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#indigenouslands — Public Fediverse posts

Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #indigenouslands, aggregated by home.social.

  1. Answer: "No."

    Most #CriticalMinerals are on #IndigenousLands. Will miners respect #TribalSovereignty?

    by Taylar Dawn Stagner, March 26, 2025

    "#Mining — whether for #FossilFuels or, increasingly, the critical minerals in high demand today — has a long history of perpetuating violence against #IndigenousPeople. Forcibly removing tribal communities to get to natural resources tied to their homelands has been the rule, not the exception, for centuries.

    "Today, more than half of the mineral deposits needed for a global energy transition — including #lithium, #cobalt, #copper, and #nickel to make things like #batteries and #SolarPanels — are found near or beneath Indigenous lands.

    "In 2007, the United Nations adopted a resolution called the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples [#UNDRIP] that included the right to free, prior, and informed consent to the use of their lands, a concept known as #FPIC. This principle protects #IndigenousPeoples from being forcibly relocated, provides suitable avenues for redress of past injustices, and gives tribes and communities the right to consent to — and the right to refuse — #extractive industry projects like #mining.

    "There’s a lot at stake: When followed, FPIC promises a process that gives Indigenous peoples a voice in how their homelands are used, as well as the right to say no to development altogether. And when it’s not, which is the vast majority of the time, #TribalCommunities are further #disenfranchised, facing #violence and #ForcedRelocation as their #sovereignty and rights are ignored.

    "There are an estimated 5,000 tribal communities around the world, encompassing roughly 476 million people across 90 countries, according to the U.N. Different tribes have different opinions on mining, but rarely is their legal right to refuse extraction projects recognized, even under the 2007 declaration.

    "Grist talked with five experts to better understand what free, prior, and informed consent should look like in this new era of mineral extraction. Their responses have been edited for length and clarity."

    Read more:
    ictnews.org/news/most-critical

    #CanPol #CanadaPol #BigOilAndGas #LandBack #IndigenousSovereignty #TribalSovereignty #LithiumMining #RecycleLithium #LithiumAlternatives #RecycleCopper

  2. Answer: "No."

    Most #CriticalMinerals are on #IndigenousLands. Will miners respect #TribalSovereignty?

    by Taylar Dawn Stagner, March 26, 2025

    "#Mining — whether for #FossilFuels or, increasingly, the critical minerals in high demand today — has a long history of perpetuating violence against #IndigenousPeople. Forcibly removing tribal communities to get to natural resources tied to their homelands has been the rule, not the exception, for centuries.

    "Today, more than half of the mineral deposits needed for a global energy transition — including #lithium, #cobalt, #copper, and #nickel to make things like #batteries and #SolarPanels — are found near or beneath Indigenous lands.

    "In 2007, the United Nations adopted a resolution called the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples [#UNDRIP] that included the right to free, prior, and informed consent to the use of their lands, a concept known as #FPIC. This principle protects #IndigenousPeoples from being forcibly relocated, provides suitable avenues for redress of past injustices, and gives tribes and communities the right to consent to — and the right to refuse — #extractive industry projects like #mining.

    "There’s a lot at stake: When followed, FPIC promises a process that gives Indigenous peoples a voice in how their homelands are used, as well as the right to say no to development altogether. And when it’s not, which is the vast majority of the time, #TribalCommunities are further #disenfranchised, facing #violence and #ForcedRelocation as their #sovereignty and rights are ignored.

    "There are an estimated 5,000 tribal communities around the world, encompassing roughly 476 million people across 90 countries, according to the U.N. Different tribes have different opinions on mining, but rarely is their legal right to refuse extraction projects recognized, even under the 2007 declaration.

    "Grist talked with five experts to better understand what free, prior, and informed consent should look like in this new era of mineral extraction. Their responses have been edited for length and clarity."

    Read more:
    ictnews.org/news/most-critical

    #CanPol #CanadaPol #BigOilAndGas #LandBack #IndigenousSovereignty #TribalSovereignty #LithiumMining #RecycleLithium #LithiumAlternatives #RecycleCopper

  3. Answer: "No."

    Most #CriticalMinerals are on #IndigenousLands. Will miners respect #TribalSovereignty?

    by Taylar Dawn Stagner, March 26, 2025

    "#Mining — whether for #FossilFuels or, increasingly, the critical minerals in high demand today — has a long history of perpetuating violence against #IndigenousPeople. Forcibly removing tribal communities to get to natural resources tied to their homelands has been the rule, not the exception, for centuries.

