FYI -- Encourage your local papers to cover
this story!
For the Western Shoshone theft is theft, even when
by Congress
Editorial
June 27, 2003
INDIAN COUNTRY TODAY
http://IndianCountry.com/?1056730052
The Western Shoshone land claims case is a contemporary, classic,
textbook example of Manifest Destiny. While private and governmental
forces work avidly to quiet all past, future and potential title
to Western Shoshone lands, the reality of a case not proven, even
if decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, continues to reveal a fundamental
injustice.
Last week, the House Resources Committee held meetings and heard
testimony on the Western Shoshone Distribution Bill, H.R. 884.
If the bill passes committee vote, it will go to the floor for
a full House vote. The bill, which has the strong support of the
Nevada congressional delegation, would approve the direct distribution
of federal funds to the Western Shoshone tribal members. It would
force settlement of two long-standing land claims filed by the
Te-Moak Bands of the Western Shoshone.
Attempts to force such a settlement to the ancient Shoshone
land claim have been defeated before, but bills continue to be
introduced and lobbied. This one is sponsored by Sen. Harry Reid,
D-Nev., as S. 618 in the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, and
by Representative Jim Gibbons in the House Committee on Resources.
The Interior Department contends, along with the Nevada congressmen
and willing Shoshones, that the vast majority of the tribal members
in question support the distribution. And, indeed, Felix Ike,
chairman of the Te-Moak tribe testified that over 2,500 enrolled
members or some 65 percent of the population of nearly 3,700 identified
as having 1/4 or more Western Shoshone blood, voted for the distribution
of the trust funds.
It is understandable that many Western Shoshones are tired of
the decades-long claims process and would rather move on. A Supreme
Court decision against the case is the ultimate step, they say.
They would use the money for economic development, chairman Ike
said, and while no one can dispute that such is needed, its per
capita distribution is unlikely to achieve the intended results.
Additionally, the Te-Moak Council asserts that Ike acted outside
his constitutional authority by both holding an illegitimate referendum
and in testifying before Congress without its consent. (The letter
advising Congress on this matter and signed by a majority of the
Te-Moak Council is published in this issue.) Many now wonder aloud,
what's in it for Ike?
Most impartial observers will see that the issue is not at all
clear cut. There are several recognized Western Shoshone governments.
The majority of these councils, as governments, do not agree with
the settlement. There is no mistaking that many Western Shoshone,
perhaps even a majority, do not agree with the settlement. These
Western Shoshones contend that the land is theirs by inheritance
and quite effectively challenge the federal government to prove
just how and when their people or tribal nation ever relinquished
it. As Raymond Yowell, chief of the Western Shoshone National
Council, said at the House hearing, "By what law did the United
States acquire the lands of the Western Shoshone?" We also wonder
how any American Indian would agree to relinquish lands and resources
worth billions, for the trivial compensation offered by the government.
The manner of the recent vote is controversial. Many challenge
it for having been held in only one community, publicized only
there by a single newspaper ad. Apparently, too, that first referendum
ballot indicated, wrongly, that acceptance of the claim money
would not affect Western Shoshone land rights. But it does.
The contention plays hardest on the ground, where several Western
Shoshone ranchers have dug in and battled the Bureau of Land Management
for over 20 years. The past year has seen the seizure, confiscation
and forced selling of much of their cattle and horses, actions
that wreaked financial havoc on the ranchers, including the elderly
sisters, Mary and Carrie Dann. According to recent alerts, "Helicopters
and ongoing Department of Interior surveillance (armed rangers)
continue to harass community members and their livestock." The
concern of the Western Shoshone activists is that, with distribution
of the settlement clearing Indian title, the federal government
will "turn around and auction the lands and waters off to large
corporations - mining, energy and military contractors." (Western
Shoshone Defense Project)
To complicate (or perhaps clarify) matters further, conflict
of interest questions are trailing Nevada Senator Harry Reid like
flies on cowpie. A recent Los Angeles Times article paints a portrait
of a senator deeply influenced by lobbyists, mostly members of
his own family, working for major interests, real estate and resource
industries, in Nevada. Fair or not, the sense of something amiss
pervades his methods. The whole of Nevada seems riddled with this
problem. Once, the mere appearance of conflict of interest was
cause for shame and consternation; these days, actual conflict
of interest is often simply ignored, even accepted as normal by
a fat-cat media ruled by a fat-cat corporate-congressional alliance.
The issue is deeply cultural and historical - the land is sacred
to the Shoshone - but the issue is also fully economic. It is
about tribal private property, clearly demarcated, being stolen.
There are many natural resources to be extracted on and under
Shoshone lands worth billions of dollars. The desert setting and
low population density also makes it attractive to all manner
of massive exploitation, including highly toxic gold mining and
even more toxic nuclear weapons testing (add now potential nuclear
waste storage).
