Carrie Dann Tribute by American Indian Genocide Museum

Photo L to R: Samuel, Cheryl, Carrie, Steve and Marah

A visit with Carrie Dann and reflections on American Indian Genocide: 'The deliberate and systematic destruction of a people'

By Steve Melendez
Pyramid Lake Paiute
President, American Indian Genocide Museum
Censored News

February 9, 2016

An open letter to Carrie Dann,

My family and I certainly enjoyed our recent visit with you and your family in Crescent Valley this past December. You are such an inspiration to us that we just had to come and see you. We are aware that for coming generations and for all eternity our people will be able to look back at your life and say, "This is how they criminalized our people and this is how genocide happened. It was not war. It was the deliberate and systematic destruction of a people-- genocide".

The exhibit at the University of Nevada in Reno is very powerful. They have the video, American Outrage playing constantly. All of our people, especially our youth should see this exhibit, if only for the ambiance of seeing your story portrayed as art, history and law in an institution of higher learning.  

It was amazing to see one of the bills the government sends you each year. The one for the amount for $5,044,253.23 was dated April 26, 2005. The title of the exhibit, "WHOSE LAND IS IT?" really states the great American dilemma at the heart of the matter. Perhaps you should personally send the government a bill for that same amount which would accrue interest until they address the Treaty of Ruby Valley of 1863. The elephants in every American courtroom are the hundreds of treaties which were made with the Indians and which they continue to ignore. It was interesting to hear you say that you didn't think you were trying to sue the government for the last thirty years, you were just trying to get your treaty enforced.

I was able to order a copy of the five million, forty four thousand, two hundred and fifty three dollar bill from the University of Nevada Special Collections Department and plan to enlarge it into poster size. I believe it perfectly illustrates the colonizers criminalizing the landowners.  Another good title for the exhibit would be, "Are Treaties the Supreme Law of the Land?"   In your trek through the U.S. court system , you kept hearing, "The Indian Claims Commission determined this, and the Indian Claims Commission found that".  What I would like to know is, how is a panel of cowboys deciding the fate of the Indians, due process of law?

Thank you for everything and most of all for saying that you will never accept any of their blood money.

                                                                                                Your fellow board member,

                                                                                                Steve Melendez

                                                                                                American Indian Genocide Museum

Western Shoshone Carrie Dann: Civil disobedience one way to protect Mother Earth



Carrie Dann: Civil disobedience is one way to protect Mother Earth from gold mining



By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2012/05/western-shoshone-carrie-dann-civil.html

TUCSON -- Western Shoshone Carrie Dann spoke of the sacredness of all living things and how gold mining is continuing to destroy the land, water and sacred places of the Western Shoshone.

During testimony to the UN Rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples, Dann stressed the importance of ancestral lands of the Western Shoshone in Nevada and southern Idaho, in  regards to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

“Think as an Indigenous Person, how it must hurt our Mother to have her ripped apart by gold mining companies and others that drill for things under her skin and through her body. It’s sad to look at these things and then try not to believe this is really happening, but it is," Dann said during the testimony on April 26.

Dann, greeted with a standing ovation, said she believes in civil disobedience to halt the mining and destruction.



“I do believe in civil disobedience among our own people. There's a lot of other friends, other colors of people, that are more than willing to help.”

Land is the Mother of Life

Dann said, “We don’t look at land as real estate. We look at it as a Mother, the Mother of Life. And not only to the ones with two legs, but all that live on earth, eight legs, wings, fins, this is the Mother of Life.

“My grandmother told us, as we are dependent on the land, all life comes from land. Our food, clothing, everything that we have today comes from the land. “

Dann described how Barrick and other gold mining companies are destroying sacred places of the Western Shoshone.

In Horse canyon, she has seen as many as ten drillers, drilling to see if any gold is left.

“When you see ten drillers, you know there’s gold. Recently I read in the newspapers there’s eight miles of gold somewhere in there that they have found, which means they are going to rip the whole country apart.

"If anybody has seen an open pit mine, it is sad to see.”

“And think as an Indigenous Person, how it must hurt our Mother to have her ripped apart by gold mining companies and others that drill for things under her skin and through her body. It’s sad to look at these things and then try not to believe this is really happening, but it is.

“It’s happening all over where there’s mining,” she said, including areas where there is copper and silver mining.

“They are trying, getting water applications from the state of Nevada to get the water rights to pump water.”

Now, she said, white ranchers are beginning to oppose the mining because of what will happen to the water.

“It’s time, I say, a lot of people are waking up. Mining destroys water.”

Water is the life of future generations

“And it’s a shame, we as Indigenous People, we know water represents life. And when we see that type of water being pumped out we know life is pumped out, maybe not ours, but the life of our future generation that’s not here yet.”

“We have to look at these things.”

“But how do you stop such going on.”

Dann said she believes in civil disobedience.

“And I do believe in civil disobedience among our own people. There’s a lot of other friends other colors of people that are more than willing to help.”

