Fw: Bush steals massive amounts of land from American Indians this week

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Speaking of Native Americans....the latest news...Nora G

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Saturday, July 10, 2004 9:29 AM

Bush steals massive amounts of land from American Indians this week

 

 

Western Shoshone 'Payoff Bill' Signed by U.S. President

 

 

 

As was expected, the " legalised' takeover of even more Native American land

proceded its farcical course through the House of Representatives (by a surprise

vote when many Representatives weren't even there), through the Senate (by

unanimous decision) to the President who - of course - signed the Bill into Law.

We have not seen the end of the story, however, for this latest injustice will

undoubtedly be tested in court.

 

Please click the map of the newly stolen land and then read the Statements

from Carrie Dann and the Western Shoshone Defense Project, followed by

background information PLUS Western Shoshone 'Payoff' Bill: The Struggle Is Not

Yet Over !.

 

2004-07-08 | During a minor respite from the illegal war and occupation of

Iraq, the United States Government has turned, once again, to its first victim,

the American Indian.

 

 

 

 

George Bush, President of the United States, Signs Western Shoshone

" Distribution " Bill - Evidencing Ongoing Historical Atrocities Aginst Indigenous

Peoples in the U.S. July 7, 2004. Crescent Valley, NV. In spite of heavy

opposition from the Western Shoshone Nation, Wednesday morning, the Western

Shoshone Distribution Bill was signed into " law " by George W. Bush, President of

the United States. The bill would authorize an alleged payoff of approximately

15 cents an acres for tens of millions of acres of disputed lands in Nevada,

Idaho, Utah and California. A majority of tribal councils, representing

approximately 80% of the population, the Western Shoshone National Council and

all the traditional people strongly oppose the bill, they are supported by the

National Congress of American Indians and Amnesty International. This formal

opposition was apparently ignored however and an undocumented, unverified straw

poll was used instead by the Bush Administration and Nevada legislators to

justify the legislation. White House staffer Jennifer Farley, Deputy Associate of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, informed one

Shoshone Tribal Chairman that the bill was " red hot " . The significance of the

issue to the White House is apparent: Copies of Assistant Secretary of Interior

Stephen J. Griles' calendars reflect meetings with Interior Department legal

staff, including Bush's Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals nominee, William Myers,

regarding " Western Shoshone Trespass (Dann Sisters) " just six months before the

Department of Interior started military-style seizures of livestock owned by

Western Shoshone traditionalists, including grandmothers Mary and Carrie Dann.

The land base at issue is the third largest gold producing area in the world and

cited by a 1999 Interior report as the number one investment opportunity for

extraction companies. It is also the site where the nation's nuclear waste

repository would be located, Yucca Mountain, and the home to the Nevada Test

Site and Federal Counterterrorism Facility where the Bush Administration has

talked of reopening nuclear testing. Both Bush and his political advisor Karl

Rove, have made personal visits to Nevada in the last thirty days. " I am utterly

disappointed. It's unbelievable that the U.S. body that makes the laws has acted

in this manner. The fight is not over. A fraud is a fraud - Individuals cannot

sell out a nation and the bill, although a threat politically, does nothing to

change our inherent rights or our Treaty rights. Congress and the President were

informed of all the facts that touch upon this issue. We will use the Treaty of

Ruby Valley to stop Yucca Mountain and to protect our lands. Our title is still

intact. " Stated Raymond Yowell, Western Shoshone National Council. " The

self-described, private group who pushed for this money are not members of any

federally-recognized council and have no authority to speak on behalf of our

Tribe or the Western Shoshone Nation. The Nevada legislators and the Bush

Administration have been well-advised of this fact. The way this legislation was

handled makes an absolute sham of the stated government to government

relationship and responsibility of the U.S. government. " Stated Hugh Stevens,

Chairman of the Te-Moak Tribe of the Western Shoshone Nation. " Senator Reid has

made numerous public commitments regarding resolving land issues for our

communities. We will be looking for him to stand by that commitment in an

expeditious fashion. We demand that our land issues be resolved in good faith in

the same " hot line " fashion as the distribution. " He added. Mary Gibson, Western

Shoshone states: " It's not over, we still exist and we still have our rights to

our land. It makes me sad and angry that myths continue to cloud the Truth in

this country. This struggle isn't a Shoshone v. Shoshone battle, the underlying

issue here is the U.S. responsibility and accountability for a Treaty with the

Western Shoshone Nation. As long as the people in the U.S. allow this to happen

it will continue to happen. " For additional info, contact the Western Shoshone

Defense Project at 775-468-0230. Western Shoshone Defense Project P.O. Box

211308 Crescent Valley, NV 89821 (775) 468-0230 Fax: (775) 468-0237

http://www.wsdp.org Statement by Carrie Dann on George W. Bush signing into

" law " HR 884 July 7, 2004 Today the United States government has officially

attempted to complete the largest theft of land in United States history. In

violation of United States law, including the Constitution, George W. Bush,

signed into law HR 884, an attempted payoff of the Western Shoshone land.