The Western Shoshone opponents point to their 1863 Treaty of
Ruby Valley, which recognizes Western Shoshone homelands. But
the U.S. chose to ignore that promise and has managed the area
as federal lands. It ushered in the wildcats while squeezing the
Indian jurisdictions and disregarding treaty rights. For many
years, prior to any court or congressional settlement, the federal
and state governments treated Western Shoshone lands as "public"
lands, always assuming that Indians would disappear. Increasingly,
urban sprawl, mining, military testing have been managed under
the assumption that the land had transferred title, that Western
Shoshones had no say over it, or any claim whatsoever to the wealth
emerging from their ancestral tribal properties and lands, wrested
away from them with impunity by raw power and greed, to the great
and growing benefit of non-Indian squatters.
Serious property and money is involved. Placer Dome, a gold
mining enterprise now estimates that their recent "discovery"
in Crescent Valley, home of the Dann sisters, will produce over
$1 billion in gold. The Placer Dome operation is just one of numerous
major gold mining operations on Western Shoshone lands. Dome's
President and CEO Jay Taylor praised his company's foresight in
a "strategy of gaining large land positions in known gold camps."
He is right there, but what of the Western Shoshones, who had
already "gained and held" those large land positions?
Then there is Bechtel, Nev., which straddles governmental and
private sectors. Bechtel constructed several of the large gold
mines in the area. It manages the Nevada Test Site as well as
the counter-terrorism facility that conducts nuclear, biological
and chemical weapons construction and testing. Bechtel has the
contract for high level nuclear waste storage at Yucca Mountain,
a site sacred to the Western Shoshone. All this happens on Western
Shoshone lands, a most valuable piece of real state and resource
base that provides some two-thirds of all the gold produced in
the U.S. Of course, no compensation accrues to the Native people
whose lands and properties have been thus confiscated.
The Dann sisters' case recently won a victory at the Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights, which found the Indian Claims Commission
process that justifies the taking of their lands as "illegitimate."
We agree with this decision, and applaud any and all efforts to
gain justice for the Western Shoshone Indian people. We urge the
media to witness the cattle and horse raids, where good reporting
and video documentation is entirely necessary. There has been
enough stealing from Indians. From confiscated lands and properties
that are worth so much, political and economic justice must prevail.
Whether accepted by none, or one, or all Western Shoshones,
who have a right to a proper referendum process and a proper negotiation
over their political and economic rights, the manner of this imposition
remains an example of America at its worst.
|
ACTION ALERT
Threat of Western Shoshone Distribution Bill Looms
Large
June 5, 2003
Supporters and Friends:
The situation in Shoshone country, like the rest of the world,
is bad and getting worse. Two more Orders to Remove were served
by federal agents over the last week this time on Western Shoshone
in the Southfork area, including Chief Raymond Yowell of the Western
Shoshone National Council. Federal livestock seizure could occur
as early as next Monday. Helicopters and ongoing Dept. of Interior
surveillance (armed rangers) continue to harass community members
and their livestock. Mary and Carrie Dann, Western Shoshone activists,
are also feeling the pressure of ongoing armed surveillance and
helicopter monitoring.
At the same time, the current Washington D.C. powers are stepping
up the legal and policital manuevering. Senator Reid and Congressman
Gibbons continue to push for passage of the Western Shoshone Distribution
Bill despite heavy opposition. There continues to be no legislative
commitment on land issues. Gold mining exploration is on the rise
and applications to exploit the hot springs have come in by the
hundreds. The Nevada Test Site is pushing for more nuke testing
and plans to dump High Level Nuclear Waste in sacred Yucca Mountain
continue to move forward. Our greatest concern is that they will
push through the Distribution Bill allegedly "clearing the title"
and then turn around and auction the lands and waters off to large
corporations (mining, energy and military contractors). Meanwhile
destroying Western Shoshone culture and leaving the people with
nothing more than lands classified as "disposal lands." The pressure
is building - A hearing on the Western Shoshone Distribution Bill
is imminent in the House Committee on Resources and the Senate
Committee on Indian Affairs may bypass a hearing altogether. We
need your help to turn the tide and protect the sacred. The time
is now.
Enough is enough. Carrie Dann
Alex Page
Indian Law Resource Center
601 E Street SE
Washington, D.C. 20003
202-547-2800
www.indianlaw.org
HERE IS WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP:
1. Contact Public Officials and Legislators. The Western Shoshone
Distribution Bill (S. 618/H.B. 884) is alive and kicking. The
bill is opposed by the traditionals and the majority of tribal
governments. It is an attempt to make a one time payment to the
Western Shoshone for their lands. It has been defeated time and
time again but it keeps getting introduced and lobbied. It is
in the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs (S. 618/Sponsor is Senator
Reid D-NV) and the House Committee on Resource (H.B. 884 /Sponsor
is Congressman Gibbons (R-NV)). The House Committee scheduled
a hearing on the bill in mid May but the hearing was postponed.
