Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights

June 10, 2023

Dine' Woman Terrorized by Cops and Lithium Americas while Protecting Paiute Massacre Site




A Dine' woman was arrested, then terrorized by law enforcement in Humboldt County, Nevada, at the Ox Sam Camp, protecting the Paiute Massacre Site. After being arrested, she was transferred to a second vehicle on the highway and caged in a black box, with no light, in the back of a pickup truck.
Video of arrest on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/100092743623424/videos/969806037390951




Ox Sam Camp (Newe Mogonee Momokonee) an Indigenous resistance camp at PeeHee Mu’huh

Photo above: Dorece Sam, Fort McDermitt Paiute Shoshone, by Jarette Werk, Underscore News: https://www.underscore.news/reporting/at-thacker-pass-extraction-and-resistance-come-to-a-head

Update today, Saturday

Dorece Sam, Fort McDermitt Paiute Shoshone, said that they now have their Eagle Staff, Ceremonial Items, and Ceremonial Tipi, after these were confiscated by law enforcement in a raid on Ox Sam Camp by Humboldt County Sheriff's Department in Nevada. Lithium Americas security were in possession of the sacred items when they were retrieved, and had put the Eagle Staff upside down in a trash bag. Sam said they blessed it after it was returned. The tents and personal items were not returned. More to come on a SLAPP lawsuit just filed against Paiute Shoshone protectors of the Paiute Massacre Site at Thacker Pass by Lithium Americas of Vancouver, Canada.

Dine' Woman Terrorized by Cops and Lithium Americas while Protecting Paiute Massacre Site

By Ox Sam Camp
Censored News

“I AM OX SAM,” said Diné Woman Protector of Ox Sam Camp who was arrested after being asked to ID herself.

In a country where there are more than 5,295 missing Indigenous women and girls, violence against native women is a real and present danger. The real number of missing or murdered Indigenous women is probably far higher.


Locals near Thacker Pass have reported that Lithium Nevada employees and contractors are asking "Where are the pretty girls at?"

With more than 1,000 workers headed into the area, local Tribal and non-native communities are facing increases in violence, drug use, sexual assault, and trafficking.

This Diné water protector was arrested on Wednesday at the direction of Lithium Nevada security after giving her name as "Ox Sam," a survivor of the 1865 Thacker Pass massacre who rode his horse away from the US Cavalry as they killed his family. Descendants of Ox Sam founded the camp.

She was singled out for arrest strategically as Lithium Nevada continues to target Native people to restrict their access to Thacker Pass. Two non-natives were allowed to “move” in order to avoid arrest, while the Diné woman was quickly handcuffed and subsequently loaded into a sheriff’s SUV for transport to Winnemucca for processing.
While on the highway, again without warning or explanation, she was transferred into a windowless, pitch-black holding box in the back of a pickup truck.

“I was really scared for my life,” the woman said. “I didn’t know where I was or where I was going. I know that MMIW is a real thing, and I didn’t want to be the next one.” She was transported to Humboldt County Jail, where she was charged with criminal trespass and resisting arrest, then released on bail.

Native American people are killed in police encounters more than any other ethnic group, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.

The arrest, harassment, targeting, and removal of Native People from the land is a violation of Executive Order 13007 and the American Indian Religious Freedom Act and a continuation of 500-year government genocide and erasure of native people, traditional lands, biodiversity, and water protectors from Standing Rock and beyond.

Sam Camp Raided by Police at Thacker Pass One Arrested as Prayer Tipis Are Dismantled and Ceremonial Items Confiscated

On Wednesday morning, the Humboldt County Sheriff's Department on behalf of Lithium Nevada Corporation, raided the Ox Sam Newe Momokonee Nokutun (Ox Sam Indigenous Women's Camp), destroying the two ceremonial tipi lodges, mishandling and confiscating ceremonial instruments and objects, and extinguishing the sacred fire that has been lit since May 11th when the Paiute/Shoshone Grandma-led prayer action began.

One arrest took place on Wednesday at the direction of Lithium Nevada security. During breakfast, law enforcement arrived. Almost immediately without warning, a young Dine female water protector was singled out by Lithium Nevada security and arrested, not given the option to leave the camp. Two non-natives were allowed to "move" in order to avoid arrest. The Diné woman was quickly handcuffed and subsequently loaded into a sheriff's SUV for transport to Winnemucca for processing.

While on the highway, again without warning or explanation, she was transferred into a windowless, pitch-black holding box in the back of a pickup truck. "I was really scared for my life," the woman said. "I didn't know where I was or where I was going. I know that MMIW is a real thing, and I didn't want to be the next one." She was transported to Humboldt County Jail, where she was charged with criminal trespass and resisting arrest, then released on bail.

Just hours before the raid, Ox Sam water protectors could be seen for the second time this week bravely standing in the way of large excavation equipment and shutting down construction at the base of Sentinel Rock.

Ox Sam Lives was the 3rd Camp since the beginning of the mining projects inception. We build not just to protect the water and for our own people here but to be a resource for the incoming mines set to encroach the Montana Mountain Range and across Paiute Shoshone Territories with the incoming 40 mines scheduled to hit Nevada. This mine kicking off this new wave of “White Gold Rush” is only the beginning. Build with Ox Sam for all future generations.


Underscore News reports

Police and private security for Lithium Americas destroyed and confiscated Eagle Feathers and Ceremonial Items at Ox Sam Camp. "Michon Eben, cultural resource manager and tribal historic preservation officer for the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, told Underscore News that police and private security leveled the camp and took sacred objects, including a ceremonial hand drum, eagle feathers and a carved staff." -- By award-winning Native reporter Jarette Werk, Aaniiih and Nakoda, Fort Belknap, Montana. 

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