Shoshone Use Film, Courts to Fight Gold Mine on Sacred Land

By Lisa J. Wolf
Environment News Service
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/dec2007/2007-12-06-01.asp

CRESCENT VALLEY, Nevada, December 6, 2007 (ENS) -

The 32nd Annual American Indian Film Festival presented Western Shoshone grandmother Carrie Dann with the Eagle Spirit award for best overall contribution in American Indian cinema at an awards ceremony November 27. "Our Land, Our Life," the film that shows the Western Shoshones’ determined struggle to maintain their way of life, won the festival's Best Documentary award.

"Our Land, Our Life," a 74 minute documentary directed by George and Beth Gage, details Carrie and Mary Dann's 30 year struggle to protect their traditional ways and ancestral lands from mining degradation in a battle that went to the U.S. Supreme Court and beyond to the United Nations with no relief as yet from the U.S. government.

Having won these film awards, Dann and her allies, speaking on behalf of the Earth, their Mother, are preparing once again to enter the U.S. Appeals Court and U.S. District Court. Carrie Dann prays for the Earth (Photo by Erin Hetherington courtesy Oxfam)

The Western Shoshone grandmother and other Western Shoshone, who call themselves the Newe people, are trying to stop the federal Bureau of Land Management, BLM, from permitting the world's largest gold-mining company, the Barrick Gold Corporation based in Toronto, from mining on or any nearer to Mt. Tenabo. The mountain is sacred to the Western Shoshone and fundamental to Newe Creation stories and worship.

In the film, Dann, of Crescent Valley, Nevada relates, "As far as the Western Shoshones being here in this valley, they've always been here from forever, I guess. Our stories don't tell us coming here from anyplace. It tells us that as the Creator went by He planted His children. We've heard that from the time we were little, 'It's Western Shoshone land. It's your Earth Mother: She provides for you.'"

The history of the official Western Shoshone relations with the United States began in 1863 when the U.S. government and the Western Shoshone Nation signed the Treaty of Ruby Valley, which recognized Western Shoshone land title. But in the following years the U.S. government began to treat these lands as belonging to the United States and not to the Western Shoshone.

In 1974, the United States sued Carrie Dann and her sister Mary Dann for trespass, basing their suit on a 1962 stipulation of the Federal Indian Claims Commission that the Western Shoshone had lost their land to the United States by gradual encroachment of U.S. settlers and were entitled to $26 million for the 24 million acres of their original territory.

Dann's father homesteaded Crescent Valley ranch land but grazing rights for horses and cattle on surrounding land are now administered by the BLM, which considers the Danns to owe $5 million in grazing fees on what is disputed as traditional Western Shoshone range.

When Mary and Carrie Dann made it to the U.S. Supreme Court and wanted to discuss how title had never been legally transferred from the Shoshone to the United States, the court ruled the Secretary of the Interior had accepted the monetary award on their behalf. The court ruled that the Western Shoshone have been paid and had no right to come before the court and argue for title.

As Chris Sewall of the Western Shoshone Defense Project said in "Our Land, Our Life," "You have the government taking money out of one pocket and putting it another and saying, 'Justice has been done and the Shoshone people have spoken.'"

The documentary shows the BLM with a cavalcade of armed agents confiscating over 500 head of the Danns' horses and over 200 head of cattle in roundups that began in 1992.

Footage is also shown of horses and foals removed by the BLM during a 2003 roundup dead of starvation, decomposing.

Julie Fishel of the Western Shoshone Defense Project questions whether the real impetus for the U.S. government's raids on the Danns is because the area from which the animals were removed "sits atop one of the largest gold finds in the history of the United States." Pine nuts are a traditional food for the Western Shoshone people. (Photo courtesy Western Shoshone Defense Project)

Fishel argues that grazing degradation cannot compare with mining degradation. During gold extraction, tons of earth are dug, and leached with toxic cyanide to separate gold from rock.

In addition, 20,000 to 70,000 gallons per minute of underground water would be removed from this arid region for the gold extraction process "every day for one mine alone, every day 365 days a year," Fishel said.

On December 27, 2002, the Inter-American Commission issued a final report, finding the United States in violation of the rights of Western Shoshone petitioners to equality before the law, due process, and property under the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man. The finding had no effect on the U.S. government.

Following the death of Mary Dann on Earth Day, April 22, 2005, the Western Shoshone took the cause to the United Nations headquarters in Geneva. In March 2006 they received a ruling from the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, CERD, a treaty body set up by the United Nations and ratified by the United States in 1993.