The Senate may not conduct a hearing but may -expedite the bill
according to staffers.
Background The Western Shoshone Distribution Bill is part
two of an ugly process that was begun by the Indian Claims Commission
(ICC). For two decades the ICC carried out a flawed and discriminatory
process that denied the Western Shoshone their right of equality
before the law, the rights to a fair trail and the right to property,
and ended with the payment to the Western Shoshone for their land.
The Western Shoshone rejected the payment at the 1980 Hearing
of Record.
A majority of the Western Shoshone tribes and Western Shoshone
traditional people oppose the claims distribution bill, SB 958,
because it is an attempt to strip them of their land rights, by
plans to open the alleged "public" lands to privatization under
Senate Bill 719.
Please make calls to your Senators and Representatives to stop
the bill as it is currently written from passage. Advocate for
alternative legislation that ensures Western Shoshone land rights
and secures a Western Shoshone homelands.
Talking points:
-
It is time for the U.S. to reverse the tide of wrongs committed
against Native Americans. Call upon the U.S. government to
abide by the decision of the Inter-American Commission on
Human Rights. Tell them you support a reasonable alternative
to the proposed legislation that addresses the legitimate
need of the Western Shoshone for a land base, one that includes
an agreement and timeline to negotiate with the Western Shoshone
for an economically and culturally viable land base.
-
The U.S. has a history of human rights abuses against indigenous
peoples, including violating the treaties it has signed. Not
only has the U.S. broken its Treaty with the Western Shoshone,
the U.S. is in violation of the human rights treaty we signed
as a member state of the Organization of American States
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The full decision
of the Inter-American Commission finding that the U.S. is
using illegitimate means to deny Western Shoshone rights and
is violation of the right to property, to due process and
to equality under the law. The U.S. should be working to correct
its mistakes and not finalizing them with the claims distribution.
-
Ask the question: Why not good faith negotiations with the
Western Shoshone? Whose interests are being protected? The
multinational gold mines? The defense subcontractors at the
Nevada Test Site and the Counterterrorism facility? Bechtel
and its contract at Yucca Mountain? (For more info on Bechtel's
involvement see press release of 6/5/03). Is it powerful interests
blocking the Western Shoshone from justice - or just government
mismanagement and incompetency? Or both?
On the Bill process:
-
Both referendums used to justify the distribution were shams
developed by a private interest group without input or agreement
by the tribal leadership. The traditional people and the majority
of federally recognized Western Shoshone tribal governments
oppose SB 618 and HB 884.
-
The ballot language crafted by this private interest group
was deliberately misleading. The first referendum ballot stated
that the acceptance of the claim money would not affect Western
Shoshone land rights. While the Department of the Interior
is the supposed -trustee, it confirmed at the recent Senate
Indian Affairs Committee that they had not monitored the vote
process, or conducted an independent verification of the votes.
-
The sponsors of the ballot did not use a legitimate voting
process, i.e., they did not provide voter confidentiality,
had no voters lists to know who was eligible to vote, and
published no description of how the vote would be conducted
nor how the vote was tallied. In fact, there is no verification
that the "voters" were Shoshone or actual, individual voters.
No attempt was made to notify Western Shoshone outside of
a newspaper ad in the community in which the vote was held.
2. Talk About the Western Shoshone Situation with Your Family,
Community, CoWorkers and the Media. Human Rights violations
against the native peoples of this United States have not
ended the history is long and hard, but it is not over. Get
people talking about it tell them the Truth. Point them to
information that will answer questions and clear doubt. The
situation of the Western Shoshone and indigenous peoples around
the world affects everyone.
3. Keep the Western Shoshone and Newe Sogobia in Your Prayers.
Prayers are powerful medicine and have seen this struggle
through many hard times. We thank you for your continued support,
thoughts, and prayers.
4. Make a contribution to support our work. The Western
Shoshone Defense Project (WSDP) continues to play a critical
role in the recognition of Western Shoshone land rights and
in ensuring that Western Shoshone voices are heard. Without
donations from private individuals and foundations we would
not exist. With the increased federal and corporate pressures,
the need for monetary support is even greater. Please make
checks payable to SGF (earmarked for WSDP), P.O. 211308, Crescent
Valley, NV 89821.
|
Bill Offers Tribe Money to Settle Old Land Dispute
By Doug Abrams
Gannett News Service
WASHINGTON -- At a Wednesday hearing, House members questioned
whether the majority of Western Shoshones support a bill that
would distribute $142.5 million to the Nevada tribe in return
for land the government took from it.
Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., has introduced a bill to distribute
the money that has been sitting in a trust account for decades.
But the tribe is divided over whether to accept the money or
continue battling the federal government for taking its land,
which included much of Nevada.
The bill's proponents say that accepting the trust distribution
of about $30,000 per tribal member would not prevent tribal members
from pursuing their land claims in court.
"The purpose of this bill is not to determine the validity of
anyone's claim on the land but to distribute the funds in the
account," Gibbons said at the House Resources Committee hearing.
