Longest Walk 2008 in Fallon -- American Indian Spiritual Walk for Survival Welcomed

Fallon Indian Tribe Welcomes the American Indian Spiritual Walk for Survival “Longest Walk 2”

Wednesday, February 20, 2008 Contacts:
For Immediate Release Jimbo Simmons 
Ricardo Tapia 
Mari Villaluna 
www.longestwalk.org

By Longest Walk 2 Northern Route Organizers

A Direct Call for Action for the Protection of Mother Earth and our Sacred Sites

FALLON, Nevada (2008) -- On Wednesday, February 20th, the Northern Route of the Longest Walk 2 has been invited to stand in solidarity with Fallon Indian Reservation about sacred sites, such as Grimes Point and Sand Mountain. The Longest Walk 2 is a trans-continental spiritual walk for environmental protection and Native American rights. Participants are on a five- month journey on foot from San Francisco and will arrive in Washington, D.C. on July 11, 2008.
“Longest Walk 2 embraces the struggle in solidarity with Nevada Natives fighting to keep their sacred sites and in protecting Mother Earth” said Jimbo Simmons, National Coordinator of Northern Route of The Longest Walk 2. “The issues of protection of the sacred sites of Sand Mountain, Grimes Point, and Fox Peak are crucial issues to the Paiute-Shoshone people, and they have asked us to stand in solidarity with them.” he continued.
“There are many sacred sites around here… There is Fox Peak and that is where a lot of our creation stories began,.. There is also Grimes Point which used to be an old Indian trail and Sand Mountian” said Buck Sampson, (Paiute-Shoshone) Spiritual Advisor for the Nevada Inter-Tribal Council.
Keishia Tom, a Paiute youth, age 10, stated, “Fox Peak… Indians came out of that. Some of the Indian’s lived in the caves (Grimes Point) behind the mountain (Sand Mountain). The Indians were the first people on this land and their spirit is in the writing of the rocks and some times inside the caves and even in our sacred places.”
The Longest Walk 2 of 2008 is stopping in communities all across Turtle Island. Longest Walk participants will listen to Native peoples concerns, document and deliver them to US officials in DC. This walk consists of Indigenous peoples from North, South, and Central America, as well as people from Europe and Asia. The 2008 walk will mark the 30th anniversary of the original Longest Walk of 1978 that resulted in historic changes for Native America.; In July of 1978, over 30,000 people converged on the Nations capitol to oppose and successfully defeated 11 pieces of legislation in Congress that would have terminated Native American Tribes.
Our participants will be welcomed with a potluck dinner and traditional Paiute-Shoshone dances that were supported and lead by tribal members of the Nation. We will be continuing our journey to Washington, D.C. through Fallon, Nevada and with the permission of the people we will be learning about the local sacred sites to the Paiute-Shoshone people and then taking this information to Washington, D.C.
*Media: High Resolution Photos of all events available upon request