In article <1993Aug06.140338.25547@rchland.ibm.com> shupe@rchland.vnet.ibm.com
(Jim Shupe) writes:
>
>
>Scott Robert Ladd has kept us informed on the Dann situation and deserves
>my thanks. I was wondering if he (Scott) could post a synopsys of the
>Dann situation (i.e. brief history outlining what has been going on) for
>those who don't know and so I can forward it to other people I know who
>can't get this newsgroup... I ask you because you appear far better
>informed on the situation than I know I am in Minnesota.
>-----------------------
>
>Mitak Oyasin, Waya Gola
Here is a history that was posted a couple months ago. Scott's
been very busy this week and I'll let him know of your
appreciation. If there's more info you want, let us know.
Michele
[I attempted to send this to you (Waya Gola) via e-mail but it
was returned twice w/ user unknown and "shupe@rchland invalid
gateway" messages......so I've resorted to posting it. Sorry.-M]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Michele Lord + If you have come here to help me,
+ you are wasting your time.....
+ But if you have come because
+ your liberation is bound up with mine,
milo@scicom.alphacdc.com + then let us work together.
Aboriginal Woman
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-----------------------------[Cut here]-----------------------------
A history of the
WESTERN SHOSHONE
land dispute with the
UNITED STATES
In 1863 the U.S. government entered into the Treaty of Ruby Valley with the
Western Shoshone Nation. That treaty granted safe passage and basic rights to
white settlers moving into Western Shoshone lands. The treaty guaranteed the
sovereignty of the Shoshone people over their traditional homeland,Newe Segobia.
It was a treaty of friendship and peace.
Between the signing of the treaty and the turn of the century, hundreds of
Western Shoshone were killed by white settlers. In spite of the persecution,
the Western Shoshone maintained a largely peaceful relationship with their
neighbors. At no time did the Western Shoshone wage war with the United States.
THE INDIAN CLAIMS COMMISSION
In the early part of the Twentieth Century, the U.S. began referring to
Western Shoshone territory as 'U.S. public domain.' In the 1930's the
Western Shoshone hired a law firm to assist in proving their case: Wilkinson,
Cragen, and Barker of Washington, D.C.
In 1946 the Indian Claims Commission (ICC) Act was passed into law. Presented
as a liberal reform, the ICC Act created a mechanism for settling U.S legal
obligations to indigenous peoples. The goal of the ICC was to financially
compensate indigenous peoples for lands that had been unlawfully claimed by the
U.S.
Native Americans were not well-informed as to the purpose of the ICC. Many
believed that the ICC would mediate land disputes. Few were told that the ICC's
only form of grievance resolution was monetary compensation. The ICC assumed
that lands taken illegally were the property of the United States, and no
consideration was given to returning lands to the indigenous peoples.
In 1951, a claim was filed with the ICC on behalf of the Western Shoshone's
lawyer, Robert W. Barker. Many Shoshone were not interested in gaining
compensation, and most distrusted the U.S. court system. Barker found a small
group of Shoshone, mostly from the Temoak band, who were interested in pursuing
the ICC case. Barker appears to have arbitrarily chosen the year 1872 as the
time when Western Shoshone lands were taken by the U.S.
Barker also included lands in the claim that had never been in dispute. The
Western Shoshone realized that they had been misled by Barker and that he had
no intention of fighting for their ownership claim. Instead, Barker was
doggedly pursuing a case in which the Shoshone were assumed to have already
lost the land.
Beginning in 1974, the Western Shoshone attempted to stop the ICC process. In
1976, the Temoak band fired Barker and hired a new attorney who accused Barker
of collusion with the U.S. government. The ICC refused to acknowledge that
Barker was no longer counsel for the Western Shoshone, and the process continued
over the strong objections of the people who were supposedly being represented.
On August 15, 1977, the ICC ruled that the U.S. owed $26 million to the
Western Shoshone, based on an 1872 price of $1.05 an acre and unpaid royalties
on minerals extracted by U.S. citizens. Barker and his law firm were paid more
than $2.5 million by the ICC for their assistance in resolving the land claim.
In 1979, the compensation money was deposited in a Bureau of Indian Affairs
trust account for disbursement to the Western Shoshone. The Western Shoshone
refused the money, maintaining that their religion prevented them from selling
land.
In the view of the United States, the ICC decision automatically proved its
claim to ownership of Western Shoshone land. The Shoshone were stunned by the
U.S. position, for they had never sold their land to anyone.
Most Shoshone had refused to participate in the ICC process. Others were led
to believe that the ICC would compensate them for damages, but that title to
the land would remain in Western Shoshone hands. The supporters of the ICC
process had assumed that their lawyers would support their claim of ownership
by virtue of the Treaty of Ruby Valley. Now they were faced with an ICC
declaration tht the land belonged to the United States.
