggle to affirm their humanity, defend their rights to life and spiritual connections to the natural world and to educate the industrialized world regarding ongoing destructive policies.

The Western Shoshone Nation has been struggling since 1863 for sovereignty over their treaty-granted land throughout Nevada. Unlike many native nations, the Shoshone NEVER gave, ceded, or sold their land to the United States government, by treaty or otherwise. The United States government and multinational mining corporations have recognized the value of the land for the gold underneath and for the usage potential of the land above ground. The government continues to break the 1863 Treaty of Ruby Valley signed with the Western Shoshone Nation, and is without any doubt, committing cultural and spiritual murder throughout Nevada. For the last ten years, an organization called the Western Shoshone Defense Project has worked ceaselesly in nonviolent resistance to the mining companies and to the United States Government. Current struggles center around preventing the government from distributing money it has held in trust for the Shoshones, ostensibly as "payment" for lands taken in violation of the treaty of Ruby Valley. Distribution of this money has polarized the Shoshones, between most, who recognize the move for what it is: an attempted buyout and a relinquishing of traditional claims to the land (the government recognizes that it has no case without the payout being voted through), and others who want to cash in, even if it means exhausting their claims to their birthright. SEE RECENT UPDATES FOR NEWS ON THE DISTRIBUTION BILL.

Read an overview of the Western Shoshone case which spells out some of the basics from over the last century. If you have any questions, get in touch anytime via email. Check the Western Shoshone Defense Project site first: http://www.wsdp.org/

Current News, Thoughts, and Information

  • Statements from the Shoshone delegates to the United Nations, March 2006:
    “We have rights to protect our homelands and stop the destruction of our land, water, and air by the abuses of the United States government and the multinational corporations. The situation is outrageous and we’re glad the United Nations Committee agrees with us. Our people have suffered more nuclear testing than anywhere else in the world and they’re continuing underground testing despite our protests. Yucca Mountain is being hollowed out in order to store nuclear waste. We cannot stand for it – this earth, the air, the water are sacred. People of all races must stop this insanity now in order to secure a safe future for all.” - Joe Kennedy, Western Shoshone.

    “The Western Shoshone Nation is very thankful to the Committee members for their decision affirming U.S. discrimination and destructive policies do not go on unaccounted for. Truth is what it is – that can never change. We pray for the healing of our peoples, the land and the harassment and destruction to stop. While others are allowed the freedom of religion, we are kept from the very same right. The Newe (people) use this ancestral land for sacred ceremonies. The federal agencies prevent our access to some of these important areas. Our ancestors’ burials are being dug up and placed into local museums’ basement storage areas because of surge of gold mines and nuclear developments. This is an outrage to our people!” - Judy Rojo, Western Shoshone.

    “This battle has been going on for quite some time, but we’ve seen a dramatic increase in the federal government and the companies’ rush to finalize what they consider a settlement in order to get a hold of our lands for activities that are contaminating our water and our air. Again, we are very pleased that our rights are finally being taken seriously and we look forward to positive actions being taken by the U.S.” - Steven Brady, Western Shoshone.

    “We are Shoshone delegates speaking for a Nation threatened by extinction. The mines are polluting our waters, destroying hot springs and exploding sacred mountains—our burials along with them--attempting to erase our signature on the land. We are coerced and threatened by mining and Federal agencies when we seek to continue spiritual prayers for traditional food or medicine on Shoshone land. We have endured murder of our Newe people for centuries, as chronicled in military records, but now we are asked to endure a more painful death from the U.S. governmental agencies —a separation from land and spiritual renewal. We thank our past leaders for their persistence and courage and the CERD for this monumental step.” - Bernice Lalo, Western Shoshone.

  • 1.18.2006: A recent New York Times article sheds light on the destructive modern mining practices going on in Nevada today

  • 4.23.2005: MARY DANN KILLED IN ACCIDENT IN CRESCENT VALLEY
    Mary Dann (at LEFT in photo), beloved Western Shoshone elder, activist, and grandmother was killed on the Dann Ranch in Crescent Valley NV in an apparent ATV accident. Mary died while working on the ranch with her sister Carrie.

  • 9.3.2004: California Rancher pleads guilty to animal abuse and grand theft charges
    On September 2, 2004, the California Rancher, Slick Gardner, who took Western Shoshone horses rounded up by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management from Western Shoshone grandmothers Mary and Carrie Dann pled guilty to grand theft and felony animal abuse. Read the press release here.

  • 7.8.2004: NEW! The distribution bill is signed by President Bush
    A statement from Carrie Dann on today's presidential signing of the distribution bill. Possibly the grossest violation of native treaty rights in the last century. "I'm not going to sell my dignity, my spirituality, my culture. No way," says Carrie Dann.

  • 3.29.2004: Some good news for a change?
    The Earthworks Action Network reported, "In an open letter to the US Forest Service in the March 24th Washington Post, Tiffany & Co., one of the world's best-known jewelers, publicly opposed the proposed Rock Creek Mine under a western Montana wilderness area, and called for long-overdue reforms of the 1872 Mining Law—a law that favors mining over other land uses and conservation." You will find the letter by Tiffany's and more on the issue, including the text of the 1872 Mining Law here.