A similar bill was passed in the Senate last term but failed
to clear the House.
Michael Olsen, an Interior Department attorney, said that 90
percent of the Western Shoshones voted for the settlement.
"My understanding is there are about 6,000-plus members [of
the tribe] and 1,500 voted for it," said Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M.
"How do you get to 90 percent? That's only one quarter."
Olsen said some of the 6,000 members were minors who couldn't
vote, but could not provide specifics to back up his statement.
The issue stems back more than 50 years when the Te-Moak tribe
of Western Shoshone filed a claim before the Indian Claims Commission.
The tribes were awarded a judgment of $26.1 million in 1979 for
their land and an additional amount in another accounting claim,
which since has built up to $142.5 million.
But the tribe never agreed to take the settlement and has been
split over the issue ever since. Two of the four main Western
Shoshone bands voted recently to support the settlement, one opposed
it, and the Te-Moaks voted for it, against it and for it again
in the last six years, Olsen said.
Felix Ike, chairman of the Te-Moak tribe, said 1,647 of his
members voted for the settlement versus 156 against. The economy
around the Te-Moak lands in northeastern Nevada is in decline
and the tribe needs help, he said.
"Our aboriginal lands were destroyed and poisoned by mining,
toxic waste and other forms of abuse," he said. "In accepting
the claims money, we are not giving up any hunting, fishing or
gathering rights."
Raymond Yowell, who heads the Western Shoshone National Council,
a political group within the tribe, opposed the settlement and
said the U.S. government has never proven how it legally acquired
the Western Shoshone lands.
|
ACTION ALERT:
We have just been informed that the Senate Committee on Indian
Affairs has scheduled a markup on the Western Shoshone Distribution
Bill for this Wednesday (July 16, 2003) at 10 am EST. There
has been no hearing before the Senate this session and there has
never been an attempt by any member of the Nevada Congressional
delegation to meet with Western Shoshone. Senator Reid (D. Nev.)
and Chairman Campbell (R. Colo.) appear to be making the bill
a top priority. In fact, Senator Reid has was quoted recently
in the local press as stating: " I've told my staff I want the
bill reported out of the Indian Affairs Committee...I won't let
any other bills out until that one is reported out." In response
to the hefty opposition to the bill, Reid is quoted: "I don't
think it's fair to have dissidents hold up the bill." (emphasis
added)
The fear of many is that once the U.S. has forcibly distributed
these monies, they will claim the Shoshone have been "paid" and
that title to the lands (over 24 million acres) is cleared, thereby
paving the way for a massive land auction set up in a similar
fashion to the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act. Corporations
standing to gain handsomely include multinational gold giants:
Newmont Mining Company (Colo.) and Placer Dome (Canada). Both
companies are represented by McClure, Gerard and Neuenshwander,
Inc. conveniently also the employer of Senator Reid's son-in-law,
Stephen Barringer. (For more info on Senator Reid's 'family ties"
see June 24, 2003 Las Vegas Review-Journal). According to an April
23, 2003 article in the Salt Lake Tribune, on an issue very close
to the Western Shoshone Yucca Mountain waste storage struggle,
McClure, Gerard and Neuenshwander was paid more than $1 million
to lobby Congress on behalf of a group of utilities (Private Fuel
Storage) seeking to license a temporary nuclear waste storage
facility on the Goshute Indian Reservation. Also standing to gain
heavily from the ouster of Shoshone from their lands are none
other than Nevada Land and Resources Co. (PECO Holding Corp.),
Bechtel Corp. and Kennecott Mining.
The battle for justice and protection of Mother Earth continues
with faith and determination, despite the odds.
Following are two sample letters sent by Organizations concerned
about the Bill. If you or your organization would like to express
your comments/concerns to Congress and need more information,
please call us or check our website at the link below. Senate
members' contact info is available at www.senate.gov/~scia/ or
fax: 202-228-2589.
Sample Letters
From Citizen Alert:
Citizen Alert, one of the oldest grassroots organizations in the
state of Nevada would like to go on record as stating our profound
disappointment in Representative Gibbon's [Senator Reid's] dogged
determination to pass the Western Shoshone "distribution" bill.
This is unfair and misdirected legislation and would be bad
law. It is also, from our viewpoint, very shortsighted. Nevada
is in the fight of it's life in trying to stop Yucca Mountain
from becoming the nation's dump for nuclear waste and we have
perhaps, the show stopper, the Treaty of Ruby Valley.
We urge Representative Gibbon [Senator Reid] to "put on the
brakes" and look at the possible ramifications of his actions.
As important to us is the issue of righting a wrong. When the
treaty was signed it was implicit in its language that the government
take care of the land and to honor the wishes of the Shoshone
peoples. Disregarding and trampling the sacred sites on the land,
destroying the environment and contaminating our precious aquifer
system with toxic waste is unacceptable and in violation of that
treaty.
