#thackerpass — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #thackerpass, aggregated by home.social.
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Boo hiss! #Colonialism at work!
US government takes equity stake in one of the world’s largest #LithiumMines
The #Trump administration is now a significant stakeholder in the controversial mine at #ThackerPass.
by Justine Calma
Oct 1, 2025"Donald Trump’s administration is taking a 5 percent equity ownership of mining company Lithium Americas, on top of another 5 percent stake in the company’s joint mining project with GM in Nevada, the #DepartmentOfEnergy announced yesterday. The mine at Thacker Pass is expected to become the largest producer of lithium in the Western Hemisphere once it opens in 2028.
"Lithium is a crucial component in batteries used for electric vehicles, wind and solar energy storage, and rechargeable devices of all kinds. Both the Biden and Trump administrations have sought to wean the US off foreign imports of lithium. This announcement is the latest step President Trump has taken to assert more control over domestic supply chains for key materials.
"The latest step President Trump has taken to assert more control over domestic supply chains for key materials
"The Thacker Pass mine is supposed to produce around 40,000 metric tons of #LithiumCarbonate annually for batteries once it’s fully operational. US production of lithium is currently under 5,000 metric tons. For comparison, China — the third-biggest lithium producer after Australia and Chile — already produces 40,000 metric tons annually.
"The mine has been under construction since 2023, following fierce opposition from nearby Native American tribes. Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union found that the federal government’s permitting of the mine violated Indigenous peoples’ rights in a February 2025 report, alleging it failed to obtain 'free, prior, and #InformedConsent' from affected tribes. Ranchers and environmental groups concerned about the mine’s impact on local #water sources and endangered species have also opposed the project."
Read more:
https://www.theverge.com/news/790057/lithium-mine-us-trump-us-government-stake-thacker-pass#WaterIsLife #USPol #LithiumMining #Extortion #TrumpSucks #CorporateColonialism #Corporatocracy #LithiumAmericas #ThackerPassDefenders #ProtectPeeHeeMuhuh
#DefendTheSacred #NoLithiumMining
#StopThackerPass
#LithiumAmericasCanada #NoMiningWithoutConsent #ProtectTheSacred #LithiumGoldRush #JusticeForMyronDewey #PoliceState
#SecretSurveillance #ACAB
#IndigenousLand #IndigenousNews -
Read Odette Auger’s latest piece on Peehee Mu’huh - sacred land at risk from a lithium mine now under construction: Get the mag in your mailbox: bit.ly/WS-store
Watch & share the film by Ricochet Media bsky.app/profile/ricochetmedia.bsky.social, The Real News bsky.app/profile/therealnews.com, and IndigiNews www.indiginews.com.
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…The $2.93 billion #ThackerPass project was approved by #Trump at the end of his first term. The loan from the Dept of #Energy's Loan Programs Office [LPO] was closed last year by #Biden admin officials.
The loan has a 24-year term, with interest rates based on the #US Treasury rate as each tranche is drawn.
#LithiumAmericas was slated to make its first draw on the loan earlier this month but Trump officials sought to *renegotiate* terms….
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The proposed stake is the latest example of the #Trump admin intervening directly in the #US #economy as it has in taking stakes in #Intel, #MPMaterials & other US #tech & #minerals firms to promote industries it sees as critical to *national security* [personal enrichment].
Slated to become the Western Hemisphere's largest source of #lithium when it opens in 2028, the #ThackerPass #mine has been under construction for nearly a year with >600 contractors at the site….
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Of course he does
Exclusive: #Trump wants piece of company in charge of #US’ biggest #lithium #mine
The Trump admin is seeking an equity stake of as much as 10% in #LithiumAmericas as it renegotiates terms of the company's $2.26 billion #Energy Department loan for its #ThackerPass lithium project with #GeneralMotors, two people familiar with the discussions told Reuters.
#law #extortion
https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/trump-administration-seeks-equity-stake-lithium-americas-amid-loan-talks-2025-09-23/ -
Sacred Water Unity Walk, Protecting the Water for Future Generations
September 4, 2025, via @bsnorrell.blogspot.com
"#LithiumMining at #Hulapai's ceremonial place Ha'Kamwe' has poisoned the water. Federal judge #DianeHumetewa, Hopi, has halted the devastation for now.
