Article: 915 of sgi.talk.ratical
From: (dave "who can do? ratmandu!" ratcliffe)
Subject: WESTERN SHOSHONE EMERGENCY -- Dann Land in Need of Defense.
Keywords: who is caring for the land?  who is stealing the land thru force?
Date: 30 Nov 1992 04:30:42 GMT
Organization: Silicon Graphics, Inc.
Lines: 126


    the drama being acted out in eastern nevada w/the big bad federal boys
    attempting to enforce their "ownership" of land ceded by treaty to the
    original inhabitants and then having the gall to claim the original
    people don't have the permits for animals they keep on the land is
    Kafkaesq to the extreme.  mr. orwell wud not have been disappointed by
    the big brother m.o.

      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.

    consider joining the shoshone struggle in the "WHAT YOU CAN DO TODAY"
    section listed below.
                                                             -- ratitor


|Date:         Thu, 26 Nov 1992 23:09:00 GMT
|Reply-To: nn.general%gnosys.svle.ma.us@tamvm1.tamu.edu
|Sender: "NATIVE-L Issues Pertaining to Aboriginal Peoples"
|              <NATIVE-L@TAMVM1.BITNET>
|From: NativeNet%gnosys.svle.ma.us@tamvm1.tamu.edu
|Subject:      Western Shoshone Emergency.
|X-To:         nn.general@gnosys.svle.ma.us
|To: Multiple recipients of list NATIVE-L <NATIVE-L@TAMVM1.BITNET>

|Original-Sender: cbail@igc.apc.org (Christopher Bail)

|[ This article is being relayed from the Usenet "alt.native" newsgroup. ]


          WESTERN SHOSHONE EMERGENCY--Dann Land in Need of Defense.


      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.
      
      
--
                                              daveus rattus   

                                    yer friendly neighborhood ratman

                                KOYAANISQATSI

    ko.yaa.nis.qatsi (from the Hopi Language)  n.  1. crazy life.  2. life
        in turmoil.  3. life out of balance.  4. life disintegrating.  
          5. a state of life that calls for another way of living.