    Archived News

  • 10.9.2003: Western Shoshone case shames U.S.
    An article about the recent Shoshone legal moves in their case in Indian Country Today.
  • 7.11.2003: Shoshone distribution bill comes down to the wire
    An update about the legal action taking place that will permanently affect Shoshone culture and land claims.
  • 4.29.2003: Poetry from Melissa Holmes
    Thanks to the Colorado Review for the reprint here of Melissa Holmes' poem "Driving to the Cortez Gold Mine".
  • 3.19.2003: Loophole in US policy against the Shoshones?
    Indian Country Today columnist Steve Newcomb finds a loophole that might prove substantial in the Shoshone case...that is, if the U.S. government agrees to play by the rules of law.
  • 9.28.2002: US Invades Western Shoshone Nation
  • 9.8.2002: The ruling of the Inter-American Commission of the Organization of American States concerning human rights violations against the Shoshone people by the US Government. This is a landmark ruling as it verifies on an international and significant political level the unjustices being committed against the Shoshone.
  • 9.8.2002: - Help stop the attempted 'buy out' of Shoshone heritage and land rights - Learn about Senator Reid's plan to 'save' the Western Shoshone by paying individual Shoshones for lands which were stolen from them.
  • 8.26.2002: The Washington Post reports on the Western Shoshone land claims issue...read the article here.
  • 5.24.2002: The BLM moved against the Western Shoshone and confiscated Shoshone rancher's cattle from the South Fork Reservation. The BLM's motivation, from their words, was an attempt to stop the Shoshone from overgrazing these animals on "public" land. Shoshone supporters know differently. The Western Shoshone signed a peace and friendship treaty known as the Treaty of Ruby Valley in the 1860's which granted the Shoshone sovereignty over land encompassing much of Nevada. To this day, this sovereignty is a thorn in the side of mining corporations who want to exploit this land and mine for gold. By confiscating the cattle, the Shoshone are left without any means of making a living and they will have to leave this land...land they have occupied since time immemorial. Using the "overgrazing" as a pretext for the raid, the Government is ignoring the fact that the grazing of cattle on the reservation at South Fork is a treaty granted RIGHT under the Treaty of Ruby Valley. This makes this roundup nothing less than an international attack. The cattle owned and raised by the Dann traditional family is said to be next on the BLM list of roundups. Any and all media on this issue is desperately needed. Read the Press Release the Western Shoshone Defense Project sent out after the May 24 2002 raid and then read the Action Alert to find out what you can actually do to help stop these human rights violations.
  • 5.20.2002: A review of the annual Western Shoshone Spring Gathering - A great article by Heidi Walters for a Las Vegas newspaper. Thanks for the coverage Heidi! For those who couldn't make it or who are unaware, this event goes on each year, and wordsasweapons.com staff are always looking to give, coordinate, and share rides out of the Pacific Northwest. Get in touch through info@wordsasweapons.com
  • 5.2002: An interview with Carrie Dann, Shoshone elder and activist - Conducted in 1998 after her four day speaking tour of the Northwest, this interview will give you additional insight into Carrie's character and strength of conviction.
  • 5.2002: Somebody's Got To Speak - by Melissa Holmes. An activist's perspective on personally and directly supporting the Western Shoshone Nation
  • 5.2002: VIDEO AVAILABLE - A VHS video on Western Shoshone history which you can order and show locally
  • 7.9.2002 - YUCCA MOUNTAIN PROJECT PASSES THROUGH CONGRESS - Safety of country put at risk - The federal government and the Department of Energy (DOE) will be building the nation's first high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. Yucca Mountain is located 80 miles northwest of Las Vegas, a major metropolitan area that is home to about one and a half million people, and is right in the heart of Western Shoshone traditional land. The plan involves moving over 77,000 metric tons of hazardous nuclear waste across the country, using rails and roads that pass through other major metropolitan areas and small towns across this country. All Americans should be concerned about this plan, which just passed through Congress, and not just inhabitants of Nevada. Western Shoshones have suffered due to nuclear testing in Nevada for the last fifty years, and the haphazard plan behind Yucca Mountain ensures that toxic contamination of the Shoshone people will continue and will now include others as well. The photo to the right is courtesy of The Shundahai Network, who have a link in the list below. The construction of Yucca Mountain will threaten over 50 million people nationwide who live in the path of the waste transports.

    Some of the major problems with this proposed plan are:

    • Yucca Mountain is in a volcanic area, where an eruption could cause a catastrophic release of radioactivity.
    • The region is in a class 4 earthquake zone, second only to California and Alaska in terms of seismic activity.
    • Water will infiltrate the repository and can, according to State of Nevada studies, move radioactivity to drinking water within as little as 100 years.
    • The geochemical environment at Yucca Mountain is oxidizing and will corrode the supposedly "safe" metal containers housing the waste.
    • 50 million people live within 1/2 mile of the proposed transportation routes. These routes will carry 53,000 truck shipments and 10,700 rail shipments
    • People near the transportation corridors will receive regular radiation exposures - from 6-960 millirem annually depending on their distance from the routes and the number of shipments passing by. (10 miilirem is roughly equivalent to one chest x-ray.)
    • Consequences of a successful terrorist attack on the area include latent cancer fatalities in addition to the immediate damages

    MORE ON YUCCA MOUNTAIN...

    Back to wordsasweapons home page