The Early Warning and Urgent Action Decision issued by CERD urged the United States to immediately freeze, desist and stop any further actions against the Western Shoshone people, including legislative efforts to privatize their land. CERD ordered the United States to stop immediately and initiate dialogue with the Western Shoshone. This has not happened.

In addition, Canada's Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade, a committee of the Canadian House of Commons, condemned Canada's mining corporations acting abroad, including Barrick Gold, in a report dated June 26, 2005.

The Standing Committee recommended that Canada "reign in its corporate behavior abroad" and establish "clear legal norms in Canada to ensure that Canadian companies and residents are held accountable when there is evidence of environmental and/or human rights violations associated with the activities of Canadian mining companies."

James Anaya of the University of Arizona School of Law sees the Western Shoshone case as "very important for the indigenous movement world-wide" and said in the film, "They've won the moral battle."

"The United States has its legal maneuvering it can make within its own domestic system," he said, "but when it comes to judging those actions against fundamental human rights, the Danns and the Western Shoshone are the ones who are right."

In March, Dann and the Western Shoshone Defense Project requested that representatives of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Populations, the UN High Commission for Human Rights and other UN agencies attend as observers during a proposed global expert seminar to examine these issues next July.

The global expert seminar will be held on Newe Sogobe (Western Shoshone Territory) at the 14th Indigenous Environmental Network Protecting Mother Earth conference July 17-20, 2008, hosted by the Western Shoshone Defense Project.

They are asking that the commissioner make a site visit to Newe Sogobe prior to the July 2008 conference. Mt. Tenabo, the sacred mountain (Photo courtesy Western Shoshone Defense Project)

Besides petitioning international bodies and U.S. courts, the Western Shoshone, with the support of Oxfam America, took formal statements to Barrick Gold shareholders in May of 2007. They brought over 18,000 signatures of people who oppose mining on Mount Tenabo and in Horse Canyon, important spiritual areas in northern Nevada and the sites of Newe creation stories.

Protection of these sites is fueling legal action.

Of the creation stories and Mt. Tenabo, Western Shoshone Larson Bill told ENS, "They're not told except certain times of the year and also it's not really told to everybody. It's passed down and people that really listen to it believe it. It's a creation story. That's where we got the name for each season and also our instructions of how we're supposed to live here in the world."

The Western Shoshone are planning their next gathering in the area where Bill says, "There's roads into the area where they did the exploration" and "pretty soon it's going to say 'no trespassing.'"

Bill said, "If you were sitting in church and there was all this construction, you wouldn't like that. You wouldn't like people digging up the lawn of the church. You're trying to talk to the Creator and you've got all these distractions."

The current legal appeal was filed July 20 by attorney Roger Flynn, representing the Te-Moak Band of the Western Shoshone, the Western Shoshone Defense Project and Great Basin Mine Watch in their lawsuit against the Department of the Interior and Barrick Gold Corporation.

The appeal relates to a case originally brought by the Western Shoshone allies on May 9, 2005, which involves the BLM's approval of exploration by Barrick's Cortez mining operation of 30,000 acres around Mt. Tenabo and Horse Canyon.

Flynn explained to ENS, "Cortez would only disturb 250 acres but they never told us where."

Flynn said the BLM is "supposed to be consulting with Natives" and "not just say it's going to go out there somewhere and Cortez will tell us where later" in an area with "nationally-recognized cultural historic sites."

The U.S. District Court judge in Reno "ruled that he was not going to upset BLM's view of the law so we appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals." A ruling is expected sometime in 2008. The existing Barrick Cortez gold mine 15 miles from Mt. Tenabo. (Photo courtesy Western Shoshone Defense Project)

The Cortez gold mine is located 60 miles southwest of Elko, Nevada in Lander County. Barrick is the owner of a 60 percent joint venture interest and is the operator; the remaining 40 percent interest is held by Kennecott Explorations (Australia) Ltd.

Even if the Western Shoshone win the Tenabo/Horse Canyon exploration case, the lawsuit will not stop the newly proposed Cortez Hills Tenabo Project. This development includes a new open pit, underground mining, three new waste rock facilities, a new heap leach pad and related roads and facilities, requiring new surface disturbances of 6,792 acres and the permanent loss of 817 acres of pinon trees, which produce pine nuts, a traditional Western Shoshone food source.