"Now, on the Sacred Water Unity Walk, #ProtectHaKamwe' said, 'Gumyu'ja. Giving Thanks to Ba'geyovah for this Beauty of Our Ancestral Lands, we pray that your children's generations can
someday see and enjoy such beauty.' "https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/09/sacred-water-unity-walk-protecting.html
#WaterIsSacred #WaterIsLife #ThackerPass #Paiute #ProtectTheSacred #UnityWalk #CensoredNews #ReaderSupportedNews
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#LawEnforcement's #SecretSurveillance of Defenders at #ThackerPass, Peehee Mu'huh
#LithiumAmericas of Canada plans huge man camp in Winnemucca
By @bsnorrell.blogspot.com , #CensoredNews, Updated Aug. 12, 2025
"The #BIA and #BLM were part of 10 agencies in a joint #terrorism task force stalking defenders of Peehee Mu-huh, Thacker Pass, new documents reveal. The surveillance intensified when #MyronDewey supported. The Nevada Sheriff said there could be 'another #StandingRock,' and called in a 'spin master' to discredit #WaterProtectors, as he had done at Standing Rock.
"#ProPublica and #NevadaIndependent expose the surveillance. Censored News tracks back on the timeline. Interior Sec. #DebHaaland's BIA was part of the joint terrorism task force targeting the defenders of Peehee Mu-huh."
Original story:
THACKER PASS, Nevada -- "While descendants of the survivors of the massacre of Paiutes at #PeeheeMuhuh struggled to protect the sacred remains from the digging of a lithium mine, owned by Lithium Americas on Canada -- law enforcement had a spider web of surveillance. The law enforcement surveillance of defenders of Peehee Mu'huh, Thacker Pass, began before
Myron Dewey was killed, and continued afterwards."ProPublica and Nevada Independent expose the spy trail of law enforcement and private security of Lithium Americas. The surveillance web of 10 agencies included the BIA, and a counter-terrorism task force.
"During a meeting in April of 2021, the sheriff met with a spinmaster who linked the resistance to Standing Rock. This was six months before Myron Dewey was killed when a truck driven by a mining
engineer [an employee of #LithiumAmericas] hit Myron head on."Myron was well known for his reporting and drone coverage at Standing Rock 2016--2017. Myron was livestreaming the day before he was killed near his home in #YombaNevada, Sept. 26, 2021. Myron was fighting the #USMilitary's expansion of the bombing range on his #Paiute homeland."
Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/07/law-enforcements-secret-surveillance-of.html#JusticeForMyronDewey #PoliceState
#SecretSurveillance #ACAB
#IndigenousLand #IndigenousNews
#LandDefenders #StandWithStandingRock
#ProtectPeeHeeMuhuh
#DefendTheSacred #NoLithiumMining
#StopThackerPass #LithiumAmericas
#LithiumAmericasCanada
#LithiumMining #NoMiningWithoutConsent #ReaderSupportedNews -
Law Enforcement's Secret Surveillance of Defenders at #ThackerPass, #PeeheeMuhuh, Exposed by #ProPublica and #NevadaIndependent
#LithiumAmerica of Canada plans huge #ManCamp in #WinnemuccaBy #BrendaNorrell, #CensoredNews, Updated July 31, 2025
THACKER PASS, #Nevada -- "While descendants of the survivors of the massacre of #Paiutes at Peehee Mu'huh struggled to protect the sacred remains from the digging of a #LithiumMine, owned by Lithium Americas on Canada -- law enforcement had a spider web of surveillance."The law enforcement surveillance of defenders of Peehee Mu'huh, Thacker Pass, began before #MyronDewey was killed, and continued afterwards.
"ProPublica and Nevada Independent expose the spy trail of law enforcement and private security of Lithium Americas. The surveillance web of 10 agencies included the #BIA, and a #CounterTerrorism task force.
"During a meeting in April of 2021, the sheriff met with a spinmaster who linked the resistance to #StandingRock. This was six months before Myron Dewey was killed when a truck driven by a mining
engineer hit Myron head on."Myron was well known for his #reporting and #drone coverage at Standing Rock 2016--2017. Myron was livestreaming the day before he was killed near his home in #YombaNevada, Sept. 26, 2021. Myron was fighting the U.S. military's expansion of the bombing range on his #Paiute homeland. The Nevada legislators were pushing hard for the expansion, which Biden signed into law. Myron had also been delivering supplies to Thacker Pass in the months before he was killed."
Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/07/law-enforcements-secret-surveillance-of.html#PoliceState #SecretSurveillance #ACAB #IndigenousLand #IndigenousNews #LandDefenders #JusticeForMyronDewey #StandWithStandingRock #ProtectPeeHeeMuhuh #DefendTheSacred #NoLithiumMining #StopThackerPass #LithiumAmericas #LithiumAmericasCanada #LithiumMining #NoMiningWithoutConsent #ReaderSupportedNews
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ProPublica reports: Indigenous activists protesting the Thacker Pass lithium mine in Nevada have faced years of surveillance by law enforcement and private security. Their fight highlights tensions between green energy and Indigenous rights. 🪶⚡️🔍 #ThackerPass #IndigenousRights #ClimateJustice #newz
https://www.propublica.org/article/thacker-pass-lithium-mine-nevada-indigenous
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Indigenous activists opposed to Nevada’s Thacker Pass lithium mine have for years been surveilled by law enforcement agencies and the company behind the mine, records show.
“They treat us like we’re domestic terrorists,” an organizer said.
#News #Indigenous #Environment #Surveillance #Nevada #ThackerPass #FBI
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#PrayerHorseRide Prepares for Sacred Journey 2025
"We do not sell our #MotherEarth or profit off of her, Mother Earth is here to take care of us and teach us our natural ways of Life! I pray we all stand to protect our Mother,” - Josh Dini, Sr., Walker River Pauite Tribe, #WaterProtector, #PrayerHorseRider and a member of #AIM Northern Nevada.
By Prayer Horse Ride, via #CensoredNews
SCHURZ, Nevada -- "The Prayer Horse Ride is getting ready to begin our 4th annual sacred journey March 21st – April 2nd, across Nevada in the ancestral lands of the Numu (#Paiute) and Newe (#Shoshone), through Yerington, Fallon, Wadsworth, Nixon, Lovelock to McDermitt, and ending near Orovada, honoring #PeeheeMuhuh (#ThackerPass in the McDermitt Caldera).
"Those Riders, Walkers, and Runners carry the prayerful energy with each community. They'll move forward to raise awareness regarding water usage and #NativeAmericanGraves Protection and
Repatriation Act concerns about #lithium mining in Peehee Mu'huh and within the McDermitt Caldera.
"The Ride also raises awareness of several #EndangeredSpecies in #FishLakeValley (#TecopaBirdsBeak, #TiehmsBuckwheat, and #TuiChub), a place Newe gathered foods and medicines, held sacred ceremonies, and where a proposed lithium boron mine would violate the #AmericanIndianReligiousFreedomAct."Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/01/prayer-horse-ride-prepares-for-sacred.html
#JusticeForMyronDewey #LithiumMining #CopperMining #NoMining #SaveThackerPass #SacredPlaces #DefendTheSacred #GreenWashing #ExtractiveIndustries #MMIWG #MMIR #CorporateColonialism #PrayerRide #ProtectTheSacred #ProtectThackerPass #ReaderSupportedNews -
"Lithium Americas has officially finalized its joint venture agreement with General Motors (GM) to develop the #ThackerPass #lithium mine in Nevada.
In its initial phase, it is expected to produce 40,000 metric tons of battery-grade lithium carbonate annually. This production volume is sufficient to support manufacturing up to 800,000 electric vehicles annually."
https://www.cbtnews.com/gm-finalizes-625m-stake-in-nevada-thacker-pass-lithium-mine/
US sales of "light vehicles": 16 million annually.
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Little known fact: many lithium batteries have direct connections to the Alberta Tar Sands, the largest and most destructive industrial project on Earth.
Max Wilbert's latest essay explores this topic by looking at a newer type of battery called lithium-sulfur and the links between sulfur planned for use at the Thacker Pass lithium mine and the fossil fuel industry.
https://substack.com/@maxwilbert/note/c-73014821
#lithium #TarSand #fossilFuelIndustry #sulfur #ThackerPass #bigOil #batteries #evs
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@DavidBruchmann Definitely! I've been posting about #ThackerPass for a while now. It's all about mining without consent, and not considering all the environmental, cultural and spiritual ramifications!
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Interior Sec. #DebHaaland's Pueblo is in the #BallisticMissile Parts Business
By #BrendaNorrell, #CensoredNews, Nov. 4, 2024
LAGUNA PUEBLO, New Mexico -- "Interior Sec. Deb Haaland's tribe's enterprise, #LagunaIndustries, manufactures parts for both the ballistic missile, and parts for combat jets, including the #F15. #Biden recently approved the sale of fifty F-15 jets to #Israel in a $20 billion deal.
