Press Release: Native People, Supporters Will Gather on September 12th to Commemorate an 1865 Massacre

by | Sep 7, 2021 | Culture of Resistance, Dispatches from Thacker Pass, Indigenous Autonomy, Listening to the Land, Movement Building & Support

Illustration: Travis London, Deep Green Arts

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact People of Red Mountain and Protect Thacker Pass

OROVADA, NV — Opponents of the proposed Thacker Pass lithium mine in northern Nevada will gather on Sunday, September 12th, to commemorate a massacre of at least 31 Northern Paiute people on that day in 1865 with prayers and songs.

Sunday’s gathering will begin at 10:30am at “Sentinel Rock,” a culturally significant rock outcrop on the east side of Thacker Pass, and conclude at the protest camps further west in the pass. Protesters have been on-site since January.

“Our remembrance event is a special event to honor our ancestors and this sacred place we call Peehee Mu’huh [the Paiute name for Thacker Pass],” said Daranda Hinkey, a tribal member from People of Red Mountain, one of the groups opposing the Thacker Pass mine. “One hundred and fifty-six years after this massacre, we gather to honor our ancestors in a good way. We feel it’s our responsibility to protect these burial grounds and sacred places.”

The 1865 massacre, part of what historian Gregory Michno describes as “a summer-long hunt for renegade Indians,” began when soldiers departed their camp near Willow Creek, less than a mile east of Sentinel Rock. On September 12th, 1865 at one am, the 1st Nevada Cavalry moved to surround a nearby camp of northern Paiute people west of Willow Creek in Thacker Pass, but were discovered. The Cavalry moved in with guns blazing, and the camp was all but wiped out. In his book “The Deadliest Indian War in the West,” Michno writes that the massacre “lasted three hours and stretched out for several miles.” Many Paiutes were also believed to be wounded. One cavalryman was wounded, but none killed. There were three survivors: two infants who were taken by a soldier, and one young man who fled on horseback.

Opponents of the Thacker Pass mine believe that the massacre took place within the boundaries of the planned Lithium Nevada project, and historical documents corroborate this. The Bureau of Land Management and Lithium Nevada Corporation have consistently denied that any massacres took place in Thacker Pass, evidencing the inadequacy of their consultation with tribes, the inadequacy of their historical research about the site, and their intent to bulldoze forward despite this.

The massacre took place in the context of “The Snake War,” a guerilla war which officially lasted from 1864 to 1868, but came after over a decade of tension and rising violence. Throughout the 1850’s and 60’s, settlers from the eastern United States poured west, crossing lands of the Northern Paiute, Shoshone, and Bannock tribes, appropriating springs and water sources, and overhunting game. Settlers felt entitled to the land, while natives viewed settlers’ actions as disrespect, trespass, and directly injurious to their survival. Violence was inevitable, and by 1864 the Snake War, which would officially claim 1,762 casualties, was underway.

The ideological force underlying The Snake War was “Manifest Destiny,” the Catholic church doctrine under which the United States seized land from native people. This bred a pervasive racism, as evidenced by the Owyhee Avalanche newspaper stating after the 1865 massacre that the death toll amounted to “thirty-one permanently friendly Indians.”

Attendees of the September 12th commemoration are invited to wear the color teal or turquoise in honor of the fallen.

Native Americans Enter Legal Battle Against Thacker Pass Lithium Mine

by | Jul 26, 2021 | Culture of Resistance, Dispatches from Thacker Pass, Indigenous Autonomy, Listening to the Land, Movement Building & Support

July 26, 2021

Contact:
Reno-Sparks Indian Colony Chairman Arlan Melendez
People of Red Mountain
William Falk, Esq. Protect Thacker Pass

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

RENO, NV — In yet another blow to Lithium Americas’ troubled Thacker Pass lithium mine, the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony and a group of Paiute and Shoshone people from the Fort McDermitt and Duck Valley reservations calling themselves Atsa koodakuh wyh Nuwu (People of Red Mountain) filed a motion in Federal District Court on Tuesday, July 20 alleging that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) violated the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) in permitting the project. The Paiute name for Thacker Pass is Pee hee mu’huh.