However, this bill does not change the fact that title of the land still exists

with the Western Shoshone. Fraud is fraud, and no matter what the U.S. does to

us we will never give up our struggle to protect our Sacred Newe Sogobia - the

Earth Mother. The United States government signed the Treaty of Ruby Valley with

the Western Shoshone Nation in 1863. According to Article 6 of the U.S.

Constitution, the treaty is the supreme law of the land. But the United States

government does not view the treaty this way. If they do not want to follow

their own laws, that the constitution is the supreme law of the land, then this

country is not a democracy. A democracy would be following the laws of the land.

I have said this a thousand times, I am not taking money for this land. This

land has no value, there is no price for it. In Western Shoshone culture, the

earth is our mother. We can not sell it. Taking our land is a not only a

cultural genocide, it is also a spiritual genocide. The United States is

attempting to steal our religion and our cultural. I ask the United States today

to show me how they received title to the land. The sole legal theory stated by

the Indian Claims Commission (ICC) was that the Western Shoshone land title was

extinguished through " gradual encroachment " by non-indigenous miners and

settlers. However, such legal theory is no where found in American law. The only

issue decided by the Supreme Court was whether the Western Shoshone had been

paid, not who has title to the land. We have never had a court hear the issue of

who has title to the land. The ICC was not a court. The United States did not

give us the land, nor did they sell us the land. The land is ours. The United

States can not show how they obtained title to the land. The government

continues to steal our cattle and horses. But I ask them, if they have clear

title to the land, why do they come in the night like a thief to take my horses

and cattle - why do they make sneak attacks - why do they attempt to take my

livestock with no media attention? If the land title is clearly theirs - why do

they act like thieves? Why does the United States want this land? So they can

sell it to large inter-national corporate interests, including mining companies,

so they can test more nuclear weapons, so they can write the Indians off? The

United States should not be allowed to steal the land so they can test more

weapons that kill people. In fact, weapons that kill all life, including the

plants and the animals. The United States also should not be allowed to steal

the land so they can sell it to companies in order to obtain more gold and in

the process ruin the water and kill the plant and animal life. This should not

be allowed. Today, the government has attempted to steal our mother earth - but

this will not stop our fight to keep our land. We will not stand by to watch the

United States steal our religion. We will not stand for the United States to

commit spiritual genocide. For today what happens to us, tomorrow will happen to

you. Although George W. Bush, Sen. Reid, and Rep. Gibbons believe that they can

now sell this land to private interests, we will fight to stop it. This bill

changes nothing. We are here to protect our mother earth. That is our

responsibility. Our obligation will not be deterred by thieves. Carrie Dann

Western Shoshone Defense Project P.O. Box 211308 Crescent Valley, NV 89821 (775)

468-0230 Fax: (775) 468-0237 http://www.wsdp.org Western Shoshone 'Payoff' Bill:

The Struggle Is Not Yet Over ! Sunday film and Dialogue -focus on recent

developments in the Western Shoshone treaty rights case and signing of Western

Shoshone Distribution Bill Please join the Washington Semester American Indian

Program and the Indigenous Rights Watch for this weeks film and dialogue which

will coincide with breaking news on the Western Shoshone Defense Project. Sunday

July 11, 2004 6:00 PM Documentary: To Protect Mother Earth: Broken Treaty II

7:15 PM Indigenous Rights Dialogue American University Tenley Campus. Federal

Hall Room 173 Please also see: THE TOP 10 PRONUCLEAR ARGUMENTS...ANSWERED

http://nonuclear.net (Please scroll down their page for the article) Bush Lets

Freedom Reign, by Steven Newcomb

http://www.unobserver.com/index.php?pagina=layout5.php & id=1787 & blz=1 Newcomb:

Reflecting on U.S. moral values and the Western Shoshone

http://www.indiancountry.com/?1085072876 Newcomb: House to vote on Western

Shoshone land bill today http://www.indiancountry.com/?1087828577 Western

Shoshone: War is not just in Iraq http://www.indiancountry.com/?1085081562 and

the Western Shoshone 'Payoff' Bill' series, in our Economics section.