UN Committee Recognizes US Abuse of Western Shoshone Human Rights
by Candee Wadsworth and Joan Cope Savage
|
The Onondaga have worked for decades with other nations and peoples
around the world to seek recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples. In
July 2006, leaders of the Western Shoshone (Newe) joined representatives of
the Onondaga Nation for a two-day meeting to update each other on the progress
and challenges of this work. Members of Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation (NOON)
and other friends of the Onondaga were invited to attend on the second day of
the meeting. Guests had the opportunity to listen to the speakers' dialogues,
which included a high level of recollected detail and personal experience spanning
many years.
We were grateful for the opportunity to hear and witness the careful, deliberative
manner in which all were given opportunity to contribute.
From Lease to Theft
In 1863 the Western Shoshone and the US Government signed the Treaty of Ruby
Valley, granting the US permission to lease land for two roads, railroad, telegraph
and mining as understood at that time (small operations that did not disturb
the land surface or use much water).
In 1946 the US Government set up the Indian Claims Commission (ICC) in the Department
of the Interior to "compensate" Native Peoples for lands taken. The
Western Shoshone assert that no lands were ceded and want the US to recognize
their title to their lands. They do not want their land put in trust, as that
would give control of the land to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and hence
to the US Government.
In 1979, the Indian Claims Commission (ICC) paid the BIA 15 cents per acre for
Western Shoshone lands they said were taken by "gradual encroachment,"
a method of taking which has never been found to be legal. The BIA holds this
money "in trust" for the Western Shoshone.
Following the discovery of microscopic gold on Western Shoshone lands, the US
charged Shoshone ranchers and sisters, Carrie and Mary Dann, with "trespass"
in 1974 for grazing cattle on their own lands. The issue went to the Supreme
Court, which ruled in 1985 that the Western Shoshone lost the land title when
the Interior Department, acting as their "trustee," had accepted money.
Going International
Finding no justice in the US Courts, the Western Shoshone decided
that as a sovereign nation their case should be addressed in international courts
and forums, and filed a human rights complaint with the UN Committee on the
Elimination of Racial Discrimination (UNCERD) in 2001. A similar complaint filed
with the Organization of American States (OAS) Inter-American Commission on
Human Rights led to a 2003 ruling in favor of the Shoshone, a decision which
has been ignored by the US.
In July 2006 at the Onondaga Nation, Carrie Dann, who has led the legal fight
for Western Shoshone land rights, spoke from the heart about her duty to take
care of the land for future generations and shared her fundamental understanding
that "only the Creator has title." She noted the loss of her livelihood
when government agencies destroyed her horse herd. She also described the gold
mining operations that use 70,000 gallons of water a minute from the Western
Shoshone's aquifer.
The Western Shoshone's lawyer Julie Fishel summarized the legal effort to gain
recognition for the Shoshone's indigenous rights, particularly the recent progress
at the UN. In March 2006, the UNCERD issued an "early warning and urgent
action procedure" in response to requests from four Shoshone tribes. UNCERD
emphasized the "rights of indigenous peoples, in particular their right
to own, develop, control, and use their communal lands, territories and resources..."
UNCERD expressed particular concern about privatization of Western Shoshone
ancestral lands for resource extraction, and about damage to areas
of cultural and spiritual significance by development of a nuclear
waste depository at Yucca Mountain, gold mining and geothermal energy leases.
The committee rejected the US contention that the Western Shoshone's legal rights
to their land had been extinguished.
Rights of Indigenous People
In a parallel effort, a global petition for UN acceptance of the Declaration
of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples reached a milestone in June 2006 with the
passage of the draft Declaration in the Human Rights Council (the US, New Zealand
and Australia voted against it) and recommendation of its adoption by the General
Assembly. This achievement is the result of years of travel and communications
by many native nations around the world. In 1973, the Haudenosaunee Grand Council
sent three men to work on native rights issues around the world. Two of them,
both Onondaga, spoke at the meeting in July.
The progress of both the Western Shoshone's racial discrimination case and the
Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples continue to depend on the growth
of broad public understanding, acceptance and support. In the past, laws based
on the Doctrine of Discovery and a view of indigenous peoples as "wards
of the state" have diminished native rights (see PNLs 744 and 755).
The 2006 UNCERD recommendation on the rights of indigenous peoples to own their
land and conduct their cultural and spiritual life there, acknowledges rights
that have been denied around the world. May this process continue with the support
of conscientious people the world over.
ONONDAGA LA ND
RIGHTS& Our Common Future A Collaborative Educational Series bringing together the Central New York community, Syracuse University and SUNY ESF |
| Why Native American Sovereignty Makes
Sense for All of Us FEATURING Tonya Gonnella Frichner, President and founder of the American Indian Law Alliance in New York, Tonya (Onondaga), Richard Loder, Director of Syracuse University's Native American Studies Program, Richard (of Delaware descent)and Scott Lyons, Director of the Center for Indigenous Studies at St. John Fisher College (Ojibwe). Mon., November 27 at 7 pm, Syracuse Stage, 820 E. Genesee St. |
|
SERIES GRAND FINALE: Programs are free and followed by a reception |
| Community Sponsors: Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation/Syracuse Peace
Council, the Inter-Religious Council of CNY, Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation
and Syracuse Cultural Workers. Syracuse University Sponsors: Chancellor's Office, Religion Department, African American Studies, Division of Student Affairs Diversity Programming Grants, English, Geography, Hendricks Chapel, History, Honor's Program, Indigenous Sustainability Studies Project, La L.U.C.H.A. (Latino Undergraduates Creating History in America), Latino-Latin American Studies, Native American Students at Syracuse, Native American Studies Program, Office of Multicultural Affairs, Program in the Analysis and Resolution of Conflict, School of Education, School of Visual and Performing Arts, Sociology, Student Environmental Action Coalition, Students Advancing Sexual Safety and Empowerment, University College, Women's Studies and Writing Program. SUNY Sponsor: SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry |
|
More Information and
Action Steps
|
|
Petition Supporting the UN Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples:
www.amnesty.ca/ip_un_petition/UN_indigenous_rights_petition.php To Read the UN Resolution and Declaration - www.ohchr.org/english/issues/indigenous/groups/groups-02.htm Western Shoshone Defense Project - www.wsdp.org, (775) 468-0230 Onondaga Land Rights Action - www.onondaganation.org, (315) 492-1922 Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation (NOON) www.peacecouncil.net/noon, (315) 472-5478 |
