Copyright © 2001 NLThomas
All Rights Reserved

The United States is preparing to confiscate Western Shoshone livestock grazing upon ancestral lands as recognized in the Treaty of Peace and Friendship signed in Ruby Valley, 1863. On Wednesday August 1st, 2001, Bureau of Land Management officials at both the Nevada State office and the Elko Field office confirmed their intentions to conduct roundups of Shoshone livestock in the Crescent Valley and South Fork areas. Both the Dann family of Crescent Valley and the Traditional Cattlemen of the South Fork Reservation and Odgers Ranch have refused to pay the U.S. government for the use of ancestral lands which have never been ceded or sold to the U.S. This planned theft of Shoshone livestock comes just as a Western Shoshone delegation sits in Geneva, Switzerland asserting their rights before the United Nations.

Western Shoshone Document U.S. Human Rights Violations to International Bodies

The United States is currently under the scrutiny of several international human rights bodies for its treatment of the Western Shoshone Nation. Mary and Carrie Dann (the “Danns”) have filed a human rights complaint before the Inter-American Commission (the “Commission”) on Human Rights of the Organization of American States. The Danns’ complaint is based on the United States’ failure to meet its obligations in respect to Western Shoshone rights. The complaint challenges the United States to reform discriminatory legal doctrines that have denied basic constitutional and human rights to indigenous peoples for generations.

In spite of the United States’ requests that the Commission declare the complaint case inadmissible, the Commission ruled in September of 1999 that the petition was admissible. In this ruling, the Commission went on to state that the Danns’ claims raised a prima facie case of human rights violations by the United States’ government. The Commission issued precautionary measures against the United States on two separate occasions, each time requesting that the government halt further action against the Danns pending the Commission’s investigation of their claims. The United States has never formally responded to the precautionary measures. The Ely Shoshone Tribe, the Yomba Shoshone Tribe, the Duckwater Shoshone Tribe, and the Western Shoshone National Council have intervened in these proceedings in support of the Danns complaint.

In 1999 both the Yomba Shoshone Tribe and the Ely Shoshone Tribe submitted a request for urgent action to the United Nations Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (“CERD”) asserting that the rights of the Western Shoshone people have been and are at this moment being violated by the United States in a discriminatory fashion, on the basis of their status as indigenous people. The request asks the Committee to direct the United States to halt actions that threaten irreparable harm to the Western Shoshone people and to enter into negotiations with Western Shoshone leaders to resolve Western Shoshone land claims. The Duckwater Shoshone Tribe and the Western Shoshone National Council have joined in this request as part of the Western Shoshone Nation.

Current Legislation Attempts to Ratify Theft of Shoshone Lands and Rights

The U.S. insists that all Shoshone rights to their homelands have been extinguished as a result of proceedings before the Indian Claims Commission. These proceedings resulted in the 1979 award of $26 million for over 24 million acres of ancestral land. The claims commission proceedings denied the Western Shoshone people due process of law and refused to acknowledge Western Shoshone property rights in a clearly discriminatory process. The award, accepted on behalf of the Western Shoshone by the Secretary of Interior, has never been accepted by the Western Shoshone people who still use and occupy their ancestral lands.

Like the Sioux Nation (Lakota, Dakota, Nakota Peoples) of South Dakota, the Western Shoshone are one of the few indigenous nations within the United States that have resisted the theft of their lands through the Indian Claims Commission process. The claims money sits in a trust account where it has grown to over $110 million. Several attempts to distribute the money have been defeated in Congress, yet Nevada Senators Harry Reid (Democrat) and John Ensign (Republican) have currently introduced a bill(S. 958) that would result in the liquidation of the trust account by a one time individual cash payment to living Western Shoshone. Individual payment would result in a check of perhaps $20,000. As a result of the payment, Western Shoshone citizens are legally precluded from exercising any rights connected to the lands which they have been compensated for. Both Ensign and Reid have strong support from the mining industry which has a vested interest in exploiting Western Shoshone land. The majority of gold produced in the U.S. is removed from Western Shoshone land. The nuclear industry also hopes to create a national high level nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain within Western Shoshone territory. Other vested interests in Shoshone homelands include the U.S. military which uses large portions of Treaty territory for bombing ranges, weapons development and training.

The legislation was developed without the consent or input of either the traditional Western Shoshone government represented by the Western Shoshone National Council or the Federally recognized Tribal Councils representing many of the Western Shoshone communities. Instead, a faction of Western Shoshone known as the Western Shoshone Claims Steering Committee developed the legislation in secret with the assistance of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Senator Reid’s office. While Reid claims that this legislation is necessary to lift Western Shoshone people out of poverty, it does nothing to change the conditions which have led to this supposed poverty, mainly a lack of sovereignty and denial of access to traditional lands and resources. As such, the legislation perpetuates dependence on Federal assistance through the BIA and other agencies and ensures that the Western Shoshone will not attain any degree of self sufficiency or self government. The timing of this increased pressure on Shoshone citizens combined with the pending claims legislation indicates growing momentum on the part of the U.S. to finalize the theft of Shoshone lands and extinguishment of Western Shoshone rights. Now is the time for people of conscience to hold the U.S. accountable for these actions and demand it deal with the Western Shoshone in a just and honorable fashion!