Although workers say people are trying to take their jobs away, Dann said that is not the case.

“We want to save the Earth for the future generations, their generations now.”

“But if they have children, like I told my own son in law, if you have any children, you better start thinking about what you are doing.”

“I said you know you have to protect the land, the earth, the water, protect all of these things that represent life. And if you cannot do so, you should not have any children."

Don’t bring them into the world to suffer.”

“They are the ones that will be suffering. They may not be able to produce children. If they have children, some of them may be deformed, we don’t know. We don’t know what can happen."

Nuclear Test Site and Yucca Mountain

“We also have a test site, where they test the nuclear bombs.” There is also the nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain.

“We have all of these things. We don’t approve of it; they certainly don’t come to us for approval. Maybe they go to tribal council I don’t know, I’m not a member of the tribal council, or belong to any so called tribe.”

“I don’t know the meaning of a tribe. I don’t know what a tribe is. When you attempt to read the Bible, they talk about tribes. To me it means a beginning of man to learn how to do things. And if we’re a tribe, is that where we are at? Is that what they talk about?

“There are a few words within our Western Shoshone that we can’t use; one is “tribe.”

“If you use a word wrong, it means we are like a four legged person or animal, that we are not fully developed as human beings.”



“That’s my interpretation. I could be wrong. There’s words that when you use the English language, please understand the words you are using. Because when you use it this way, it might mean something else in another way. In this language, you have to know what you are talking about.”

A Nobel Prize for Courage

In his introduction of Carrie Dann, Ronald Trosper spoke of sisters Carrie and Mary Dann and their long struggle to defend and protect the Western Shoshone homelands.

“They have fought the United States government, the nuclear industry and gold mining corporations for a long time. And she has been leading her struggle for many years. She received the Right Livelihood Award in 1993, an alternative Nobel Prize for courage.”

Dann said, "I don't know if I deserve a standing ovation.
"I got it anyway."

Watch film trailer for American Outrage, the story of Mary and Carrie Dann:

Bullfrog Films: http://www.bullfrogfilms.com/catalog/amout.html

Article author Brenda Norrell: brendanorrell@gmail.com

Censored News Blog Radio

Mark Anquoe, Kiowa, AIM, El Salvador and Carpinteria
Mark Anquoe of the American Indian Movement speaks on the elections in El Salvador and the racist mascots in Carpinteria, Calif, where a 15-year-old Chumash boy received death threats after opposing the offensive images. (10 min)

Tohono O'odham: Militarization of the border
Listen to Mike Flores, Tohono O'odham, describe the increased militarization of the border and human rights abuses by border agents, acting in complicity with the tribal government. Flores is introduced by Mark Anquoe, Kiowa. Flores and Anquoe, of the American Indian Movement, spoke at the Anarchist Book Fair in San Francisco March 14. Recorded by Censored News. (60 min)

UN Action Western Shoshone:
Julie Fishel Bill of the Western Shoshone Defense Project describes the United Nations actions to protect Western Shoshone Territory, including CERD action (60 min)

Defending Sacred Mountains and Lakes
Manny Pino, Acoma Pueblo, speaks on defending Zuni Salt Lake, San Francisco Peaks and Mount Taylor (45 min)

Carrie Dann and Manny Pino
Radley Davis, Pit River, presents Carrie Dann, Western Shoshone, and Manny Pino, Acoma Pueblo, with Human Rights Defenders Awards. Carrie speaks on respect for one's self and Manny speaks on uranium mining. (70 minutes with 20 min end music)

Indigenous Defenders Sacred Places
Northern California Natives Ann Marie Sayers, Radley Davis and Mark LeBeau speak on protecting sacred lands. Carrie Dann speaks on protecting sacred Mount Tenabo from Barrick Gold Mining. (90 min)

CENSORED NEWS BLOG RADIO
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Brenda-Norrell

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ALERT: Barrick Gold ready to carve up Western Shoshone sacred mountain

Thanksgiving the “Cortez” Way - U.S. Ignores Western Shoshone Objections – Barrick Gold Readies Itself to Carve up Mount Tenabo Spiritual Area

By Timbisha Shoshone, Western Shoshone and Great Basin Resource Watch
Photo by Erin Hetherington/Oxfam
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/

November 20, 2008
RENO and CRESCENT VALLEY, Nev. -- Last week, after years of determined opposition from Western Shoshone, the U.S. Department of Interior, through its Bureau of Land Management (BLM), approved one of the largest open pit cyanide heap leach gold mines in the United States on the flank of Mount Tenabo – an area well-known for its spiritual and cultural importance to the Western Shoshone.

The area is home to local Shoshone creation stories, spirit life, medicinal, food and ceremonial plants and items and continues to be used to this day by Shoshone for spiritual and cultural practices. Over the years, tens of thousands of individuals and organizations from across the United States and around the world have joined with the Shoshone and voiced their opposition to this mine. The mine has been referred to as one of the most opposed mines in the world and indeed the level of public opposition is unprecedented for the BLM.

