For Immediate Release –
Western Shoshone National Council Statement delivered to members of Congress in the House
on Nov. 8, 2005

Western Shoshone National Council Statement on a House Resources Committee Budget Reconciliation Package, Subtitle B

Currently, the U.S. House of Representatives Resources Committee has a Budget Reconciliation bill pending, sponsored by Congressman Pombo (R-Calif.), Chairman of the House Resources Committee. This bill would allow major mining corporations to purchase outright—for $1,000 per acre—“public lands” where they have established mining claims. Congressman Rahall, the Resources Committee Ranking Democrat has said: “If enacted, this proposal would result in a blazing fire sale of federal lands to domestic and nternational corporate mining interests. This is the worst kind of sham reform of the Mining Law ever to be promoted in my tenure of Congress.” The Western Shoshone National Council concurs with Congressman Rahall’s assessment of this terrible piece of legislation, but we, as traditional Western Shoshones, also oppose this bill because it would sell lands that belong to the Western Shoshone.

The United States currently classifies approximately 90% of Western Shoshone lands as federal lands. Their lands are now the 2nd largest gold producing area in the world and the Nevada Congressional Delegation and the U.S. Administration have pushed hard to distribute a one time monetary payment to lift cloud to title on this same land base. The Western Shoshone Nation has successfully defeated several legislative efforts to privatize key areas of their lands, the most recent of which have been HR 2869 and S 719. The issue has received national and international attention and has been a focal point in campaigns by Amnesty International and Oxfam America, to name a few. Despite the controversy and lack of due process afforded Western Shoshone, in June 2004, Congress passed the Western Shoshone Claims Distribution Act, legislation that allowed for a distribution of the Indian Claims Commission monies to individual Western Shoshone Indians who could prove ¼ degree or more Western Shoshone ancestry. President Bush signed the bill into law in July 2004. As of today’s date, there has been no distribution of these monies and the Western Shoshone have filed an Urgent Action Request with the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination to seek good faith dialogue with the United States to address the issues.

Just prior to passage of the Western Shoshone Claims Distribution Act, which was vehemently opposed by the Western Shoshone Nation, Congressman Gibbons (R-Nev.) and Congressman Pombo responded to the concerns of a number of their fellow congressmen by saying, on the record, that no effort would be made to privatize Western Shoshone lands within the boundaries described in the Treaty of Ruby Valley. Instead, immediate action would be taken by the federal government to work toward a negotiated resolution of the land dispute between traditional Western Shoshones and the United States. As a result of these assurances, several members of Congress who had serious questions about the legislation decided to remove their objections.

Now, just sixteen months after he and Congressman Gibbons gave those assurances to their congressional colleagues, Rep. Pombo has put forth a legislative proposal to allow Western Shoshone lands within the boundaries of the Treaty of Valley to be sold off to major mining corporations. We traditional Western Shoshones unequivocally oppose Congressman Pombo’s legislation a violation of our ancestral and treaty rights to our own territory. We respectfully ask you to join Congressman Rahall in opposing this wrongheaded legislative provision.

For the traditional Western Shoshone people, this struggle is not just one of who “owns” the land, but one of deep cultural and spiritual significance. As a people, we are deeply rooted to the lands where we were placed by the Ah-peh (Father God) and have a responsibility to safeguard those lands, the air and the water against destructive activities. It is our spiritual teaching that the Earth is our mother and to try to remove us from our lands or displace us by privatization efforts would be to commit spiritual genocide on our people. We appreciate your attention to this very serious matter. For questions or additional information, please contact: Western Shoshone Defense Project (775) 468-0230, wsdp@igc.org Sincerely, Raymond Yowell, Chief WSNC

Western Shoshone Defense Project
P.O. Box 211308
Crescent Valley, NV 89821
(775) 468-0230
Fax: (775) 468-0237
www.wsdp.org