    "Today, more than half of the mineral deposits needed for a global energy transition — including #lithium, #cobalt, #copper, and #nickel to make things like #batteries and #SolarPanels — are found near or beneath Indigenous lands.

    "In 2007, the United Nations adopted a resolution called the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples [#UNDRIP] that included the right to free, prior, and informed consent to the use of their lands, a concept known as #FPIC. This principle protects #IndigenousPeoples from being forcibly relocated, provides suitable avenues for redress of past injustices, and gives tribes and communities the right to consent to — and the right to refuse — #extractive industry projects like #mining.

    "There’s a lot at stake: When followed, FPIC promises a process that gives Indigenous peoples a voice in how their homelands are used, as well as the right to say no to development altogether. And when it’s not, which is the vast majority of the time, #TribalCommunities are further #disenfranchised, facing #violence and #ForcedRelocation as their #sovereignty and rights are ignored.

    "There are an estimated 5,000 tribal communities around the world, encompassing roughly 476 million people across 90 countries, according to the U.N. Different tribes have different opinions on mining, but rarely is their legal right to refuse extraction projects recognized, even under the 2007 declaration.

    "Grist talked with five experts to better understand what free, prior, and informed consent should look like in this new era of mineral extraction. Their responses have been edited for length and clarity."

    Read more:
    ictnews.org/news/most-critical

    #CanPol #CanadaPol #BigOilAndGas #LandBack #IndigenousSovereignty #TribalSovereignty #LithiumMining #RecycleLithium #LithiumAlternatives #RecycleCopper

  4. Answer: "No."

    Most #CriticalMinerals are on #IndigenousLands. Will miners respect #TribalSovereignty?

    by Taylar Dawn Stagner, March 26, 2025

    "#Mining — whether for #FossilFuels or, increasingly, the critical minerals in high demand today — has a long history of perpetuating violence against #IndigenousPeople. Forcibly removing tribal communities to get to natural resources tied to their homelands has been the rule, not the exception, for centuries.

    "Today, more than half of the mineral deposits needed for a global energy transition — including #lithium, #cobalt, #copper, and #nickel to make things like #batteries and #SolarPanels — are found near or beneath Indigenous lands.

    "In 2007, the United Nations adopted a resolution called the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples [#UNDRIP] that included the right to free, prior, and informed consent to the use of their lands, a concept known as #FPIC. This principle protects #IndigenousPeoples from being forcibly relocated, provides suitable avenues for redress of past injustices, and gives tribes and communities the right to consent to — and the right to refuse — #extractive industry projects like #mining.

    "There’s a lot at stake: When followed, FPIC promises a process that gives Indigenous peoples a voice in how their homelands are used, as well as the right to say no to development altogether. And when it’s not, which is the vast majority of the time, #TribalCommunities are further #disenfranchised, facing #violence and #ForcedRelocation as their #sovereignty and rights are ignored.

    "There are an estimated 5,000 tribal communities around the world, encompassing roughly 476 million people across 90 countries, according to the U.N. Different tribes have different opinions on mining, but rarely is their legal right to refuse extraction projects recognized, even under the 2007 declaration.

    "Grist talked with five experts to better understand what free, prior, and informed consent should look like in this new era of mineral extraction. Their responses have been edited for length and clarity."

    Read more:
    ictnews.org/news/most-critical

    #CanPol #CanadaPol #BigOilAndGas #LandBack #IndigenousSovereignty #TribalSovereignty #LithiumMining #RecycleLithium #LithiumAlternatives #RecycleCopper

  5. Answer: "No."

    Most #CriticalMinerals are on #IndigenousLands. Will miners respect #TribalSovereignty?

    by Taylar Dawn Stagner, March 26, 2025

    "#Mining — whether for #FossilFuels or, increasingly, the critical minerals in high demand today — has a long history of perpetuating violence against #IndigenousPeople. Forcibly removing tribal communities to get to natural resources tied to their homelands has been the rule, not the exception, for centuries.

    "Today, more than half of the mineral deposits needed for a global energy transition — including #lithium, #cobalt, #copper, and #nickel to make things like #batteries and #SolarPanels — are found near or beneath Indigenous lands.

    "In 2007, the United Nations adopted a resolution called the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples [#UNDRIP] that included the right to free, prior, and informed consent to the use of their lands, a concept known as #FPIC. This principle protects #IndigenousPeoples from being forcibly relocated, provides suitable avenues for redress of past injustices, and gives tribes and communities the right to consent to — and the right to refuse — #extractive industry projects like #mining.