FURTHER DUPLICITY
When U.S. settlers moved into Newe Segobia, they destroyed the basis for the
Western Shoshone livelihood. Pinon trees, whose nuts were an important source
of food, were ripped from the ground to make room for cattle. Deer and antelope
were killed as food for the settlers or to eliminate competition for grazing
range. And the U.S. used the railroad right-of-way (granted by treaty) to grant
land to white settlers and displace many Western Shoshone from their homes.
In the end, the Western Shoshone were forced to find new ways of surviving.
Many turned to ranching for sustenance.
The Dann family created a niche among the white settlers, working hard to
build a small ranch. The ranch was too small to sustain the family, and the
U.S. government had already allocated most of the public lands grazing permits
to white settlers. Sisters Mary and Carrie Dann now graze cattle and horses
on public lands that are unused by their neighbors.
Starting in 1973, U.S. agencies began to confront the Dann sisters. A U.S.
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) ranger charged the Dann sisters with
trespassing, since they did not have a permit for grazing cattle on what BLM
considered to be U.S. public lands. The Dann sisters maintained that they did
not need permits to operate on lands that are part of the Western Shoshone
Nation.
The trespassing case was taken to U.S. District Court in Reno, Nevada, where
the judge requested proof from the government that the land was no longer
owned by the Western Shoshone. While the U.S. government could not provide a
single piece of evidence that title to the land had been transferred, they
cited the 1977 ICC decision as proof that the transfer had been occured.
The U.S. government simply stated that the land had been transferred because
the U.S. government said it had been. The judge in Reno accepted the U.S.
arguments, fined the Danns $500, and ordered them to leave the land.
The Danns appealed the decision. Finally, a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
decision in 1978 agreed with the Western Shoshone that the land had never been
transferred to the U.S. The case was returned to the District Court in Reno for
a trial to determine the ownership of the land.
After a year-and-a-half of delays, presiding District Judge Thompson ruled
that the Western Shoshone had title to the land until 1979. The BIA's
acceptance, on behalf of the Western Shoshone, of the ICC compensation award
had erased the native title to the land. In effect, the U.S. government paid
itself for land that had not been sold, claiming the land from the Western
Shoshone people - people who had never wanted or accepted payment for their
homeland.
The Danns appealed the case to the Supreme Court, which affirmed the lower
court rulings against the Western Shoshone in 1985. The Danns continue their
struggle to prove that their land was never sold or given to the U.S.
CURRENT EVENTS
In 1991, BLM began conducting raids to round-up Dann-owned livestock. The
Western Shoshone National Council (WSNC) decided to act as a soverign nation
to protect the property of its citizens from the external threat posed by
U.S. agents. The WSNC nationalized the disputed Dann animals in March of 1992.
A raid by BLM in April 1992 was thwarted by the peaceful resistance of the
Danns and their supporters.
On November 19, 1992, BLM attempted another round-up, this time capturing
more than 150 horses. Forty-four of these horses were Dann property, and the
rest were wild animals. Two horses were killed when driven into fences. In
court, BLM agent Joe Morris admitted under oath that the November round-up
violated BLM's own regulations governing the Wild Horse and Burro program.
Clifford Dann, brother of Carrie and Mary, was injured and arrested when
he attempted to stop BLM agents from taking the captured horses. Blocking the
road with his truck, Dann stood in the bed, doused himself with gasoline, and
announced that he would set himself on fire if BLM agents did not release the
horses. Dann declared 'By taking away our livelihood and our lands you are
taking away our lives.'
After speaking with Dann's sister Carrie, agents convinced Dann to leave his
vehicle. When Dann approached officers, still carrying the plastic container of
gasoline and a lighter, the officers assaulted him with fire extinguishers and
wrestled him to the ground.
Dann decided to use his trial as a venue for arguing Western Shoshone
juridiction over their lands. At an evidentiary hearing on March 2, 1993,
Dr. Bruce Clark argued that the U.S. claim to ownership did not translate into
jurisdiction. Clark, who is a well-known and respected expert on indiginous
sovereignty issues, stated that the Western Shoshone National Court had
jurisdiction over the case, not the U.S. District Court. Judge John McKibben
ruled that ownership implies jurisdiction, and the trial of Clifford Dann
proceeded.
On March 4, 1993, Clifford Dann was convicted in U.S. Circuit Court on a
charge of assaulting a federal officer during a raid by U.S. land management
authorities. Dann faces a 35-month minimum sentence on the charge. He is being
held without bail at the Washoe County Detention Facility, until his
sentencing on May 17. An appeal has been filed in Dann's case.
CONCLUSIONS
The fight continues, with the U.S. government throwing its financial and
legal might behind its theft of Western Shoshone lands. The Western Shoshone
continue to maintain and believe that their land was never taken, sold, or
given to the U.S.
- Article written by Scott Robert Ladd, Coyote Gulch Productions
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