The BLM's Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the mining proposal is open for public comment through December 21, 2007.

"BLM has signaled its intention to approve the project," said Flynn.

If the BLM approves the final environmental impact statement by the end of spring 2008 as Flynn expects, the Shoshone would have to bring a new court case to block the mine's construction. "We have to wait until they formally approve the project," said Flynn.

The Cortez Hills Tenabo Project is expected to extract eight million ounces of gold worth $6.4 billion at today's prices. The current Cortez mining in the valley is about 15 miles from Mt. Tenabo but the new mine would blast directly into the mountain.

Flynn said, "The Tenabo case is going to boil down to whether the BLM can approve mining by the company at the expense of protecting religious freedom on public lands." Flynn sees the issue as "a test case of religious freedom versus yet another gold mine."

Gerald Smith, field manager for the Battle Mountain BLM Field Office, told ENS that "after the final record of decision, we're continuing to conduct consultation with" the Western Shoshone.

"We're asking them for their comments. We've been working with them," said Smith. "We have a working group that we put together with the Elko Band."

Smith acknowledged that should there be an open pit and potential underground mining "there are going to be definite impacts, visual impacts" and "loss of pinon juniper in traditional areas should excavation of the pit get approved."

"If they start excavation and recover cultural artifacts" a programmatic agreement between BLM, the mining company, the State Historic Preservation Office and the Te-Moak Tribe will, Smith believes, adequately address mitigation of Native American artifacts and burial sites.

Flynn says BLM mitigation "looks good on paper but doesn't really happen."

"Protection isn't just writing a report on it and moving on," he said.

"It's not just the bones or artifacts" since "it's what many have called their church," Flynn said. "You wouldn't do mitigation for the Sistine Chapel. You wouldn't take a picture, blow it up and then say you've mitigated the damage." Drilling rig on the road through Crescent Valley (Photo courtesy Western Shoshone Defense Project)

Lou Schack, Barrick Gold's manager of communications and community affairs, told ENS, "As far as the current litigation, we've prevailed several times in regards to these charges and we expect to again."

Carrie Dann told ENS, "There are definitely burial sites within that area" and artifacts.

"That area has been used by the Western Shoshone people for fasting and all kinds of things," she said. "There's medicinal plants up there. Things people still use today. The area used to be hunting area for the men-folk and I absolutely think what they're doing is spiritual genocide against the Western Shoshone people" in "a spiritual area of great significance."

"Destroying that is destroying the way we believe. If you destroy land as indigenous people, that is destroying life," Dann said. "I don't mean just life now, but the life for the future" and "for a company to do this just surely for money, I think is wrong."

"Senators and also the Congress people from the state of Nevada" aren't looking at the destruction but "at net proceeds" which "as indigenous persons we can't look at" since "our duty is to protect the rights of the future generations to come," she said.

"They're not protecting the water, the land, out there with a hand-out saying 'put some money in here' either for political campaigns or whatever it is. I see money over the rights of indigenous people," Dann said.

"Barrick is the biggest gold company in the world," she said. "These gold mines have these so-called politicians in their pocket. Maybe people can eat gold later on in life."

In "Our Land, Our Life," Dann said, "They're pumping this virgin water so we as human beings can enjoy wearing gold. Ladies and gentleman, you are killing the Earth. The Earth is dying because of the way people act" and as U.S. consumers "desperately" pursue gold, "we as indigenous people are yelling, 'Stop that, you're killing our Mother!' Who's going to hear us? 'Stop that. You're killing the Mother of all life, for God's sake!"

"Can't you wake up and hear what we're saying to you? Treat the Earth with tender loving care because it is our only mother.'"

OxFam America has posted a short version of "Our Land, Our Life" on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffYNzUDR-6k.

Comments on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement can be sent to Stephen Drummond, BLM, Battle Mt. Field Office, 50 Bastian Road, Battle Mountain, NV 89820.

.doc or .pdf

News Release - For Immediate Release
Contact: Klee Benally, Save the Peaks Coalition
Phone: (928) 380-2629
coalition@savethepeaks.org
www.savethepeaks.org
Sarah Coffey, National Lawyers Guild
Phone: (310) 597-2915

Coalition of Tribal Leaders and Environmental Justice Groups to Defend Sacred Site
at Pasadena, CA Courthouse Legal Arguments to be Heard on December 11th, 2007

Pasadena, CA - December 11th, 2007 a legal battle that may determine the fate of American Indian religious freedom and the ecological integrity of the San Francisco Peaks, a mountain held sacred by more than 13 Native American nations will be reheard in a Pasadena, California courtroom.