    "There’s a lot at stake: When followed, FPIC promises a process that gives Indigenous peoples a voice in how their homelands are used, as well as the right to say no to development altogether. And when it’s not, which is the vast majority of the time, #TribalCommunities are further #disenfranchised, facing #violence and #ForcedRelocation as their #sovereignty and rights are ignored.

    "There are an estimated 5,000 tribal communities around the world, encompassing roughly 476 million people across 90 countries, according to the U.N. Different tribes have different opinions on mining, but rarely is their legal right to refuse extraction projects recognized, even under the 2007 declaration.

    "Grist talked with five experts to better understand what free, prior, and informed consent should look like in this new era of mineral extraction. Their responses have been edited for length and clarity."

    Read more:
    ictnews.org/news/most-critical

    #CanPol #CanadaPol #BigOilAndGas #LandBack #IndigenousSovereignty #TribalSovereignty #LithiumMining #RecycleLithium #LithiumAlternatives #RecycleCopper

  6. #NativeAmerican tribes say #ICE harassing members amid raids

    by Erin Alberty, Russell Contreras, January 29, 2025

    "Some Native American tribes say tribal members are being harassed by federal immigration agents, while others fear they could be wrongly caught up in immigration raids.

    "The alarm comes as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) says its agents are arresting more than 1,000 undocumented immigrants a day, part of President Trump's push to deport 'millions' of people not authorized to stay in the U.S.

    "#ImmigrationRaids in cities such as Chicago and Los Angeles — and Trump's new directives to allow searches in schools and churches in addition to workplaces and homes — have heightened concerns in communities across the country.

    " 'My office has received multiple reports from Navajo citizens that they have had negative, and sometimes traumatizing, experiences with federal agents targeting undocumented immigrants,' Navajo President #BuuNygren said in a statement.

    "#NavajoNation officials told CNN on Monday that at least 15 Indigenous people in the southwestern U.S. have reported being questioned or detained by immigration officers in the past week.

    "The 17.5 million-acre Navajo Nation is in northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah. It's larger than 10 states.

    "ICE offices in Utah and Washington, D.C., did not immediately respond to Axios' requests for comment.

    "The #MescaleroApache Tribe in New Mexico announced that a member was confronted by ICE agents last week and was asked for ID — first in Spanish, although the member spoke English.

    "The #SissetonWahpetonOyate of the #LakeTraverse Reservation in South Dakota said it was temporarily waiving all fees for issuing or replacing tribal IDs amid members' concerns about ICE encounters.

    "#Ute Indian Tribe Business Committee — the tribe's governing body — promised in a statement Saturday to "aggressively defend our rights and interests." The tribe offered legal counsel to members who are "improperly detained or questioned," as did the #Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah.

    "The #SanJuanSouthernPaiute Tribe, whose land crosses the Utah-Arizona border, advised its citizens to record encounters with ICE, ask for agents' badges and keep their doors closed and ask for a warrant if approached at home.
    What they're saying: Trump's immigration executive orders have 'raised concern among our tribal members, particularly regarding the potential targeting of our community by immigration agents,' #ChippewaCree Tribe chairman Harat BaRete said in a statement. The north-central Montana tribe then released a set of guidelines urging members to remain silent, keep ID handy and report encounters to tribal officials.

    " 'The #RosebudSioux Tribe is in the process of assessing the legal effects of the unlawful and unconstitutional Trump administration Executive Orders and will fiercely defend against any threat to the sovereignty,' the South Dakota tribe said in a statement.

    "Since the Obama administration, U.S. agents have aggressively targeted human smuggling rings that use isolated #IndigenousLands to try to move undetected.

    "Congress didn't grant citizenship to #NativeAmericans until 1924 — a development President Trump's lawyers cited in their attempt to justify his temporarily blocked executive order to #OverturnBirthrightCitizenship.

    "The administration's attorneys last week invoked an 1884 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that denied citizenship to members of tribes to argue that 'birth in the United States does not by itself entitle a person to citizenship.'

    "Some tribal leaders saw the argument as a threat against their members' U.S. citizenship."

    Source:
    axios.com/2025/01/29/native-am

    Archived version:
    archive.ph/S4abP

    #RacialProfiling #ICESucks #ICERaids #LandBack #TrumpSucks #WhiteSupremacy #Colonialism #NativeAmericansWereHereFirst

  7. Groups living in voluntary isolation have “minimal to no contact with those outside of their own group,” said Dr. Subhra Bhattacharjee, director general of the Forest Stewardship Council & an #IndigenousRights expert based in Germany. “A simple cold that you & I recover from in a week…they could die of that cold.”