"The discovery comes after Biden was protested at #GilaRiver Indian Community, and Interior Sec. Haaland was sued by three #Arizona tribes.
[...]
"Interior Sec. Deb Haaland's permit for lithium mining at #Hualapai ceremonial spring south of the #GrandCanyon, and her promotion of #LithiumMining now digging in to the #Paiute Massacre site, #PeeheeMuhuh, #ThackerPass in northern #Nevada, were difficult to understand. Until now.
"The lithium mining into the Paiute Massacre Site is for the benefit of big industry electric vehicles, and violates all federal laws that protect religious and historic sites, the water and environment, and endangered species. The mining operation is by #LithiumAmericas of Canada."The #Hualapai Tribe said Hualapai were never consulted before Haaland granted the drilling permit to the Australian company #HawkstoneMining. The Hualapai Tribe filed a federal lawsuit against Haaland.
"In a separate federal lawsuit, the #TohonoOodham and #SanCarlosApache Nations have filed a lawsuit against Haaland for the bulldozers now destroying ancient villages sites, burial places and medicine grounds in #SanPedroValley in Arizona, for #SunZia's transmission lines for a wind energy project.
The United States government is also allowing #EnergyFuels to operate a #UraniumMine in the Grand Canyon, now threatening the aquifer and poisoning Havasupai's air and ancestral homeland. The radioactive haul route to Energy Fuels uranium mill in the #WhiteMesaUte community in Utah endangers #Supai, #Paiute, #Dine' (#Navajo), #Hopi, and #Ute."The Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management, BLM, has a history of rubber stamping environmental impact statements, resulting in devastation."
Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/11/interior-sec-haalands-pueblo-is-in.html#ReaderSupportedNews #NoWar #NoNuclearWeapons #NoLithiumMining #NoMiningWithoutConsent #RecycleLithium #RecycleCopper #WaterIsLife #DefendTheSacred #MotherEarth #ReaderSupportedNews
#FreePalestine #NoUraniumMining #Greenwashing #CulturalGenocide #CorporateColonialism #NoNukes #HaulNo #UraniumMining #WhiteMesaMill -
So, I heard about this on the news. And I shouted out loud, "#ThackerPass! #OakFlat! #WhiteMesa! Ha'Kamwe'!" I mean, it's great to embrace #TruthAndReconciliation, especially when it comes to #BoardingSchools -- but not when your administration is targeting sacred places for destructive, extractive mining and processing of radioactive materials -- which will affect #FirstNations who live nearby!
'A sin on our soul': Biden delivers formal apology for Native boarding school abuses
by Debra Utacia Krol
October 25, 2024"#Biden delivered the apology on tribal lands south of Phoenix in what could be his last visit to Arizona as president. Before leaving Washington on Thursday, he called the apology 'something that should have been done a long time ago.' He was accompanied by Interior Secretary #DebHaaland, a member of the Laguna Pueblo and the first Indigenous Cabinet secretary."
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#Colombia's #Indigenous Demand #AncestralKnowledge is at Forefront of #COP16 #Biodiversity Convention
Indigenous communities from different regions of Colombia march in the southwestern city of #Cali to demand that their ancestral knowledge on #conservation be taken into account at the #UNBiodiversity summit, COP16, which is being held in the city.
Article by #BrendaNorrell, #CensoredNews, Oct. 24, 2024
"The United States is the only United Nations member state that has not ratified the Convention on #Biodiversity. While 197 countries arrive in Cali, Colombia for the COP16 Biodiversity Convention, the U.S. is engaged in #WarCrimes and #genocide in #Palestine.
"In the U.S., the team of #Biden and Interior Sec. #DebHaaland plans to desecrate the #Hualapai's sacred ceremonial water with a #LithiumMine; is promoting #LithiumMining digging into the #Paiute Massacre Site at #ThackerPass; is allowing #UraniumMining in the #GrandCanyon threatening Havasupai's aquifer and poisoning their #MedicinePlants with #radioactive dust; allowing #dumping radioactive ore and global radioactive waste in #WhiteMesaUte's community; is bulldozing the ancient village sites, burial places and medicine plants of #TohonoOodham and #SanCarlosApache for a wind energy project; plans a massive #CopperMine from San Carlos #Apache sacred #OakFlat; and plans to increase the radioactivity in the #Pueblo homelands with increased #plutonium production and storage at #LosAlamos Labs in northern #NewMexico."