On October 17th, 2007 the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals granted the U.S. Forest Service and an Arizona ski resort the opportunity to challenge a previous decision by the court, which had blocked the ski resort owners from expanding development and making fake snow from treated sewage effluent on the sacred San Francisco Peaks.

A coalition of tribes and environmental groups are joined together to prevent the environmental destruction, community heath hazards, and the extreme desecration this planned development would cause.

"It should not be this difficult to keep government or anybody else from using sewage containing feces, hospital waste, pharmaceuticals, and pathogens like the Norwalk Virus for anything humans would come in contact with. It's a no-brainer-- you don't play in your own poo." Stated Rudy Preston, Board member of the Flagstaff Activist Network and plaintiff in the case.

The March 12, 2007 9th Circuit Court ruling overturned a lower court decision and blocked the proposed ski area expansion and snowmaking with treated sewage effluent. The decision established that the Forest Service had violated its own laws by not fully studying the impact of human contact with fake snow made from the treated sewage.

During the 9th Circuit proceedings a Judge had asked the Forest Service, “Have you ever heard of a face plant?”

The ruling has also determined that the development would substantially burden Tribe’s religious practice. The decision had been hailed as a victory for Religious Freedom, Environmental Justice & Cultural Survival.

Tribal Leaders of the Yavapai-Apache, Hopi, Havasupai, Hualapai, White Mountain Apache, and Navajo Nations will converge on the Pasadena courthouse for oral arguments in defense of their original victory.

Of the many dignitaries, Ben Nuvamsa, Chairman of the Hopi Tribe, the Hopi Head Kachina Priest and a Cultural Preservation representative will be making the journey from the Hopi Mesas in Arizona to Pasadena.

“The Hopi tribe and I are hopeful that the court will uphold the initial decision.” Stated Leigh Kuwanwisiwma, the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office Director. “Both myself and chairman Nuvamsa are going to attending the proceedings with a positive prayer in our hearts.”

The President of the Navajo Nation, Joe Shirley Jr., who will also be at the court proceedings and following press conference, has called upon all those "who deeply respect our Mother Earth to join us in a ‘National and International Day of Prayer’ for our sacred mountain of the west, Doko’oosliid (The San Francisco Peaks)."

The Save the Peaks Coalition (STPC), a volunteer group formed in 2004 to protect the Sacred Mountain, will caravan with Indian and non-Indian people from Arizona to attend the December 11th court proceedings.

California community based organizations such as Axis of Justice, South Central Farmers, Southern California Indian Center, Q-Team, Food Not Bombs, to name a few, are working with the STPC to organize a 2 mile march, prayer vigil, and rally in Pasadena.

"Why in 2007, do we as America's first people have no guarantee for protection of our religious freedom? We will continue our dedication to save the Peaks until we have our human rights fully upheld." Said Jeneda Benally a volunteer with the Save the Peaks Coalition.

"Our federal government seems to place the profitability of a privately owned, non-destination ski area, that operates on federal land, over the deeply held religious and cultural convictions of hundreds of thousands of Native Americans living in the southwestern United States." said Howard Shanker, of the Shanker Law Firm, PLC, representing the Navajo Nation, the White Mountain Apache Tribe, the Yavapai-Apache Tribe, the Havasupai Tribe, Rex Tilousi, Dianna Uqualla, The Sierra Club, The Center for Biological Diversity, and the Flagstaff Activist Network.

Shanker, who is running for Congress in Arizona’s Congressional District 1, added that "We need better laws and lawmakers who are willing to stand up and be counted in the face of this type of injustice. The continued pursuit of the use of reclaimed waste water to make snow on the San Francisco Peaks should be an affront to all people of conscience everywhere."

In addition, lawyers representing the Hopi Tribe and DNA People's Legal Services Inc. representing the Hualapai Tribe, and other tribal individuals will present their case.

“If you desecrate this sacred mountain it is like destroying the Mormon chapel or other churches through out the world, even Mecca a holy place, what will be next what if it's your place of worship?” Said Avery Denny, a member of the Dine’ (Navajo) Hataali Association which is involved in the lawsuit to protect the holy Mountain.