There is still time to do the right thing.
Respectfully,
Peggy Maze Johnson
Peggy Maze Johnson
Executive Director
Citizen Alert
P.O. Box 17173
Las Vegas, NV 89114
702.796.5662
702.796.4886 (fax)
pmj1@citizenalert.org
http://www.citizenalert.org
From the Oaks Institute:
On behalf of the full Board of Directors and membership of The
Oaks Institute, I am writing to voice our unified opposition to
the pending legislation regarding payments to members of the Western
Shoshone nation. We are a nonprofit organization composed of scholars,
businesspersons, and concerned public leadership working to safeguard
the environmental sustainability of our communities.
As you may know, there are grave conflicts between government
claims of title to Western Shoshone lands, and aboriginal title
as recognized by several international bodies.
It is the conclusion of The Oaks Institute, after a thorough
investigation of historical documents, recent documents and testimony,
that the present attempt to legislate payment is closely tied
to the interests and lobbying efforts of the international mining
corporations and possibly Bechtel corporation.
This payment is not a just action, is not going to hold up in
light of international law, and may leave US law makers in a moral
quagmire themselves, as more documents related to conflicts of
interest are brought to the press and the public.
We urge a conservative, rational approach to this matter, one
that does not bend the legitimacy of US legislatures and US law
to serve the short term interests of international mining.
If I can be of any assistance to you as you address this matter
of great importance, I would be happy to speak with you.
Sincerely,
Michele Weber, Ph.D.
Board Chair
The Oaks Institute
941 W. Pear, Suite 112
Brea CA 92821
(714)256-2006 phone/fax
oaksinstitute@earthlink.net
www.theoaksinstitute.org
|
|
Tue, 8 Jul 2003
From: Peggy Maze Johnson pmj1@citizenalert.org
Subject: HB884
Citizen Alert has long been a strong supporter of the Western
Shoshone peoples as well as all of the other Indian nations. The
bill that Congressman Gibbons (R. NV) is proposing is bad - bad
- bad! I just sent the following statement to the staffs of the
Representatives on the assigned committee and would appreciate
it if you would also send along your comments. The contact info
is after our statement. If you have any questions about the impact
of this bill you may contact me or Julie Fishel at the Western
Shoshone Defense Project for more information. Julie's number
is (775)468-0230.
Statement of Citizen Alert
Citizen Alert, one of the oldest grassroots organizations in
the state of Nevada would like to go on record as stating our
profound disappointment in Representative Gibbon's dogged determination
to pass the Western Shoshone "distribution" bill.
This is unfair and misdirected legislation and would be bad
law. It is also, from our viewpoint, very shortsighted. Nevada
is in the fight of it's life in trying to stop Yucca Mountain
from becoming the nation's dump for nuclear waste and we have
perhaps, the show stopper, the Treaty of Ruby Valley.
We urge Representative Gibbons to "put on the brakes" and look
at the possible ramifications of his actions.
As important to us is the issue of righting a wrong. When the
treaty was signed it was implicit in its language that the government
take care of the land and to honor the wishes of the Shoshone
peoples. Disregarding and trampling the sacred sites on the land,
destroying the environment and contaminating our precious aquifir
system with toxic waste is unacceptable and in violation of that
treaty.
There is still time to do the right thing.
Respectfully,
Peggy Maze Johnson
CONTACT LIST for Western Shoshone Distribution
Bill (H.884) |
Ask your local paper to reprint this story of modern
day thievery of Indian lands by the U.S. government. And
contact your Congressional representatives... When will
enough be enough???
URGENT UPDATE: The Committee on Resources, U.S.
House of Representatives is still accepting comments on the distribution
bill mentioned in this article -- Let them know what you think!
(A contact list is included after the article.)
Tribal News
Conspiracy theory or synchronized thievery?
By Deidre
Pike
July 3, 2003
Reno News & Review
http://www.newsreview.com/issues/reno/2003-07-03/news2.asp
|
Photo By Debra Reid |
Sisters Mary and Carrie Dann fight for Shoshone land rights from
their ranch in Crescent Valley.
There is yet another confluence of controversy between federal
legislation forcing a Native American tribe to accept money as
payment for most of the land in Nevada and mining decisions that
affect a huge chunk of that same land.
In late April, the largest mining operator in the Crescent Valley
area--home to the Dann family ranch and the Western Shoshone Defense
Project--announced the discovery of a new place to mine gold at
Cortez Hills near Mount Tenabo in the Cortez Mountain Range.
Within a couple of months, members of the U.S. House of Representatives
were talking about Nevada Rep. Jim Gibbons' bill to distribute
$142.5 million held for the Western Shoshone in a decades-old
trust fund as a payment for Shoshone land.
The proposed mine would violate ancestral land near Mount Tenabo,
say folks from the WSDP and Great Basin Mine Watch, which is also
fighting the mine.