The motion alleges that BLM violated at least five provisions of the National Historic Preservation Act section 106 by failing to adequately consult with tribes, failing to give opportunities for public comment, and failing to consider input in development of their plan for mitigating or avoiding impacts to Northern Paiute and Western Shoshone cultural sites in Pee hee mu’huh. The motion asks the court for a “preliminary injunction” which would halt the mining company from conducting any ground-disturbing activities in the near future.

Arlan Melendez, Chairman of the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, said: “We will do everything possible to support the indigenous People of Red Mountain and protect this sacred place by making sure that the proper consultation is afforded to all stakeholders, especially the Tribes.”

The motion is likely to result in Reno-Sparks Indian Colony and Atsa koodakuh wyh Nuwu becoming plaintiff- interveners in an existing lawsuit, which was filed on February 26th by four environmental organizations (Basin and Range Watch, Great Basin Resource Watch, Wildlands Defense, and Western Watersheds Project).

The existing lawsuit claims that the Bureau of Land Management violated the National Environmental Policy Act and other laws. Native American claims under the National Historic Preservation Act represent an allegation of wrongdoing not yet heard in the courts, opening a new front in the legal battle.

Will Falk, one of the attorneys representing Reno-Sparks Indian Colony and Atsa koodakuh wyh Nuwu in this case, believes that this motion will likely delay the project significantly and could even void the already- granted Federal permit unless actions are taken to come into compliance with the law.

“The BLM Winnemucca office failed to honor its obligations to consult with Native American Tribes about traditional cultural properties and sacred sites in Pee hee mu’huh under the National Historic Preservation Act. The Joe Biden administration and first-ever Native Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland have promised that federal agencies will engage in meaningful and robust government-to-government consultation with the Tribes. They are not currently honoring that promise to Tribes who consider Pee hee mu’huh sacred.”

Lithium Nevada, the U.S. subsidiary of Lithium Americas, originally planned to begin constructing the Thacker Pass mine in early 2021 through a contractor with the North American Coal Corporation, but delays in permitting, determined opposition, and concerns from locals have already put the project a year behind schedule.

The Thacker Pass project already faces two lawsuits, official protests to required water rights transfers, a protest camp on the mine site that has been in place for six months, contentious public meetings, and widespread opposition from local indigenous peoples, farmers, and ranchers.

Native opposition has been particularly determined. On June 24th, the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), the oldest and largest national organization of American Indian and Alaska Native tribal governments, passed resolution #AK-21-027 stating that “NCAI opposes the Thacker Pass lithium mine” and calling on the Department of the Interior to rescind the permits.

The injunction request filed today is the second the court has received in the past two months. On May 27, the four environmental groups who filed suit in February also asked the court for a preliminary injunction to halt planned “mechanical trenching” operations at Thacker Pass at twenty-seven undisclosed sites. This trenching would be up to “40 meters” long and “a few meters deep” at seven sites. The remaining twenty sites would undergo excavations up to five feet deep.

In response to the news of this planned trenching, Atsa koodakuh wyh Nuwu organized a rally on July 7th at the offices of Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., the for-profit archeological company hired to excavate the cultural sites at Thacker Pass. At the demonstration, speakers from allied groups and Atsa koodakuh wyh Nuwu emphasized that the proposed mining activities will desecrate this sacred place, which is the site of a massacre described in Paiute oral history.

In an official statement delivered to Far Western employees, the group stated: “The Tribal Members who comprise Atsa Koodakuh wyh Nuwu are fiercely concerned with the proposed desecration of cultural sites and ancestors’ remains. Our oral histories are clear regarding the fact that Peehee Mu’huh [the Paiute name for Thacker Pass] is a massacre site. Western science, government policy, and corporations deny our self- determination and self-representation through this failure to honor traditional knowledge; proposing to verify our truths through an act of desecration instead.”