"The struggle for Indigenous People's cultural survival is directly connected to maintaining a healthy environment." Said, Jesus Torres, Community Organizer with Communities for A Better Environment, a California statewide environmental health and justice organization. "Although Los Angeles and the surrounding areas may seem distant from these threatened sacred landscapes, we recognize this is a fight for Environmental Justice and Human Rights. We will be at the courthouse to support the efforts to protect the San Francisco Peaks."

In advance of the court proceedings a panel discussion with representatives from the Save the Peaks Coalition, the Tongva Nation, actress and activist Q’orianka Kilcher, and more will be held to address “Indigenous Cultural Survival, Environmental Justice and Protecting Sacred Places.” This event will be held on Saturday, December 8th at 6:00pm at Self Help Graphics located at 3802 Cesar E. Chavez Ave. An awareness concert to protect sacred sites will follow. KPFK FM 90.7 Los Angeles is a media sponsor of this event.

Members of the public have been invited to participate in events that have been scheduled to support efforts to help save the Peaks:

Saturday, December 8th

Panel Discussion & Awareness Concert!

"Defending the Land: Indigenous Cultural Survival, Environmental Justice & Protecting Sacred Places"

Panel Discussion from 6:00pm - 8:00pm with representatives from Environmental groups, Grassroots organizations, and Indigenous communities struggling to protect sacred places.

Protect Sacred Sites! Awareness Concert starting at 8:00pm (Bands TBA)

Where: Self Help Graphics & Art
3802 Cesar E. Chavez Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90063
Tel. 323-881-6444

Monday, December 10th

Welcoming ceremony for Save the Peaks caravan from Northern Arizona, dinner and speakers. When: 6:30pm
Where: The All Saints Church
132 North Euclid Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91101
Tuesday, December 11th - Save the Peaks Court Date

The case will be heard at the Pasadena Court of Appeals at 3:00pm. The court is located at 125 South Grand Avenue, Pasadena, CA. Parking is limited in the area so please carpool and use public transportation.

Noon - 1:30pm
March for Sacred Sites & Human Rights!
Meet at All Saints Church for lunch and march to the Appeals Court.

1:40pm - 3:00pm
Prayer Vigil, Ceremony & Rally outside the Courthouse.
Vigil to continue outside for folks who do not wish to enter the courthouse.

3:00pm - 4:00pm
Actual court proceedings. Folks will be able to go inside the courthouse to view the court proceedings and show support.

5:00pm - 5:30pm
Press Conference outside of courthouse.

Please visit www.savethepeaks.org for more information.

Supreme Court ruling in Belize cites Indigenous Declaration and other international law

From: Jeffrey C. Parsons
Senior Attorney
Western Mining Action Project
wmap@igc.org
P.O. Box 349
Lyons, CO 80540
303-823-5738
Fax 303-823-5732

April 12, 2007

9th Circuit rules PNG residents can sue Rio Tinto in US

In what appears to be a fairly significant case, the 9th Circuit ruled today that residents of Bougainville in Papau New Guinea can sue Rio Tinto in U.S. Federal Court under the federal Alien Tort Claims Act for racial and civil rights abuses perpetrated by PNG troops acting at Rio Tinto's behest at a copper mine the company operated on the island from 1972-1988. This decision reverses a lower court decision that held the claims could not be brought in the U.S.

Here is a link to a background story in the Seattle PI discussing the events that led to the lawsuit: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/pac02.shtml

Here is a link to the opinion (431kb .pdf format)

Snowbowl owner vows to pursue snowmaking

By CYNDY COLE
Sun Staff Reporter
www.azdailysun.com/articles/2007/03/13/news/20070313_news_12.txt

Either the Supreme Court will uphold the Forest Service permit to use recycled effluent, said Snowbowl owner Eric Borowsky Monday.

Or Snowbowl will pump potable water from the company's private land in Fort Valley.

But Coconino County's top planning official said the cost of drilling a 3,000-foot-deep well and pumping water several miles uphill would be "prohibitive."

And activists vowed to oppose the use of a public right-of-way for any pipeline.

"We are definitely going forward with this," Borowsky said. "This ruling is definitely the wrong ruling and it has a major impact on federal land ... I think this decision is saying that if a Native American thinks it impacts his religion, then you're not allowed to do it."

But the decision on whether to appeal rests with Coconino National Forest Supervisor Nora Rasure, who had yet to decide late Monday, and the Department of Justice.

"We need to review this decision ourselves," she said, raising questions about how two courts ruled so differently.