    Beyond disease, contact can destroy livelihoods & belief systems. #InternationalLaw requires free, prior & informed consent — known as #FPIC — before any activity on #IndigenousLands.

  8. Groups living in voluntary isolation have “minimal to no contact with those outside of their own group,” said Dr. Subhra Bhattacharjee, director general of the Forest Stewardship Council & an #IndigenousRights expert based in Germany. “A simple cold that you & I recover from in a week…they could die of that cold.”

    Beyond disease, contact can destroy livelihoods & belief systems. #InternationalLaw requires free, prior & informed consent — known as #FPIC — before any activity on #IndigenousLands.

  9. Groups living in voluntary isolation have “minimal to no contact with those outside of their own group,” said Dr. Subhra Bhattacharjee, director general of the Forest Stewardship Council & an #IndigenousRights expert based in Germany. “A simple cold that you & I recover from in a week…they could die of that cold.”

    Beyond disease, contact can destroy livelihoods & belief systems. #InternationalLaw requires free, prior & informed consent — known as #FPIC — before any activity on #IndigenousLands.

  10. Groups living in voluntary isolation have “minimal to no contact with those outside of their own group,” said Dr. Subhra Bhattacharjee, director general of the Forest Stewardship Council & an #IndigenousRights expert based in Germany. “A simple cold that you & I recover from in a week…they could die of that cold.”

    Beyond disease, contact can destroy livelihoods & belief systems. #InternationalLaw requires free, prior & informed consent — known as #FPIC — before any activity on #IndigenousLands.

  11. Groups living in voluntary isolation have “minimal to no contact with those outside of their own group,” said Dr. Subhra Bhattacharjee, director general of the Forest Stewardship Council & an #IndigenousRights expert based in Germany. “A simple cold that you & I recover from in a week…they could die of that cold.”

    Beyond disease, contact can destroy livelihoods & belief systems. #InternationalLaw requires free, prior & informed consent — known as #FPIC — before any activity on #IndigenousLands.

  12. **I've told you all, several times, that you shouldn't trust #BCNDP & that they're #sellout #neoliberals. They pander to #CorporateLobbyists invested in #Ecocide & exploitation of unceded #IndigenousLands. #RCMPCIRG = #CorporateMercenaries funded by #PublicMonies - our #Taxpayers funds. I told you that #DavidEby was groomed by #JohnHorgan too. I wasn't lying. They both lied to public though.**

    Controversial B.C. RCMP unit to police opposition to fast-tracked resource projects.

    A widely-criticized police unit is participating in provincial committees coordinating surveillance and policing of protest against major resource projects—including those fast-tracked under new legislation.

    breachmedia.ca/rcmp-unit-contr

    #BCpoli #CDNpoli #BanCorporateLobbyists #StopCorporateWelfare #DoYourJob #Neoliberalism #Corruption #MilitarizedForce #PublicInterest #PublicTransparency #PublicAccountability #PublicScrutiny #BCNewDeathParty #FossilFuels #BoughtByIndustry

  13. The Rise and Fall of #NuScale: a nuclear cautionary tale

    Kelly Campbell
    October 29, 2024

    "A decade ago, NuScale, the Oregon-based small modular nuclear company born at Oregon State University, was on a roll. Promising a new era of nuclear reactors that were cheaper, easier to build and safer, their Star Wars-inspired artist renditions of a yet to be built reactor gleamed like a magic bullet.

    "As of last year, NuScale was the furthest along of any reactor design in obtaining Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing and was planning to build the first small modular nuclear reactor in the United States. Its plan was to build it in Idaho to serve energy to a consortium of small public utility districts in Utah and elsewhere, known as #UAMPS.

    "This home-grown Oregon company was lauded in local and national media. According to project backers, a high-tech solution to climate change was on the horizon, and an Oregon company was leading the way. It seemed almost too good to be true.

    "And it was.

    "Turns out, NuScale was a #HouseOfCards. The UAMPS project’s price tag more than doubled and the timeline was pushed back repeatedly until it was seven years behind schedule. Finally, UAMPS saw the writing on the wall and wisely backed out in November, 2023.

    "After losing their customer, NuScale’s stock plunged, it laid off nearly a third of its workforce, and it was sued by its investors and investigated for investor fraud. Then its CEO sold off most of his stock shares.

    "NuScale’s project is the latest in a long line of failed nuclear fantasies.