"There's no mitigation that can make up for mining in somebody's
church," said Christie Whiteside, GBMW program associate.
Whiteside fears that the proposed mine is just the tip of a larger
plan that could include new mines all along the mountain range
to the east of Crescent Valley. The area is home to Western Shoshone
grandmothers Mary and Carrie Dann, who've run their homesteaded
ranch for decades while continually battling the Bureau of Land
Management.
The BLM says the Danns owe the feds millions in fines for illegal
grazing. The Danns say the land belongs to the Western Shoshone
and they shouldn't have to pay.
So who holds title to the land?
In the early 1860s, mining began in the Cortez Mountains. By
1863, the Western Shoshone Nation had signed a Treaty of Peace
and Friendship, aka the Treaty of Ruby Valley, with the United
States. The treaty allowed for a $5,000 annuity to the Shoshone
to compensate for environmental damages.
The Shoshone received $5,000 worth of provisions and clothing
when the treaty was signed. That's it. In 1961, the Carlin Trend,
a mining hot spot that would yield 40 million ounces of gold,
was discovered.
In 1962, the Indian Claims Commission ruled that the Western
Shoshone land had become the property of the United States through
"gradual encroachment."
Federal squatting, in other words.
>In 1979, the feds decided to pay for the land at rates appropriate
to the 1870s, or 15 cents an acre, a total of $26.1 million. The
Shoshone refused the money, which has grown to $142.5 million.
Gibbons' bill, under consideration in the House, would force the
distribution of the settlement money. Each member of the tribe
would get about $30,000.
The Pipeline Gold Mine in the Cortez Range was opened in 1997.
Later, the South Pipeline Mine doubled the size of the original
project. The BLM busied itself rounding up the Danns' cattle.
It'd be easy to dismiss the conspiracy theory that the federal
government wants clear title to the land because of its richness
in minerals. Still, it is awfully handy to try to force the Western
Shoshone to accept the government's money now, after all these
years.
"It would certainly ... make it easier and a lot less messy
to go in and clear the way for mines to go in," said Whiteside.
"You know, it's been quite apparent that the title to the
land has never been cleared. That's something that's always been
hanging over their heads."
Whiteside traveled to Crescent Valley to speak with the Danns
and other members of the WSDP this week. The groups are already
pushing for the Bureau of Land Management to do a cumulative environmental-impact
study that takes into consideration both impacts from the Pipeline
mines and the proposed new mines. They'd also like to see a map
of all the claims held by Cortez Joint Venture, so that they can
see the mining company's game plan.
"It looks like they're going to mine that whole range there,"
Whiteside said. "We're just getting started on it. We've
got a long road ahead of us."
As far as fighting the mine on the grounds that the land is sacred
to the Shoshone, Whiteside acknowledges that there isn't much
case law to support their complaint.
When ancestral lands compete with the 1872 Mining Law, it's easy
to predict which will win.
" Whiteside said. "They may say, 'We'll put a 25-foot
buffer between open pit and sacred site.' But I haven't seen a
mine stopped on that basis."
tl:c:ws:memo-resources committee contact list with addresses
BACK
|
|
FYI. Terrible News. Senators Reid and Campbell in the The
Senate Committee on Indian Affairs passed the Western Shoshone
"distribution" Bill (S. 618) this morning at 10 am EST. The
bill is now on its way to the full Senate.
On the House side (H. 884), we are hearing rumblings on a
mark up and Committee on Resources vote as soon as next week.
Let us know if you need more info
Julie Fishel
Western Shoshone Defense Project
| Senate
Committee on Indian Affairs Phone Numbers: |
General Number: 202-224-2251
Senator Harry Reid (D NV) 202-224-3542
Senator Hatch (UT) 202-224-5251
|
Senator
Nighthorse Campbell (R. Co) 202-224-5852 (Chair)
Senator Inouye (D Hawaii) 202-224-3934
Senator McCain (AZ) 202-224-2235 |
July 15
PRESS RELEASE
**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**
Despite Heavy Controversy, Congress Pushes Western Shoshone
Land Fraud Bill
While Impacts of Armed Federal Seizures of Indian Horses
and Cows Continue
July 15, 2003. Crescent Valley, NV.
Despite heavy opposition, defeat in the last several legislative
sessions and complaints about the illegitimacy of "voting"
and hearing processes, the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs
has again put the controversial Western Shoshone "distribution"
Bill (S. 618) on their schedule. The schedule is not
for hearings or fact findings, but for a "mark up"
on Wednesday, July 16, 2003 at 10:00 am EST. On
June 17, Senator Reid was quoted in the local Elko Daily
Free Press as stating: " I've told my staff
I want the bill reported out of the Indian Affairs Committee...I
won't let any other bills out until that one is reported out."
Reid's response to the widespread opposition to the bill:
"I don't think it's fair to have dissidents hold up the
bill." There has never been an attempt by any
member of the Nevada Congressional delegation to conduct field
hearings or otherwise meet with Western Shoshone in Nevada.