"When we started this, we thought it was a better environmental choice to use grade A reclaimed water than to drill a hole and use groundwater," he said. "Our alternative is to use groundwater. That is a definite alternative."

Borowski needs only to fill out some paperwork with the Arizona Dept. of Water Resources in order to access the water by well, the agency said.

Bill Towler, community development director for Coconino County, estimates Borowsky would have to drill deep to find a water source, probably more than 3,000 feet to reach the Red Wall Aquifer.

Noting only a handful of wells in the county access the Red Wall, Towler said the cost to pump an estimated 1.5 million gallons a day to cover the 250-acre site would be prohibitive. The ski area would use considerably less water to maintain the snowpack during the ski season.

"The well would be very deep and very expensive," said Towler. "The cost of the water would be prohibitive."

Opponents with Save the Peaks Coalition and Flagstaff Activist Network have vowed to oppose rights-of-way up the mountain for any such water pipeline.

CITY WON'T PROVIDE WATER

It is unlikely the city of Flagstaff would provide potable water for snowmaking, as the city does not allow the use in local golf courses or other recreational capacities.

Ron Doba, the city's utilities director, said the city has never studied providing Snowbowl with potable water and the developer never asked the city to consider it.

Doba cautioned that as the city is seriously considering piping potable water in east of the city to alleviate future water shortages, it would be unlikely that the city would sell millions of gallons to Snowbowl on an annual basis.

A phone survey of the Flagstaff City Council found strong resistance to the idea, with several members stating they would reject any plan to use potable water on the site.

Borowsky previously said he'd sell the ski area if he lost this round of the litigation.

He's changed his mind, he said, because of the precedent this case sets for all public lands. Other groups have approached him and asked him to pursue this case, he said, both for its legal significance and because others couldn't afford a court battle.

There were thousands of sacred sites identified nationwide in the earlier rounds of court testimony. Tribes could now try to control what recreation and other purposes public land is used for around each of these sites if this case stands, Borowsky argued.

Snowbowl has spent $4 million in environmental consulting and legal fees so far in an attempt to get an $8 million project approved, he said.

"If a tribe makes a claim," he said, "the real question is: Is anyone really going to bother to go to federal court to use a piece of property when this is what you're facing?"

Cyndy Cole can be reached at 913-8607 or at ccole@azdailysun.com.

http://us.oneworld.net/article/view/147237/1/4536

Canada Scolded over Exploitation of Indigenous Peoples' Lands

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 16 (OneWorld) -
Canada, like the United States, is facing international scrutiny for its treatment of indigenous people.

This week, a United Nations treaty body took the rare step of telling Canada to change its behavior on the human rights of native populations.

In a report, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) said it was concerned about complaints of exploitation of indigenous resources by orporations registered in Canada.

CERD, which is based in Geneva, told the Canadian government to take "appropriate legislative or administrative measures to prevent the acts of transnational corporations on indigenous territories."

The CERD report comes in response to a petition filed by indigenous organizations that charged private businesses from Canada were unlawfully involved in the exploitation of their lands located in the United States.

Their petition particularly focused on the situation facing the Western Shoshone, a native American tribe, whom some non-natives also refer to as "Snake Indians," although in their own language they are called Newe people.

Stretching across the states of Nevada, California, Idaho, and Utah, the Shoshone lands are currently the third largest gold producing area in the world, where numerous multinational corporations are operating and many are planning to move in.

Many of these companies, which include Bravo Venture Group, Nevada Pacific Bold, Barrick Gold, Glamis Gold, Great Basin Gold, and U.S. GoldCorp, according to the complaint, are registered in Canada.

Many areas where mining is going on have been used by natives for spiritual ceremonies and cultural purposes for thousands of years. Certain areas are home to Shoshone creation stories and vital to indigenous traditions of acquiring knowledge.

"The sites where the Canadian [corporations] are operating or preparing to operate are akin to a church or mosque to us," said  Carrie Dann, a Shoshone elder. "We believe we're placed here on this land as caretakers. We are responsible for the health and preservation of our lands."

Shoshone elders have repeatedly charged that the enormous amount of toxic material produced as a result of mining is causing enormous damage to the health and well being of their people and the environment.

Last year, in response to the Western Shoshone petition, CERD assailed the U.S. government for violating the tribes' rights and said Washington had run afoul of the international antiracism treaty.