Supporters of Atsa koodakuh wyh Nuwu have also filed complaints with the Register of Professional Archeologists alleging the digging up the cultural and burial sites at Thacker Pass. Removing cultural artifacts and remains without full consultation and consent violates the ethical principles outlined by the Society for American Archaeology. Principle Number 2: Accountability states that “responsible archaeological research, including all levels of professional activity, requires an acknowledgment of public accountability and a commitment to make every reasonable effort, in good faith, to consult actively with affected group(s), with the goal of establishing a working relationship that can be beneficial to all parties involved.”

The People of Red Mountain’s letter confronts Far Western’s breach of ethics and emphasizes the responsibility of Far Western’s archaeologists “to heal historic traumas and re-vision the relationship between Archaeology and Indigenous Peoples to be based on morality and ethics rather than extraction of ancestors, minerals, and knowledge.”

Lithium Americas stock price peaked at $26.82 on January 19, four days after the Record of Decision was released, but has since dropped to half that value. The mine project, which would violate indigenous rights, destroy important wildlife habitat, and pollute air and water, has been described as a “national and international embarrassment.”

Timeline

  • January 15, 2021 — Due to regulations cuts and “fast-tracked” permitting under the Trump Administration, the Bureau of Land Management releases a Record of Decision approving the Thacker Pass mine less than a year after beginning the Environmental Impact Statement process required under the National Environmental Policy Act. On the same day, the Protect Thacker Pass camp is established.
  • February 11, 2021 — Local rancher Edward Bartell files a lawsuit (Case No. 3:21-cv-00080-MMD- CLB) in U.S. District Court alleging the proposed mine violates the Endangered Species Act by harming Lahontan Cutthroat Trout, and would cause irreparable harm to springs, wet meadows, and water tables.
  • February 26, 2021 — Four environmental organizations (Basin and Range Watch, Great Basin Resource Watch, Wildlands Defense, and Western Watersheds Project) file another lawsuit (Case No. 3:21-cv-00103-MMD-CLB) in U.S. District Court, alleging that BLM violated the National Environmental Policy Act, Federal Land Policy Management Act, and other laws in permitting the Thacker Pass mine.
  • May 13, 2021 — Lithium Nevada informs Plaintiffs in the Feb. 26th lawsuit that it intends to begin ground disturbance at Thacker Pass as soon as June 23 to remove Native American artifacts & cultural sites as part of a “Historic Properties Treatment Plan.”
  • May 20, 2021 — Atsa koodakuh wyh Nuwu releases public statement of opposition to the Thacker Pass mine & starts a petition which has gathered nearly 2,000 signatures.
  • May 27, 2021 — The four environmental groups who filed suit on Feb. 26th ask Federal Judges for a Preliminary Injunction to block Lithium Nevada’s proposed Historic Properties Treatment Plan.
  • June 8, 2021 — In exchange for a two-week extension to file response briefs to the Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction, the BLM and Lithium Nevada agree that no ground disturbance activities at Thacker Pass would occur before July 29, 2021.
  • June 12, 2021 — A rally opposing the Thacker Pass mine is held in Reno, Nevada, with several hundred people attending. Speakers include members of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, Fort McDermitt Paiute-Shoshone tribe, Duck Valley
  • June 24, 2021 — The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), the oldest and largest national organization of American Indian and Alaska Native tribal governments, called on the Department of the Interior to rescind the permits for the Thacker Pass project.
  • July 7, 2021 — A rally is held at the Carson City office of Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc., the for-profit archeological company hired to excavate the cultural sites at Thacker Pass. Atsa koodakuh wyh Nuwu (People of Red Mountain) deliver a signed letter stating that if Far Western digs up sacred and cultural sites at Thacker Pass, they will be committing actions that are unethical and wrong.
  • July 19, 2021 — The Reno-Sparks Indian Colony and Atsa koodakuh wyh Nuwu (People of Red Mountain) file a motion in Federal District Court alleging that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) violated the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) in permitting the planned lithium mine.