The Bill would force payment of monies set aside by a federal
agency, the Indian Claims Commission, and long refused by
the Western Shoshone. In January of this year, the Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights confirmed the Western Shoshone
claims of fraud and found the process used by the agency as
illegitimate and in violation of rights to property, due process
and equality under the law. In 1863, the United States
entered into a Treaty of Peace and Friendship with the Western
Shoshone. The treaty, known as the Treaty of Ruby Valley,
recognized Western Shoshone territories throughout Nevada
and in parts of California, Utah and Idaho. In
the last year, the Department of Interior, through its Bureau
of Land Management, has conducted several armed raids on Western
Shoshone livestock, seizing hundreds of cows and horses from
the mountains and valleys of Shoshone country. Recent
reports indicate that horses seized during the most recent
raid have aborted their colts at an alarming rate and
many have died from the trauma.
The fear of many Western Shoshone and non
Indian people is not limited to the unnecessary deaths of
the animals, but also that once the U.S. has forcibly distributed
these monies, they will claim the Shoshone have been "paid"
and that title to the lands (over 24 million acres) is cleared,
thereby paving the way for widescale land sales and exchanges
similar to the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act.
Their fears are not unfounded, when the Western Shoshone Distribution
Bill was introduced in 1999, Senate Bill 719, the Northern
Nevada Public Lands Management Act was also introduced by
Senator Reid. The "Public" Lands Bill would
allow for privatization of the lands which have been the issue
of a decades long legal and political battle and currently
considered by the Department of Interior as federal lands.
Approximately two-thirds of the gold produced in the U.S.
comes from these lands and the area has been referenced by
Senator Reid as the next "Saudia Arabia" of geothermal
energy development. The lands are also home to the Nevada
Test Site and new federal Counterterrorism facility as well
as the proposed Yucca Mountain National Nuclear Waste Depository.
Corporations standing to gain handsomely include multinational
gold giants: Newmont Mining Company (Colo.) and Placer
Dome (Canada). Both companies are represented by McClure,
Gerard and Neuenshwander, Inc., a key lobbyist for the National
Mining Association, and the employer of Senator Reid's son-in-law,
Stephen Barringer. Also standing to gain heavily from
the ouster of Shoshone from their lands are Nevada Land and
Resources Co. (PECO Holding Corp.), Bechtel Corp. and Kennecott
and Barrick Mining Corporations.
Carrie Dann, still angered by the discovery
yesterday of a pile of dead foals and horses, aborted or otherwise
traumatized after the latest armed Department of Interior
removal in February stated: “It's just crazy what's
going on here. Who has the right to steal a person's
horses and cows and to try to force people off lands that
their grandmother's mother's mother cared for and raised her
children on. Remove us from these lands and we will
die a slow, painful spiritual death."
Stated Carrie. “Our people never agreed to sell or leave
these lands, they agreed to a Treaty of Peace and Friendship.
Is this the U.S.' idea of peace and friendship? The
Shoshone have a different definition and we honor that commitment.
Even if money distribution happens, the United States needs
to understand that we have not sold our lands, a forced payment
of approximately 15 cents an acre cannot bind us. We
cannot leave this land. This is our home. ” She
added firmly.
"In my opinion, this bill is based
upon deceipt and is a total theft of Western Shoshone lands."
Stated Mary McCloud, Western Shoshone grandmother.
In a letter from Citizen
Alert, one of the oldest grassroots organizations in Nevada,
the Executive Director writes: "This is unfair and
misdirected legislation and would be bad law. It is also,
from our viewpoint, very shortsighted. Nevada is in the fight
of it's life in trying to stop Yucca Mountain from becoming
the nation's dump for nuclear waste and we have perhaps, the
show stopper, the Treaty of Ruby Valley." Citizen
Alert continued: "As important to us is the issue
of righting a wrong. When the treaty was signed it was implicit
in its language that the government take care of the land
and to honor the wishes of the Shoshone peoples. Disregarding
and trampling the sacred sites on the land, destroying the
environment and contaminating our precious aquifer system
with toxic waste is unacceptable and in violation of that
treaty."
The Oaks Institute, a California based organization
composed of scholars, businesspersons, and concerned public
leadership working to safeguard the environmental sustainability
of communities expressed deep concerns in a recent statement
by Board Chair, Michele Weber: "It is the conclusion
of The Oaks Institute, after a thorough investigation of historical
documents, recent documents and testimony, that the present
attempt to legislate payment is closely tied to the interests
and lobbying efforts of the international mining corporations
and possibly Bechtel corporation. *** This payment
is not a just action, is not going to hold up in light of
international law, and may leave US law makers in a moral
quagmire themselves, as more documents related to conflicts
of interest are brought to the press and the public."