    "Why should you care? A different nuclear company, #XEnergy, now in partnership with #AmazonCorp, wants to build and operate small modular #nuclear reactors [#SMRs] near the #ColumbiaRiver, 250 miles upriver from #PortlandOR. #BillGates’s darling, the #Natrium reactor in #Wyoming is also plowing ahead. Both proposals are raking in the Inflation Reduction Act and other taxpayer funded subsidies. The danger: Money and time wasted on these #FalseSolutions to the #ClimateCrisis divert public resources from #renewables, #EnergyEfficiency and other faster, more cost-efficient and safer ways to address the climate crisis.

    "A recent study from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis concluded that small modular nuclear reactors are still too expensive, too slow to build and too risky to respond to the climate crisis.

    "While the nuclear industry tries to pass itself off as 'clean,' it is an extremely dirty technology, beginning with #UraniumMining and #UraniumMilling which decimates #IndigenousLands. Small modular nuclear reactors produce two to thirty times the radioactive waste of older nuclear designs, waste for which we have no safe, long-term disposal site. Any community that hosts a nuclear reactor will likely be saddled with its radioactive waste – forever. This harm falls disproportionately on #Indigenous and #LowIncome communities.

    :For those of us downriver, X-Energy’s plans to build at the Hanford Nuclear Site on the Columbia flies in the face of reason, as it would add more nuclear waste to the country’s largest nuclear cleanup site.

    "In #Oregon, we have a state moratorium on building nuclear reactors until there is a vote of the people and a national waste repository. Every few years, the nuclear industry attempts to overturn this law at the Oregon Legislature, but so far it has been unsuccessful. This August, Umatilla County Commissioners announced they’ll attempt another legislative effort to overturn the moratorium. Keeping this moratorium is wise, given the dangerous distraction posed by the false solution of small modular nuclear reactors. Let’s learn from the NuScale debacle and keep our focus on a just transition to a clean energy future–one in which nuclear power clearly has no place."

    oregoncapitalchronicle.com/202

    #EnvironmentalRacism #HoltecLies
    #NuclearLies #TEPCOLied
    #NoNukes #NoNukesForAI #Hanford #NuclearPowerCorruptionAndLies

  14. #Ute at #Utah State Capitol Today: Stop the #UraniumMill Poisoning our People

    By #Brenda Norrell, #CensoredNews, Oct. 4, 2024

    SALT LAKE, Utah -- "#WhiteMesaUte rallied at the Utah State Capitol on Friday, demanding that the deadly uranium mill in their community be shut down, as the legacy of #genocide, #ToxicDumping, and widespread #cancer continues.

    "The #WhiteMesaMill in southeastern #Utah, owned by #EnergyFuels of Canada, is bringing in dangerous #RadioactiveWaste from the #PinyonPlain #UraniumMine in the #GrandCanyon, and the countries of #Japan and #Estonia. #Radioactive waste too deadly to remain at the #NuclearTestSite in #Nevada was dumped at the mill.

    "'Today members of the White Mesa Ute community and supporters are rallying at the Utah State Capitol against #UraniumTransport and processing on #IndigenousLands,' #UnicornRiot reports on Friday.

    Read more: bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/10

    #WhiteMesa #Ute #HaulNo #NoUraniumMining #Navajo #NoNukes #NoWar #NuclearWeapons #ICANN #InformedConsent
    #EnvironmentalRacism #WaterIsLife #NoMoreHiroshimas #BanTheBomb #ReaderSupportedNews

  15. Today! No Haul! Uprising! #Hopi and #Navajo Host #Music and #Resistance in Tuba City

    August 10, 2024

    "On Saturday, August 10th, 5 p.m. Hopi / #Arizona Time (6 pm Navajo Nation/Tuba City time), Cloud Mountain Arts will host a five hour rockout/community educational event in opposition to #EnergyFuel’s hauling of radioactive material through the lands of #Havasupai, Hopi, Navajo, and #Ute Nations. The show will be held at the Legacy Room at the #Moencopi Legacy Inn in Tuba City and will feature performances by Indigenous musicians: Nava-Hopi metal sensation #IcyWhisper Official, Dine/Apache singer/songwriter #SageBond, Hopi rockers #Descendant and a special performance from #ROADKILL made up of members of #ThaYoties and #Innastate.

    "A history of the #PuebloRevolt of 1680 will be shared, as well education about #UraniumMining and transport on #NativeLands of the #ColoradoPlateau with admonitions to stand together against the desecration of #IndigenousLands. Special Guests: Bucky Preston, Alicyn Gitlin and Coconino County Supervisor Lena Fowler.