ATTACHMENTS:

  1. Motion filed in U.S. District Court on July 19th by the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony and Atsa koodakuh wyh Nuwu (People of Red Mountain).
  2. Letter to Far Western Anthropological Research Group from Atsa koodakuh wyh Nuwu (People of Red Mountain).

PRESS RELEASE: Native Community Speaks Out Against Looting of Archeological Sites at Thacker Pass

by | Jul 1, 2021 | Culture of Resistance, Dispatches from Thacker Pass, Indigenous Autonomy, Listening to the Land, Movement Building & Support

July 1, 2021

CONTACT: People of Red Mountain, Max Wilbert

CARSON CITY, NV — Opponents of the planned Thacker Pass lithium mine are speaking out again — this time, against the planned digging up of Native American tools, artifacts, campsites, and potentially even graves on the site of the proposed mine.

The planned $1.3 billion mine has drawn outrage from Native Americans in the region, lawsuits from environmental groups, water rights challenges from local ranchers, and a protest camp that’s been in place for nearly six months. Now, mine opponents are preparing to rally at the local offices of a company hired to dig up archeological sites.

Mining company Lithium Nevada has hired Far Western Anthropological Research Group to catalog and dig up cultural sites at Thacker Pass. But mine opponents say that this is “looting” and are planning a rally on Wednesday, July 7th outside the Far Western office in Carson City. Mining opposition groups include Atsa koodakuh wyh Nuwu (the People of Red Mountain), a committee comprised of Fort McDermitt and Duck Valley tribal members, and Protect Thacker Pass, the campaign that started the protest camp on the proposed mine site.

“I will not let these words go unsaid,” says Gary McKinney, a Duck Valley tribal member with lineage tracing back to Fort McDermitt, who is also part of the People of Red Mountain. “The open =-pit mine will be another attempt to erase us and our cultures.

Digging at Thacker Pass could begin as soon as July 29th, when a temporary delay that was jointly negotiated between four environmental groups and the mining company expires. Protesters claim that Far Western is violating ethical behavioral standards for archeological work, and are demanding that Far Western pull out of their contract with Lithium Nevada.

According to the People of Red Mountain, the proposed mine is located on a sacred site. “Thacker Pass is a spiritually powerful place blessed by the presence of our ancestors, other spirits, and golden eagles – who we consider to be directly connected to the Creator,” they wrote in a statement in May.

The location of the proposed mine, north of Winnemucca, is part of the “Whitehorse/Double H Obsidian Procurement District,” and has been frequented by Native American groups for thousands of years. Bureau of Land Management documents claim that there are no graves in Thacker Pass, but oral histories passed down through generations on the Fort McDermitt Reservation tell of a massacre of Native people some 200 years ago on the proposed mine site. The Paiute name for Thacker Pass — “Peehee Mu’huh,” or “Rotten Moon” – derives from that history. “Paiute Shoshone Indians have ties with the location Peehee Mu’huh. Our ancestors perished in these areas,” says McKinney.

The People of Red Mountain assert that “To build a lithium mine over this massacre site in Peehee mu’huh would be like building a lithium mine over Pearl Harbor or Arlington National Cemetery. We would never desecrate these places and we ask that our sacred sites be afforded the same respect.”

The planned Thacker Pass lithium mine already faces uncertainties for an unproven chemical process to separate lithium from the clay soils. Now, the Trump Administration’s decision to “fast-track” the project — and thereby steamroll opposition — appears to have backfired.

The anti-mining campaign at Thacker Pass continues to draw national attention and gain strength. On January 15th, environmental activists determined to stop the project launched the protest camp on the proposed site of the mine. Environmental concerns hinge on drawdown of aquifers, toxification of groundwater, possible toxic waste, potential damage to a federally listed threatened species (the Lahontan cutthroat trout), an extinction risk for the King’s River pyrg, destruction of nearly 6,000 acres of increasingly rare old big sagebrush habitat, disruption of pronghorn antelope migratory routes, and harm to golden eagles and greater sage-grouse. “We want nothing to do with that technological progress,” McKinney says. “Nobody has the right to disturb Native American sites.”

