After nearly two decades of legal battles with
Western Shoshone ranchers Carrie and Mary
Dann, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), along
with local Nevada law enforcement and a livestock
contractor, initiated an armed, military-style invasion,
with helicopters, on the sisters on Thursday, November
19. BLM agents are estimated to have confiscated 17
Dann horses on Thursday.
A BLM spokeswoman confirmed that law enforcement
personnel plan to round up 400 horses, saying that
the Danns lack permits for the animals. The Dann
sisters maintain the land is Western Shoshone, and they
don't need permits. Blizzards have stopped further
confiscation efforts since Thursday.
The American Indian Movementhas responded to an
invitation to protect and defend the sovereignty of the
Western Shoshone. The occupation forces have sealed
off country roads surrounding the Dann Ranch, and the
Indian resistance has been joined by activists from
the Nevada environmental groups, and by supporters
of Indian treaty rights.
The situation has the possibility of escalating into the
largest confrontation between Native Americans and
the United States Government since the Wounded Knee
occupation of 1973. The Western Shoshone are demanding
that the US Government agree to participate in direct and
meaningful negotiations with the Western Shoshone
National Council, recognition of land rights, and cessation
of plans for a roundup at the Dann Ranch.
The basis of the land struggle is the Treaty of Ruby Valley
of 1863 between the US and the Western Shoshone
Nation. In Article V of the treaty, the eastern part of Nevada
was defined and acknowledged as Western Shoshone
territory. No land was ceded, NOR HAS EVER BEEN CEDED,
to the government. At no since then has the US Government
been able to produce documentation of any title to any
of the land.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TODAY: Donate money and supplies.
Canned and bulk food, medical supplies, warm clothes,
blankets, sleeping bags, tents, size AA & D batteries, radios,
binoculars, cameras, coffee/tea, tobacco, cooking supplies, tarps,
vitamins, boots, thermoses, misc. office supplies
(incl. fax paper), cash.
Donations can be delivered to the AIM office, 2017 Mission St.,
Room 303, San Francisco, CA 94110.
PHONE TREE AND ORGANIZE IN YOUR COMMUNITY.
CONTACT KEY OFFICIALS.
Sen. Daniel Inouye, Chair, Select Committee on Indian
Affairs, US Senate, Washington, DC 20510
Tel. (202) 224-3934.
Cy Jamison, National Director, Bureau of Land
Management, 1849 C St., N.W., Washington, DC 20420.
Billy Templeton, Nevada State Director, Bureau of Land
Management, 850 Harvard Way, Reno, NV 89520
Tel. (702) 785-6590.
Secretary General and Human Rights Commission of
the United Nations, First Avenue and 46th St., NY, NY
10017. Tel. (202) 963-1234.
THE SITUATION IS CRITICAL.
Join the resistance and help out however you can.
For more information contact the AIM office in
San Francisco, (415) 552-1992.
.
ice at
415(552(1992.