    "UPRISING is a FREE event! $5 Suggested donation to thank speakers and performers. Many Thanks to @centerforbiodiv , #GrandCanyonTrust, #WildArizona, #SierraClub, Coconino County and the Hopi Village of Moencopi for their help with the event."

    bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/08

    #HaulNo #ResistanceThroughMusic #NoMiningWithoutConsent #NavajoNation #PinyonPlain #WhiteMesaMill #ReaderSupportedNews #PinyonPlainUraniumMine #HaulNo #WaterIsLife #BlackMesa #NoUraniumMining #Navajo #InformedConsent
    #EnvironmentalRacism #ShutDownPinyonPlain #ProtectTheSacred #Diné #Dinébikeyah #dinetah

  16. #NDN LIVE | Walk Against the Illegal Transportation of #Uranium on the #NavajoNation

    "We are LIVE on Dinétah at #CameronArizona for the Walk Against the Illegal Transportation of Uranium on the Navajo Nation.

    "On July 30, 2024 a uranium company named #EnergyFuels hauled its materials through the Navajo Nation and was stopped and escorted off Navajo lands by the Navajo Police Department by order of #NavajoNation President #BuuNygren.

    "A call was made by Navajo Nation First Lady Jasmine Blackwater-Nygren and Diné organizers on August 1, 2024 to walk in opposition to the illegal transport of uranium on Navajo land at Cameron, AZ.

    "The assertion of #sovereignty on #IndigenousLands by #IndigenousPeoples for the protection of land, water, life, and people is a major factor in this. The Energy Fuels’ #PinyonPlain #UraniumMine has affected the #Havasupai, #Navajo, #Ute, and #Hopi Nations by #contamination of land and water sources, illegal transport of uranium materials on tribal land, and existing without tribal consultation.

    "The Pinyon Plain mine was built in 1990, but the legacy of US nuclear colonialism on Indigenous lands and communities goes back decades prior."

    For more info on #nuclear #colonialism follow:

    #HaulNo!
    #DinéCARE
    #Tewa Women United
    #TheRedNation
    #PuebloActionAlliance

    youtube.com/watch?v=sXalgmzMrK

    #NoUraniumMining
    #IndigenousNews
    #IndigenousResistance
    #DefendTheSacred
    #DefendMotherEarth
    #EarthDefenders
    #WaterIsLife
    #EnvironmentalRacism
    #InformedConsent

  17. #Colorado’s dirty secret: A $500 billion #mining industry built on #Indigenous land

    A new report says that it’s only a fraction of the almost $2 trillion the state has made on #StolenLand.

    By Taylar Dawn Stagner ● Environment, Tribes ● July 8, 2024

    "Skiing, hiking, and other outdoor recreational pastimes have lent Colorado a woodsy — and environmentally friendly — reputation. This image is at odds with the state’s first and biggest industry: #MineralExtraction. From 1858 to 2022, mineral extraction in Colorado has amounted to a $546 billion dollar industry. The state remains one of the leaders in #coal and #gold, but the state is also home to #oil, natural #gas, #limestone, and #helium mining.

    "Contrary to the carefree spirit of those outdoor activities that the state is known for, the growth of mining, and the development of its extractive practices, all have origins in the #genocide and forced displacement of #IndigenousPeoples native to the region. A new report by a nonprofit organization called People of the Sacred Land traces the history of how state and federal officials have 'systematically undermined Tribal #sovereignty and #Native self-governance through tactics like genocide and illegal land dispossession to exploit the wealth and resources of Tribal Nations.'"

    [...]

    "Starting in the late 18th century, a series of legislations established that settlers could not purchase land in the Colorado territory, but many settlers did so anyway, buying land from territorial governments and effectively excluding the tribes from the process. The report names #Denver, #Boulder, #ColoradoSprings, and #PuebloColorado as illegally established on #unceded Native lands. The United States was supposed to protect land belonging to tribes, but as settlers were drawn to the area via the gold rush, the United States failed to protect the land and eventually stopped trying, according to the report.

    "In the mid 1800s, tribes were often removed from their land under the threat of violence, or coerced into signing treaties under duress to make room for more settlers, who were interested in the newly established Colorado Territory. But the tribes were never fairly compensated.

    [...]

    "Colorado’s long history of mining has contributed to #deforestation and water and #AirPollution. 'Mining is an inherently destructive and invasive process, and it continues to impact the surrounding land, water, atmosphere, flora, and fauna long after sites have been abandoned.' the report said. Even unused mines still pose a danger to the environment. Currently there are 23,000 abandoned mines that impair the water quality of streams in Colorado."