The 18-member UN panel of experts, set up to monitor global compliance with the 1969 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, said it had "credible information" that the Shoshone were being denied their traditional rights to land.

In its petition, the tribe had challenged the U.S. government assertion that it owned 90 percent of Shoshone lands covering about 60 million acres. CERD members said the U.S. government must cease all commercial activities on tribal lands, including mining operations.

The United States recognized Shoshone rights to their land under the 1863 Treaty of Ruby Valley. However, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1979 that the pact gave Washington trusteeship over tribal lands.

The federal government justified its position by saying that tribe members had abandoned traditional land tenure and practices and cited "gradual encroachment" by non-natives as evidence to claim much of the land as federal territory.

The Western Shoshone, in their petition to the UN panel, countered that "gradual encroachment" in fact took place as part of a U.S. policy to steal their lands, and that this constituted racism.

The Geneva-based panel agreed with the Shoshone by noting that Washington's claim to the land "did not comply with contemporary international human rights norms, principles, and standards that govern determination of indigenous property interests."

Shoshone leaders said they went before the UN panel because they had exhausted all other legal options to prevent the U.S. government from taking over their ancestral lands, and for similar reason they had to challenge the role of the Canadian government.

In addition to recommending legal steps to change corporate behavior, the UN panel has also asked Canada to submit a report on the effects of the activities of transnational corporations in Canada on indigenous peoples abroad.

For their part, Dann and other indigenous leaders said they were pleased with the UN response to their petition.

"This is ground breaking news," Dann said about the CERD report on Canada. "This is the first time a UN treaty body has addressed government accountability to its corporate profiteering of ongoing human rights violations against indigenous peoples."

Ground Breaking News: United Nations Committee tells Canadian Government it must be Accountable for Corporate Behavior on Indigenous Lands.

This is ground breaking news – the first time a United Nations Treaty Body has addressed government accountability to its Corporate profiteering of ongoing human rights violations against indigenous peoples. Thanks to First Peoples Human Rights Coalition for putting together the following release – and to International Indian Treaty Council, Indigenous Network on Economies and Trade, Univ. of Arizona Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program and many other distinguished and articulate communities and organizations for their leadership and amazing work in focusing United Nations attention to the role being played by the transnational corporations and their continued violations of indigenous rights to spirituality, health and self-governance.

No more impunity – Accountability for spiritual, environmental and human rights violations will prevail.

In February, the Western Shoshone exercised their right to represent themselves on an international level, by submitting a ‘shadow report’ [attached] to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) in Geneva.  Several other articulate Indigenous groups also submitted reports to the Committee, all regarding human rights responsibilities of the government of Canada.

 The Western Shoshone report emphasized that the actions and policies of transnational corporations registered in Canada were causing adverse effects on the human rights of the Western Shoshone in the United States, as well as the human rights of other Indigenous peoples in countries all over the world.

 The report further specified various human rights being undermined or violated, including the Western Shoshone’s right to practice their own culture, to preserve their prayer places, their right to their own means of subsistence, their right to health, their right to own and control their own lands and resources, to food that has not been contaminated, to water that is drinkable, and to a safe and healthy environment.

 From the Western Shoshone Defense Project report: “Based on Canada’s obligations to respect, protect and promote the rights of all peoples, we request that this Committee … take appropriate measures to ensure that Canadian transnational behavior on indigenous lands does not contribute to ongoing violations against the Western Shoshone or other indigenous peoples outside of Canada’s borders.”

 The Committee recognized the importance of the reports, including additional reports from non-Indigenous support groups. From the concluding observations of the CERD Committee:

 17.   The Committee notes with concern the reports of adverse effects of economic activities connected with the exploitation of natural resources in countries outside Canada by transnational corporations registered in Canada on the right to land, health, living environment and the way of life of indigenous peoples living in these regions …

… the Committee encourages the State party to take appropriate legislative or administrative measures to prevent acts of transnational corporations registered in Canada which negatively impact on the enjoyment of rights of indigenous peoples in territories outside Canada. In particular, the Committee recommends to the State party that it explore ways to hold transnational corporations registered in Canada accountable. The Committee requests the State party to include in its next periodic report information on the effects of activities of transnational corporations registered in Canada on indigenous peoples abroad and on any measures taken in this regard.

All shadow reports to the CERD Committee regarding Canada can be found at: http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/cerds70-ngos-canada.htm  

   CERD Western Shoshone Report re: Canada Feb07.doc

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