Read more, view photos:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/10/colombias-indigenous-demand-ancestral.htmlWatch video by AFP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWUjFLE1AY4
#WaterIsLife #ProtectTheSacred #SaveOakFlat #RioTinto #HaKamwe #Greenwashing #CorporateColonialism #NoOpenPitMining #WhiteMesaMill #CulturalGenocide #RecycleLithium #RecycleCopper #ToxicWaste #NuclearWaste #FirstNations #NuclearWeapons #ReaderSupportedNews #HaulNo #DefendTheSacred
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#Nevada #LithiumMine approved despite possible harm to #endangered #wildflower
Advocates vow to sue, saying plan, crucial to #Biden’s clean energy agenda, will drive #TiehmsBuckwheat to extinction
Thu 24 Oct 2024 16.36 EDT
"Environmentalists said Thursday that the mine’s final approval was a politically motivated violation of multiple US laws. The Center for Biological Diversity said in a statement: 'Litigation is now the only way [to] stop the Rhyolite Ridge Mine.'
[...]
"Opponents of the project say it’s the latest example of Biden’s administration running roughshod over US protections for native #wildlife, rare species and #SacredTribalLands in the name of slowing the #ClimateCrisis by reducing reliance on fossil fuels and bolstering national security by easing reliance on foreign sources of critical minerals.
"'We’ve been fighting to save Tiehm’s buckwheat for six years and we’re not giving up now,' Donnelly said.
"Nevada is home to the only existing lithium mine in the US. Another is currently under construction near the Oregon line 220 miles (354km) north of Reno. That #LithiumAmericas mine at #ThackerPass, which was approved in the final days of Donald #Trump’s administration, survived numerous legal challenges from #environmentalists and #NativeAmerican tribes who said it would destroy lands they considered sacred where their ancestors were massacred by US troops in 1865."
#SaveRhyoliteRidge
#SaveThackerPass #IoneerLtd #NoLithiumMining #RecycleLithium #BiodiversityNecessityDefense #CenterForBiologicalDiversity #ProtectTheSacred #TiehmsBuckwheat #EndangeredSpecies -
Want to help support #ApacheStronghold's #PrayerJourney to the #SupremeCourt? Donate to their #GoFundMe #fundraiser!
Support #ApacheStronghold Prayer Journey to Supreme Court
"Apache Stronghold, San Carlos, Arizona, is a 501(c)3 nonprofit community organization of individuals who come together in unity to battle continued colonization, defend Holy sites and freedom of religion. We are currently in a battle to #SaveOakFlat from destruction by #ResolutionCopper (#BHP & #RioTinto). Chi’chil Biłdagoteel (also known as Oak Flat) is a sacred site for our Apache people and many other #NativeAmericans. This is a place that has special significance— a place where we pray, collect water and medicinal plants for ceremonies, gather acorns and other foods, and honor those that are buried here.
"We received the response from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Our request to be heard by the full 29-judge panel was denied, none of the judges requesting a vote for rehearing. The Court amended its decision to discuss a previous Supreme Court decision that hadn’t been considered, and the 9th Circuit’s decision on the case remained closely divided, 6 to 5, with five dissenting judges and over 240 pages of opinions. We have now completed the 9th Circuit appeal, and the next step is petitioning to be heard by the Supreme Court. I want to thank everyone for your endless support and prayers. I know capitalism had began as far back as when trade began. For over 500 hundred years, we #IndigenousPeople of America, have suffered equally to the rest of the world. What had started in the beginning between good and evil will again face each other. One, to protect the greatest gift god gave the world or the other.,to destroy every human life and the spirit that #MotherEarth gives birth to. The question is, where will you stand in this moment? We will all be judged. Blessings to all.
SUPPORTING APACHE STRONGHOLD AT THE U.S. SUPREME COURT
"Apache Stronghold is grateful for the outpouring of support for our efforts to protect Oak Flat. As our case heads to the Supreme Court, one way to support Apache Stronghold is for interested organizations to file an amicus brief (also called a friend-of-the-court brief) at the Supreme Court.
"The Prayer Journey to Supreme Court [began] July 12 beginning in Seattle, then to #ThackerPass, California, West coast, Arizona, New Mexico, .........and onwards toward Washington DC. This prayer journey will a couple months and visits many supporting organizations, Tribes, churches, religious sites and people for prayers as we cross this Country. The Supreme Court filing is set for September 11, 2024. Apache Stronghold vs United States."