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ACTION ALERT:
We have just been informed that the Senate Committee
on Indian Affairs has scheduled a markup on the Western Shoshone
Distribution Bill for this Wednesday (July 16, 2003) at 10
am EST. There has been no hearing before the Senate this
session and there has never been an attempt by any member
of the Nevada Congressional delegation to meet with Western
Shoshone. Senator Reid (D. Nev.) and Chairman Campbell (R.
Colo.) appear to be making the bill a top priority. In fact,
Senator Reid has was quoted recently in the local press as
stating: " I've told my staff I want the bill reported out
of the Indian Affairs Committee...I won't let any other bills
out until that one is reported out." In response to the hefty
opposition to the bill, Reid is quoted: "I don't think it's
fair to have dissidents hold up the bill." (emphasis added)
The fear of many is that once the U.S. has forcibly distributed
these monies, they will claim the Shoshone have been "paid"
and that title to the lands (over 24 million acres) is cleared,
thereby paving the way for a massive land auction set up in
a similar fashion to the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management
Act. Corporations standing to gain handsomely include multinational
gold giants: Newmont Mining Company (Colo.) and Placer Dome
(Canada). Both companies are represented by McClure, Gerard
and Neuenshwander, Inc. conveniently also the employer of
Senator Reid's son-in-law, Stephen Barringer. (For more info
on Senator Reid's 'family ties" see June 24, 2003 Las Vegas
Review-Journal). According to an April 23, 2003 article in
the Salt Lake Tribune, on an issue very close to the Western
Shoshone Yucca Mountain waste storage struggle, McClure, Gerard
and Neuenshwander was paid more than $1 million to lobby Congress
on behalf of a group of utilities (Private Fuel Storage) seeking
to license a temporary nuclear waste storage facility on the
Goshute Indian Reservation. Also standing to gain heavily
from the ouster of Shoshone from their lands are none other
than Nevada Land and Resources Co. (PECO Holding Corp.), Bechtel
Corp. and Kennecott Mining.
The battle for justice and protection of Mother Earth continues
with faith and determination, despite the odds.
Following are two sample letters sent by Organizations concerned
about the Bill. If you or your organization would like to
express your comments/concerns to Congress and need more information,
please call us or check our website at the link below. Senate
members' contact info is available at www.senate.gov/~scia/
or fax: 202-228-2589.
Sample Letters
From Citizen Alert:
Citizen Alert, one of the oldest grassroots organizations
in the state of Nevada would like to go on record as stating
our profound disappointment in Representative Gibbon's [Senator
Reid's] dogged determination to pass the Western Shoshone
"distribution" bill.
This is unfair and misdirected legislation and would be
bad law. It is also, from our viewpoint, very shortsighted.
Nevada is in the fight of it's life in trying to stop Yucca
Mountain from becoming the nation's dump for nuclear waste
and we have perhaps, the show stopper, the Treaty of Ruby
Valley.
We urge Representative Gibbon [Senator Reid] to "put on
the brakes" and look at the possible ramifications of his
actions.
As important to us is the issue of righting a wrong. When
the treaty was signed it was implicit in its language that
the government take care of the land and to honor the wishes
of the Shoshone peoples. Disregarding and trampling the sacred
sites on the land, destroying the environment and contaminating
our precious aquifer system with toxic waste is unacceptable
and in violation of that treaty.
There is still time to do the right thing.
Respectfully,
Peggy Maze Johnson
Peggy Maze Johnson
Executive Director
Citizen Alert
P.O. Box 17173
Las Vegas, NV 89114
702.796.5662
702.796.4886 (fax)
pmj1@citizenalert.org
http://www.citizenalert.org
From the Oaks Institute:
On behalf of the full Board of Directors and membership of
The Oaks Institute, I am writing to voice our unified opposition
to the pending legislation regarding payments to members of
the Western Shoshone nation. We are a nonprofit organization
composed of scholars, businesspersons, and concerned public
leadership working to safeguard the environmental sustainability
of our communities.
As you may know, there are grave conflicts between government
claims of title to Western Shoshone lands, and aboriginal
title as recognized by several international bodies.
It is the conclusion of The Oaks Institute, after a thorough
investigation of historical documents, recent documents and
testimony, that the present attempt to legislate payment is
closely tied to the interests and lobbying efforts of the
international mining corporations and possibly Bechtel corporation.
This payment is not a just action, is not going to hold
up in light of international law, and may leave US law makers
in a moral quagmire themselves, as more documents related
to conflicts of interest are brought to the press and the
public.
We urge a conservative, rational approach to this matter,
one that does not bend the legitimacy of US legislatures and
US law to serve the short term interests of international
mining.
If I can be of any assistance to you as you address this
matter of great importance, I would be happy to speak with
you.
Sincerely,
Michele Weber, Ph.D.
Board Chair
The Oaks Institute
941 W. Pear, Suite 112
Brea CA 92821
(714)256-2006 phone/fax
oaksinstitute@earthlink.net
www.theoaksinstitute.org
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