The protest camp has drawn support from the local communities of Orovada and King’s River, which have expressed determined opposition to the mine in a series of hotly contested public meetings.

Hundreds of Native people and allies have gathered on the site over recent months to conduct ceremony and express opposition to the mine.

Calling on Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to Protect Peehee mu’huh / Thacker Pass

by | Jun 14, 2021 | Culture of Resistance, Dispatches from Thacker Pass, Indigenous Autonomy, Listening to the Land, Movement Building & Support

Tribal Members Aim to Stop Lithium Nevada Corporation From Digging Up Cultural Sites in Thacker Pass

Fort McDermitt, Nevada – As soon as July 29, 2021, Lithium Nevada Corporation (LNC) plans to begin removing cultural sites, artifacts, and possibly human remains belonging to the ancestors of the Paiute and Western Shoshone peoples for the proposed Thacker Pass open pit lithium mine.

According to a motion for preliminary injunction filed by four environmental organizations in the case Western Watersheds Project v. United States Department of the Interior, LNC intends to begin “mechanical trenching” operations at seven undisclosed sites within the project area, each up to “40 meters” long and “a few meters deep.” The corporation also plans to dig up to 5 feet deep at 20 other undisclosed sites, all pursuant to a new historical and cultural resources plan that has never been subject to meaningful, government-to-government consultation with the affected Tribes or to National Environmental Policy Act analysis.

Daranda Hinkey, Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone tribal member and secretary of a group formed by Fort McDermitt tribal members to stop the mine, Atsa Koodakuh wyh Nuwu (People of Red Mountain) states: “From an indigenous perspective, removing burial sites or anything of that sort is bad medicine. Our tribe believes we risk sickness if we remove or take those things. We simply do not want any burial sites in Thacker Pass or anywhere in the surrounding area to be taken. The ones who passed on were prayed for and therefore should stay in their place, no matter what. We need to respect these places. The people at Lithium Nevada wouldn’t go and dig up their family gravesite because they found lithium there, so why are they trying to do that to ours?”

LNC’s Thacker Pass open pit lithium mine would harm the Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe, their traditional land, and traditional foods like choke cherry, yapa, ground hog, and mule deer. It would also harm water, air, and wildlife including sage grouse, Lahontan cutthroat trout, pronghorn antelope, and sacred golden eagles.

Thacker Pass is named Peehee mu’huh in Paiute. Peehee mu’huh means “rotten moon” in English and was named so because Paiute ancestors were massacred there while the hunters were away. When the hunters returned, they found their loved ones murdered, unburied, rotting, and with their entrails spread across the sage brush in a part of the Pass shaped like a moon. According to the Paiute, building a lithium mine over this massacre site at Peehee mu’huh would be like building a lithium mine over Pearl Harbor or Arlington National Cemetery.

Land and water protectors have occupied the Protect Thacker Pass camp in the geographical boundaries of LNC’s open pit lithium mine since January 15. Will Falk, attorney and Protect Thacker Pass organizer, says: “Our allies, the People of Red Mountain, do not want to see their ancestors disturbed and their sacred land destroyed. We plan on stopping Lithium Nevada and BLM from digging these cultural sites up.”

On Tuesday, June 15th at 11am PST / 2pm EST, we will be phone banking to Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo) to ask that she rescind (cancel) the Record of Decision for Thacker Pass, delay the project for consultation, and meet with Atsa Koodakuh wyh Nuwu (People of Red Mountain) to discuss the issues here.

During this phone bank, we will be live streaming a press conference featuring Fort McDermitt tribal members and other concerned people. Please join us by filling out the information on this form and join us to #ProtectPeeheeMu’huh / #ProtectThackerPass!

SIGN UP HERE: https://forms.gle/z4Y2w2dKaw7WMHwE6

Event hosted by People of Red Mountain, One Source Network, Moms Clean Air Force, and Protect Thacker Pass. Please share widely!