What You Can Do To Help:

1. Please call the following U.S. officials immediately and ask them to immediately cease and desist from their efforts to punish Western Shoshone citizens by fines and confiscation for the act of grazing on ancestral lands.

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

2. Please write(or call) the following officials expressing your support for Western Shoshone human rights, including the rights to use and protect their ancestral homelands. A single letter can be written and copied to the various officials. Please send us copies if possible, as well as any responses you receive.

President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Phone: 202-456-1414
E-mail: president@whitehouse.gov

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell
Department of State
2201 C St., NW
Washington, DC 20520
Phone: 202-647-4000
URL: http://www.state.gov/

Secretary of Interior Gale A. Norton
Department of the Interior
1849 C St., NW
Washington, DC 20240
Phone: 202-208-3100
URL: http://www.doi.gov/
E-mail: gale_norton@ios.doi.gov

State Director Robert Abbey
Bureau of Land Management Nevada State Office
1340 Financial Blvd., Reno, NV 89502
Phone: 775-861-6400
URL: http://www.nv.blm.gov/

Chairman Daniel K. Inouye
Senate Committee on Indian Affairs
838 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: 202-224-2251

Suggested Points to Make:

• The U.S. has a responsibility to respect the human rights of Native American peoples, which include the right of self-determination and the right to possess property, both communally and individually.
• The U.S. has a responsibility to respect the findings of international human rights bodies. It cannot expect to be respected or taken seriously internationally if it is unwilling to respect these international institutions
• U.S. has an obligation to honor Treaties made with Indian Nations under the U.S. Constitution(Article VI, Section 2)
• U.S must stop all trespass and confiscation action against Western Shoshone in respect of the U.S. Constitution, the 1863 Treaty of Peace and Friendship, Western Shoshone human rights and the findings of such bodies as the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
• The U.S. should initiate negotiations with the Western Shoshone to address the ongoing conflict over land use and rights

3. Please educate your Congressional Representatives and urge them to oppose Senate Bill S 958. This communication with your representatives is especially important if they sit on the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.

Office of Representative (Name)
United States House of Representatives
Washington D.C. 20515
URL: http://www.house.gov/

Office of Senator (Name)
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
URL: http://www.senate.gov/

Congressional phone numbers can be obtained from U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121

Senate Committee on Indian Affairs
838 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: 202-224-2251

Chairman Daniel K. Inouye, Hawaii
Phone: (202) 224-5852

Vice Chairman, Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Colorado
Phone: (202) 224-3934

Members of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. If you live in one of these Senator’s districts, please call or write them directly.

Democrats:
Kent Conrad North Dakota 202-224-2043
Harry Reid Nevada 202-224-3542
Daniel K. Akaka Hawaii 202-224-6361
Paul Wellstone Minnesota 202-224-5641
Byron L. Dorgan North Dakota 202-224-2551
Tim Johnson South Dakota 202-224-5842
Maria Cantwell Washington 202-224-3441

Republicans:
Frank H. Murkowski Alaska 202-224-6665
John McCain Arizona 202-224-2235
Pete V. Domenici New Mexico 202-224-6621
Craig Thomas Wyoming 202-224-6441
Orrin G. Hatch Utah 202-224-5251
James Inhofe Oklahoma 202-224-4721

Some suggested points to make include:

• 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 does 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.

4. Host Video Showings to Educate Your Friends, Family, and Communities. The WSDP has available two award winning documentary films narrated by Robert Redford chronicling the efforts of the Western Shoshone people to protect their rights and lands. Cinnamon Productions has made both videos, Broken Treaty at Battle Mountain and To Protect Mother Earth, available to us at cost for $35.00 each. Other locally produced videos documenting the struggle are also available from the WSDP. Contact us to obtain copies for your next potluck or event.

5. Contact the WSDP to get on the Alert List in the Event that the BLM proceeds with the planned confiscation. People willing to participate in non-violent, direct action, as well as documentation (photo, audio, and video) are needed. We are not asking for you to come here now, but would like to know who could come out to Northeast Nevada in the unhappy event of a confrontation. Remember, the Western Shoshone remain committed to the Treaty of Peace and Friendship. Firearms, Drugs, and Alcohol are strictly forbidden!

6. Educate yourself about the history of Western Shoshone land rights. Information packets with background information, copies of the Treaty, and reading lists are available form the WSDP. The truth is our greatest weapon.

7. Consider making a monetary donation or organizing a fundraising event for the Western Shoshone Defense Project. As an affiliate of the non-profit Seventh Generation Fund for Indian Development, your donations are tax deductible. Please make checks payable to the Western Shoshone Defense Project.

For additional information concerning Western Shoshone issues contact the Western Shoshone Defense Project, P.O. Box 211308, Crescent Valley, Nevada 89821 phone: 775-468-0230, fax: 775-468-0237 email: wsdp@igc.org and consult the following web pages:

URL: http://www.indianlaw.org/
URL: http://www.nativeweb.org/pages/legal/shoshone/
URL: http://www.alphacdc.com/wsdp/
URL: http://www.shundahai.org/