Pyramid Lake protest, photos by Bad Bear

Paiutes and supporters protested at Pyramid Lake as a non-Indian leasee is holding cultural items hostage. Photos by Carl "Bad Bear" Sampson, Paiute/Western Shoshone

Special thanks to cellphoneographer Carl "Bad Bear" Sampson for providing Censored News with photos and video from the Paiute protest to protect cultural items at Pyramid Lake. Paiute said Pyramid Lake Marina operator Thomas Bobella is holding them hostage or even worse. "My concern is that Mr. Bobella or members of his staff are mishandling them, damaging them or even selling them," says tribal member Wayne Burke. Quote from KOLO TV coverage at: http://www.kolotv.com/home/headlines/37747474.html
Bad Bear has provided Censored News with coverage on the Longest Walk northern route, Peace and Dignity Run in Arizona and now the Paiutes action to protect Pyramid Lake. Thank you!

Demonstration to protect Western Shoshone's Mount Tenabo

Western Shoshone Defense Project
P.O. Box 211308
Crescent Valley, NV 89821
www.wsdp.org
Contact: Julie Cavanaugh-Bill (775-397-6726), wsdp@igc.org
Dan Randolph (775-348-1986), dan@gbrw.org

Hearing to Stop Further Mining at Tenabo
Demonstration and News Conference to Protect Native Religions
Where: Gordon R. Thompson Federal Bldg. (S. Virginia and Liberty)
When: Tuesday, January 20, 8:00 AM

On this day of the inauguration of a new president with hope for the future we are reminded that the founding fathers of the United States dedicated into our constitution freedom to practice religion as ones tradition required.

Just two months ago, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management approved the construction of a massive open pit cyanide heap leach gold mine on the face of well-known spiritual area, Mt. Tenabo. Western Shoshone communities, the Western Shoshone Defense Project and Great Basin Resource Watch are seeking an injunction to stop further destruction of Mt. Tenabo by Barrick Gold Corporation. The Federal Court in Reno has scheduled a hearing on Jan. 20th and 21st.

The peaceful and respectful demonstration will open with native drumming, song, and prayer. Western Shoshone elders will speak, and supporting local religious leaders will follow. Just before 9:00 AM the demonstration will close and all supporters will be invited to attend as much of the injunctive hearing as they can in support of religious freedom. There will also be a similar demonstration at the same time on January 21.

“Denabo (correct pronunciation) has special significance for Western Shoshone, it means the writing on the rocks walls of the mountain (White Cliffs) put there by our Creator. We go to pray to our Creator to give us strength to keep us going. How can we pray to our creator when the place is being blown up?” - Joyce McDade, Western Shoshone Grandmother

“When God makes a covenant to provide for human beings, the covenant always includes the land. Our well-being as a species is conditioned upon our capacity to love and care for the land. Native American communities and their spiritual practices have enlightened our way to this love and care.”– John Auer, Reverend First United Methodist Church, Reno NV.

Barrick Gold Corporation is the world’s largest gold company and operates mainly on Indigenous lands for the extraction of gold. This company has refused to accept its social responsibility to protect Indigenous peoples’ land, sacred areas, water, and air pollution.

This destruction of Indigenous spiritual areas must stop now.