Press Release: Opponents of Thacker Pass Lithium Mine Outline Investor Risks

by | Jun 3, 2021 | Culture of Resistance, Dispatches from Thacker Pass, Indigenous Autonomy, Listening to the Land, Movement Building & Support

June 2, 2021

Media Inquiries: Contact Max Wilbert, Protect Thacker Pass

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Opponents of Thacker Pass Lithium Mine Outline Investor Risks

OROVADA, NV — Opponents of the planned Thacker Pass lithium mine released an open letter to the CEO of Lithium Americas and investors today.

The letter slams Lithium Americas for violating indigenous rights and planning to bulldoze sacred sites, and notes that projects facing this much opposition may be a risky investment.

“[R]esearch indicates that investors care about human rights concerns and consultation with indigenous communities,” the letter states. The letter also notes that major lithium purchasers and trade groups such as Ford, BMW, and the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance have expressed that “we don’t want to be party” to indigenous tribes’ rights being violated.

Lithium Americas’ $1.3 billion Thacker Pass mining project, planned for northern Nevada, continues to face serious and sustained opposition, including two lawsuits, water rights challenges, a protest camp at the proposed mine location which has been in place for four and a half months, and indigenous communities outraged about impacts on sacred sites and culturally significant resources.

The planned Thacker Pass lithium mine already faces uncertainties for an unproven chemical process to separate lithium from the clay soils. Now, the Trump Administration’s decision to “fast-track” the project — and thereby steamroll opposition — appears to have backfired.

Atsa koodakuh wyh Nuwu (the People of Red Mountain), a group of traditional indigenous people from the Fort McDermitt Paiute Shoshone Tribe, have stated that “Thacker Pass is sacred to our people.” They assert that “Thacker Pass is a spiritually powerful place blessed by the presence of our ancestors, other spirits, and golden eagles – who we consider to be directly connected to the Creator.”

Hundreds of native people and allies have gathered on the site over recent months to conduct ceremony and express opposition to the mine.

According to Atsa koodakuh wyh Nuwu, Thacker Pass is a massacre site. “The name for Thacker Pass in our language is Peehee mu’huh, which in English, translates to ‘rotten moon.’ Peehee mu’huh was named so because our ancestors were massacred there while our hunters were away. When the hunters returned, they found their loved ones murdered, unburied, rotting, and with their entrails spread across the sagebrush in a part of the Pass shaped like a moon.”

They assert that “To build a lithium mine over this massacre site in Peehee mu’huh would be like building a lithium mine over Pearl Harbor or Arlington National Cemetery. We would never desecrate these places and we ask that our sacred sites be afforded the same respect.”

Others oppose the Thacker Pass mine on environmental grounds, or due to water issues. Last week, four environmental organizations which are suing the Bureau of Land Management for illegally permitting the mine filed an injunction seeking to block Lithium Nevada from beginning destructive activities at Thacker Pass.

The injunction notes that Lithium Nevada Corporation (LNC) “intends to begin ground disturbance as soon as June 23, 2021 consisting of initial excavations and digging associated with a newly approved ‘Historic Properties Treatment Plan’ which has never been submitted for public review.”

The anti-mining campaign at Thacker Pass continues to draw national attention and gain strength. On January 15th, environmental activists determined to stop the project launched a protest camp on the proposed site of the mine. Environmental concerns hinge on drawdown of aquifers, toxification of groundwater, possible toxic waste, potential damage to a federally listed threatened species (the Lahontan cutthroat trout), an extinction risk for the King’s River pyrg, destruction of nearly 6,000 acres of increasingly rare old big sagebrush habitat, disruption of pronghorn antelope migratory routes, and harm to golden eagles and greater sage-grouse.

The protest camp has drawn support from the local communities of Orovada and King’s River, which have expressed determined opposition to the mine in a series of hotly contested public meetings.

In February, local rancher Ed Bartell filed a lawsuit against the Bureau of Land Management alleging environmental reviews for the project were “grossly inaccurate, incomplete, and inadequate.”

The letter released today summarizes the strength of the opposition, and concludes that “Lithium Americas does not have a social license to operate this proposed mine… Failure to obtain the support of local communities creates a financial and political risk for mining investment.”

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https://protectthackerpass.org