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On Friday morning May 24th, 2002 before sunrise armed BLM agents assisted by several Nevada State officials raided the tribal grazing allotment of the South Fork Reservation and seized 136 head of cows belonging to Western Shoshone ranchers, including Raymond Yowell, Chief of the Western Shoshone National Council.  We are asking for your immediate assistance in expressing the public’s outrage at this clear violation of Western Shoshone rights and the 1863 Treaty of Peace and Friendship signed at Ruby Valley! Other Western Shoshone livestock under the care of Mary and Carrie Dann remain at large grazing upon Shoshone land in the Crescent Valley area.  These will most likely be the next target of BLM confiscation.

1. Please call the following U.S. officials immediately and ask them to cease and desist from their efforts to punish Western Shoshone citizens by fines and confiscation for the act of grazing on ancestral lands.  Ask for the immediate release of livestock confiscated from the W Shoshone living on the South Fork Reservation. Ask why grazing lands were never included as part of the various W. Shoshone reservations.

-Elko BLM Field Manager Helen Hankins, (775)-753-0200
-Nevada State BLM Director Robert Abbey, (775)-861-6400
-Secretary of Interior Gale Norton, (202)-208-3100

2. Contact (call or fax) your Congressional representatives in both the  House and Senate to voice  your concerns about this roundup, U.S treatment of the Western Shoshone and pending legislation before the Congress that does nothing to resolve the lack of recognized land rights for the W. Shoshone. 

Legislation (S958 Western Shoshone Claims Distribution Act) is currently pending in the Congress which would individually distribute the claims money, which is the entire legal basis of the U.S. claim that it has extinguished land title. The legislation was crafted by Nevada Senator Harry Reid without the consent or participation of any Western Shoshone Tribal councils, either Federally recognized or Traditional; and includes no provisions to provide for an adequate land base for Western Shoshone communities or the recognition of any resource rights, such as hunting, gathering , and fishing! It is especially important to communicate ASAP to members of Congress on the present and impending danger of confiscations and  because of the pending Shoshone Claims Distribution Legislation. If you have the time, try setting up a meeting with them or their staff. As the bill currently is sitting before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, it is especially important to communicate with your Senators if they sit on this committee. Offices for all Congressional members can be reached through the capital switchboard at 202-224-3121.

Senate Committee on Indian Affairs
838 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
202-224-2251   
http://www.senate.gov/

Democrats                    
Daniel K. Inouye, Chairman, Hawaii
Kent Conrad, North Dakota
Harry Reid, Nevada
Daniel K. Akaka, Hawaii
Paul Wellstone, Minnesota
Byron L. Dorgan, North Dakota
Tim Johnson, South Dakota
Maria Cantwell, Washington

Republicans           
Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Vice-Chairman, Colorado
Frank H. Murkowski, Alaska
John McCain, Arizona
Pete V. Domenici, New Mexico
Craig Thomas, Wyoming
Orrin G. Hatch, Utah
James Inhofe, Oklahoma
          
Some suggested points to make include:

- The ongoing confiscations clearly demonstrate why S 958 will not provide relief to the Western Shoshone because it does nothing to resolve the need for an adequate land base for all W. Shoshone communities.  In the Treaty of Ruby Valley , the Shoshone agreed to become agriculturists and herdsmen, yet the government will not recognize any land for these purposes.

- Any legislation concerning the Western Shoshone must be developed with the consent and participation of Western Shoshone leadership, both Traditional and Federally Recognized Councils.

- Any legislation concerning distribution of Claims money must make clear the money is for past damages which do not include title or rights to the land. Language in any bill should explicitly override the provision of the Indian Claims Commission Act which precludes the exercise of rights connected to lands being compensated for.

- A one time cash payment suggests that only the current generation of Western Shoshone is important and leaves nothing for the future generations. ·Cash payments do nothing to change the conditions which have left the Western Shoshone without land or resources. Any legislative solution must provide an adequate land base for the cultural and economic survival of all Western Shoshone communities. Legislation should reaffirm the Treaty of Peace and Friendship.