    Read more:
    grist.org/indigenous/colorado-

    #InformedConsent #StolenLand #CorporateColonialism #CulturalGenocide #EnvironmentalRacism #LandBack
    #WaterIsLife #IndigenousLands #IndigenousRights

  18. #PrayerHorseRide's Third Annual March Ride Begins March 17, in Schurz, Nevada

    Reconnecting and Revitalizing #Traditional Ways of Life Threatened by Destructive #Mining Resource Extractions Supporting "#GreenEnergy"

    By Prayer Horse Ride, via #CensoredNews

    SCHURZ, Nevada -- "Prayer Horse Ride "#NanesootuhinaPookooGoobakatudu," is getting ready to begin our annual ride March 17th-26th, from Schurz, #Nevada through Yerington, Fallon, Wadsworth and Nixon, through Lovelock, then Orovada, and ending in #PeeheeMuhuh (#ThackerPass in the McDermitt Caldera), in the traditional, ancestral, and unceded lands of the #Paiute, #Shoshone, and #Bannock.
    The Riders, walkers, and runners carry the prayer with each community. They'll move forward to raise awareness regarding lithium mining in Peehee Mu'huh and the McDermitt Caldera; AND also raise awareness to #CopperMining in the #PineNutHills, a holy place known to the #Nuwu; in honor and remembrance of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women / People (#MMIW/P) in Nevada; and to revitalize and restore cultural identity, languages, creativity, and supportive lifeways in our indigenous communities.

    "Northern Nevada is the home of the #NorthernPaiute, #WesternShoshone, #Washoe, and #Bannock people. We, as descendants of them, will continue to give voices to the voiceless on #MotherEarth. To all of our relations.

    "'We do this prayer ride to reconnect and revitalize our way of life,' says Josh Dini, Sr, a member of Walker River Paiute Tribe, #WaterProtector and #PrayerHorseRider, and a member of #AmericanIndianMovement Northern Nevada (#AIMNNV).

    "Indigenous communities in the Great Basin and McDermitt Caldera are experiencing fast-tracked #mining and industrial development to support 'green energy,' and are threatened by #ecologically and #sociologically destructive resource extraction processes, most notably, #lithium and #copper mining, in areas in proximity to or within #communities, #reservations and #LandTrusts, and #SacredSites.

    "#HeavyMetals extraction #poisons lands, air, and water. Sacred sites for ceremony, where ancestors are buried, where medicines grow, and where lifecycles are anchored, are destroyed.

    "'Copper mining in our Pine Nut Hills takes away our knowledge and our identity of who we are,' says Dini, who explained the mining threatens an important Paiute medicine food, as well as numerous traditional campsites and sacred places that have been used for innumerable generations.

    "'We ride in honor of the people on the land before extraction industries, past - present - and future. Here in Nevada we have places important to the indigenous culture that are considered America's sacrifice zones in search of 'green energy.'

    "'We are Paiute and Shoshone allied with many of the federally recognized tribes in Nevada. We lead this prayer for Mother Earth,' says Gary McKinney, a Duck Valley Shoshone Paiute, water protector and Prayer Horse Rider, People of Red Mountain spokesperson, AIMNNV council member, and SIRGE Coalition Steering Committee member.

    Prayer Horse Ride will visit #Indigenous northern Nevada communities affected by these issues including #WalkerRiver Paiute Tribe, #Yerington Paiute Tribe, #Fallon Paiute Shoshone Tribe, #Lovelock Paiute Tribe, and #PyramidLake Paiute Tribe. As Riders reach each community, they may share meals, engage in ceremony, share stories and songs, and teach and learn traditional arts, bringing the communities together to celebrate and remember the traditional ways.

    "McKinney says, 'We ride to honor the land and the people - of the past, present, and the future. #LifeOverLithium."

    "About Prayer Horse Ride: Established in 2022 to honor the late #MyronDewey, Water Protector, Paiute Shoshone journalist and drone pilot, and to continue prayers for cultural sites like Peehee Mu’huh (Thacker Pass), we are an indigenous led prayer group and community service organization that advocates for our indigenous communities, to protect what we have left and to raise your awareness to what our communities face, and most importantly, in gathering tribes back together to stand in unity, not by separation.

    "'We'll continue this ride in the Vision of our Ancestors, for Healing, Strength and Awareness, in Prayer and Unity.'