With the threat of mine construction beginning as early as this week, the South Fork Band Council of Western Shoshone, the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe, the Western Shoshone Defense Project, and Great Basin Resource Watch, today filed a complaint in the Reno Federal District Court seeking declaratory and injunctive relief to stop the mine.
Barrick Gold Corporation, the world’s largest gold mining company, headquartered in Toronto, Canada, plans to construct and operate the mine, known as the Cortez Hills Expansion Project. The Project area is located entirely within the territory of the Western Shoshone Nation, recognized in the 1863 Treaty of Ruby Valley. The Mine would blast and excavate a new massive open pit on Mount Tenabo over 900 acres in size, with a depth of over 2,000 feet. It would include several new waste disposal and processing facilities (including a cyanide heap-leaching facility), consisting of approximately 1,577 million tons of waste rock, 53 million tons of tailings material, and 112 million tons of spent heap leach material. The Mine would include an extensive groundwater pumping system to dewater Mount Tenabo (in order to keep the open pit and mine workings dry during mining) and associated water pipelines that will transport the pumped water away from Mount Tenabo. In total, the mine would permanently destroy approximately 6,800 acres land on and around Mount Tenabo, over 90% of which is classified as federal “public” land.
“How are we, as a nation, showing our values, if we allow a transnational corporation to destroy this ‘church’ for all time, just to get 10 years worth of gold.” Says Larson Bill, Vice-Chairman of the South Fork Band Council. “There are dozens of active gold mines on Western Shoshone lands already, there is no need for this one, which is clearly immoral and irresponsible. The public should be aware that Nevada is not a waste land, but is the home of ranchers, sportsmen, fishermen and homesteaders that have enjoyed the lands alongside the Shoshone people for generations. We have been clear in our opposition to this mine and while Barrick tries to cloud the real issues with gifts and money, we continue to oppose this project – they have not bought our people, the traditions nor the lands of the Shoshone.” he adds.
The proposed mine area has been found by the BLM, in repeated ethnographic studies, as being of extreme spiritual and cultural importance to the Western Shoshone. One report says: “Mt. Tenabo is … considered a traditional locus of power and source of life, and figures in creation stories and world renewal. As the tallest mountain in the area – the most likely to capture snow and generate water to grow piñon and nourish life – it is literally a life-giver. Water is to earth what blood is to the body, and these subterranean waterways are likened to the earth’s arteries and veins.”
Carrie Dann, a world renowned Western Shoshone elder, and recipient of the Right Livelihood Award (known as the “alternative Nobel Peace Prize”) has been among those to lead the fight to protect Mount Tenabo from mining for over 15 years. “Mount Tenabo should be left alone – no further disturbance. This mine will drain the water from Mount Tenabo. They will be sucking the water out of the mountain forever. The destruction of the water is like the destruction of the blood of the earth; you are destroying life of the earth and the people and wildlife that depend on it. Dewatering is taking the life of future generations. Water is sacred, all life depends on it,” says Carrie Dann.
“Next week we celebrate Thanksgiving - The question that the courts and the people of this country need to ask themselves is will we continue to tolerate these violations against the First Peoples of this land or will we finally turn the tide of injustice and protect these sacred areas?” Says Julie Cavanaugh-Bill, Consultant to the Western Shoshone Defense Project.
“None of us are opposed to mining, if it is done responsibly, however this project is as irresponsible as it gets. The BLM has a legal responsibility to protect the air, water, and ecological values of the area as well as the religious freedom of Western Shoshone, and to fully analyze the impacts of a proposed project. In each case, this mine would clearly violate the law.” Says Dan Randolph, Executive Director of Great Basin Resource Watch. “This is an example of how the Bush Administration is rushing to protect their corporate friends in their last few months in power. The BLM denied requests to extend the comment period on the Environmental Impact Statement not only from us, but also from several Western Shoshone tribal governments. Therefore, we are forced to now turn to the courts to stop this project. We know that Barrick will begin work on the mine as soon as they can, to cause enough harm in an attempt to make the religious rights arguments moot, and the BLM and Bush Administration appear to be more than willing to help them in every way possible.”
The plaintiffs are being represented in court by Roger Flynn of the non-profit legal firm, the Western Mining Action Project, which specializes in mining, public land, and environmental law.
For more information on the Cortez Hills Project, Mount Tenabo, and the legal challenge go to http://www.gbrw.org/ and http://www.wsdp.org/
For Immediate Release:
Contacts:
Larson Bill, South Fork Band Council of Western Shoshone, 775-744-2565/775-397-6726
Dan Randolph, Great Basin Resource Watch, 775-722-4056
Julie Cavanaugh-Bill, Western Shoshone Defense Project, 775-397-1371

Reno Gazette: Western Shoshone file suit to stop gold mine