    "Prayer Horse Riders have a story to tell and you can reach out to PHR media liaison André Wesner for inquiries: [email protected]

    bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/02

    #PrayerRide #WaterIsLife #WaterProtectors #IndigenousLands #IndigenousActivism #EnvironmentalRacism #CulturalGenocide #NoUraniumMining #NoMining #LandBack #LandDefenders #CorporateColonialism

  19. Mention of @centerforbiodiv ! Follow them here on Mastodon!

    Lawmakers need statewide #lithium plan, says #conservation group

    By: Jennifer Sollis, Nevada Current
    February 20, 2024

    "There are more than 80 lithium projects proposed on #Nevada’s public lands as the nation races to power the #GreenEnergy transition. Now conservation groups are looking to state lawmakers to establish a rule-making process that would help reduce the establishment of mines in areas of greatest conflict.

    "Despite a growing interest in lithium mining, Nevada has not developed a state-level plan for where lithium production should – and should not – be permitted to avoid impacts on local communities and resources.

    "The United States produces less than 1% of global lithium production, all from a single facility, Albemarle Corp.’s Silver Peak mine in Esmeralda County, according to the United States Geological Survey. But that may soon change, making a statewide plan necessary, say conservation groups.

    "#Mining on public lands requires federal approval. However, state approval is also required for various permits needed to advance mining operations. States — including Nevada — generally regulate waste management, #groundwater use and impacts, reclamation, surface water use, and air quality operating permits.

    "Conservation groups argue that those permit requirements give Nevada an opportunity to help shape the future of lithium development in the state.

    "Earlier this month, the #CenterForBiologicalDiversity submitted a letter to the Joint Interim Standing Committee on Natural Resources, asking the committee to put forward a bill establishing a rule-making process that would help reduce the establishment of mines in areas of greatest conflict.

    "The letter also includes a request that the bill include funding for a study by the #DesertResearchInstitute and state agencies to evaluate lithium resources in the state and determine which can be extracted with the least impact on communities and the environment.

    "Lack of data around natural resources isn’t just an issue in Nevada, but nationwide.

    "According to the Association of American State Geologists, the United States lacks an effective process for gathering, organizing, compiling, or publicly sharing geologic data that would help in the identification of valuable mineral deposits.

    "Data collection on natural resources — like the one suggested by the Center for Biological Diversity — could improve the identification and development of critical minerals, while also identifying and avoiding sensitive resources that may be adversely affected by exploration or mining, according to a recent report on how to improve mining on public lands by the Department of the Interior.

    "State Sen. Julie Pazina, the chairperson of the legislature’s Joint Interim Standing Committee on Natural Resources, said the committee has yet to make any determinations for what bill draft requests they’ll make for the next Legislative session in 2025.

    "'Over the next year, we will discuss and vet policy with the goal of protecting Nevada’s air, water and land for generations to come,' Pazina said.

    "In Nevada, the clean energy transition has been marred by conflict with numerous projects in high conflict areas attracting litigation and public outcry.

    "Earlier this year, federal land managers pulled their approval for a controversial lithium exploration project less than a mile from a treasured #wetland habitat after getting hit with a lawsuit and fierce opposition.

    "Other mining projects in the state have faced backlash and delays, due to their proximity to #cultural and #ecologically sensitive areas. In one case, a small wildflower has been a source of conflict between conservationists and an #Australian mining company, seeking to build an #OpenPit lithium mine on the plant’s only known habitat.

    "Last year, Washoe County commissioners withdrew a permit for a #geothermal exploration project near #Gerlach, after locals voiced fears the project could negatively impact the town’s #water supply, the structural integrity of their homes, and nearby natural hot springs.

    "Permitting roadblocks, like the ones in Nevada, have been a major source of frustration for the #Biden administration.

    "The potential for conflict in the state due to lithium mining is only growing. About half of the projects currently proposed in Nevada are in Esmeralda and Nye County, surrounding the town of Tonopah, a sizable population center.

    "'We support domestic lithium extraction as well, if it is done in the right places and with the right techniques. We oppose business-as-usual mining, dewatering of open pits, pit lakes, excessive water consumption, #extinction of species or severe #degradation of #habitat, and regulatory shortcuts to permit bad mines faster,' wrote Patrick Donnelly, the Great Basin Director for the Center for Biological Diversity, in the letter."

    thisisreno.com/2024/02/lawmake

    #WaterIsLife #LithiumMining #EnvironmentalRacism #EnvironmentalDestruction #Extinction #CulturalGenocide #IndigenousLands