Donate:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/stand-with-apache-stronghold-protect-sacred-sitesMore info:
http://www.apache-stronghold.com#SCOTUS #ProtectOakFlat #DefendTheSacred #SanCarlosApache #ChichilBildagoteel #CopperMine #ProtectOakFlat
#ProtectTheSacred #DefendTheSacred
#IndigenousActivism
#SaveOakFlat #WaterIsLife #SacredSite #CopperMining
#RecycleCopper #NoMiningWithoutConsent
#CulturalGenocide
#Ecocide #NativeAmericanNews
#CorporateColonialism
#WashingtonDC
#PrayerRide #PeacefulProtest
#FightForReligiousRights -
[Thread] The next installment from #KleeBenally 's book, #NoSpiritualSurrender.
“The proposition of unplugging from a ‘dirty’ power source and plugging into a ‘green’ one does nothing to address the underlying power relations. It reinforces them.
“‘#GreenEnergy’ sustaining a Green Economy still demands resource #colonialism. From sacred #OakFlat in so-called Arizona where #SanCarlosApache are resisting a massive mine that is estimated to contain enough #copper ore to produce 275 million electric vehicles [#EVs], to sacred #ThackerPass in so-called Nevada where #Shoshone are resisting #LithiumMining, which is necessary for electric vehicle and ‘green’ energy battery production. A single car #LithiumIon battery pack contains 18 pounds of lithium. To electrify every vehicle throughout the world, an estimated 10.4 billion tons of lithium is needed, that is approximately 13 times the existing lithium reserves. The Thacker Pass lithium one is mismated to produce 60,000 tons annually. The proposed project spans approximately 28 square miles that would hold an #OpenPit and a #sulfuricacid processing plant to extract lithium from mined ore.
"The operation is estimated to release 152,713 tons of #CarbonDioxide [#CO2] annually and 400,000 gallons of #water is required for each ton of lithium meaning it will use 1.7 billion gallons annual. The Thacker Pass sulfuric acid processing plant will convert sulfur to leech lithium from raw ore, turned in from sources such as the #AlbertaTarSands, which are 1,500 miles away. The tar sands, located in so-called Canada, are known as the world’s most destructive oil operation.”
Page 138-139
#IndigenousAnarchy
#Ecosystem #DefendTheSacred
#CorporateColonialism #NoDAPL #CriminalizingDissent #WaterIsLife #ClimateDefenders #NoCopperMiningWithoutConsent #NoLithiumMining #CorporateColonialism #NoMiningWithoutConsent #LithiumMining #CopperMining #Greenwashing -
#ApacheStronghold at Peehee Mu'huh Locked Gates for People of Prayer
On the Journey to the Supreme Court
By Apache Stronghold, #CensoredNews
August 8, 2024"Apache Stronghold visited Peehee Mu’huh (#ThackerPass), the second stop on the Prayer Journey to the Supreme Court [#SCOTUS] to Stop the Shattering of Human Existence and Protect #MotherEarth.
"We visited with the People of #RedMountain, who are fighting a #LithiumMine that is destroying their #SacredSite. When we arrived at the entrance to Peehee Mu’huh, we found a chain link wall with a locked gate, blocking everyone except those authorized by the mine.
"Security trucks came to go through the gate, and one of the drivers admitted that they knew the Apache Stronghold would be there with the People of Red Mountain.
"One truck drove off toward the mine, while the other driver re-locked the gate and left, emphasizing that the mining company has access to Peehee Mu’huh, but the Indigenous people who were stewards of the land since time immemorial, and all others who would go there to pray, are locked out.
"Dr. Wendsler Nosie Sr. said, 'It’s a sad reminder that people don’t know the day could come, if #OakFlat is ever transferred to #ResolutionCopper, that the acorns, #MedicinePlants, and water could be locked away behind a gate facing death at the hands of a corporation.
"'People need to come together to stop this desecration happening at Peehee Mu’huh and prevent it from happening everywhere else, before it’s too late.'
"Costanoan Rumsen #CarmelTribe said, 'We are honored to welcome and pray along side the Apache Stronghold and Protect Oak Flat on their Prayer Journey. Please join us in prayer this Saturday from 7 am-12 noon.' Chief Ya'anna Learning Village and Tuatukar Eco-Cultural Center for Indigenous Regeneration, 4500 Via Marisol, #Los AngelesCalifornia 90042.
"For those who can’t join us in person, please pray for us as we travel to the Supreme Court, and follow along on the journey here.
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/08/apache-stronghold-at-peehee-muhuh.html
#PeeHeeMuhuh #NoCopperMiningWithoutConsent #IndigenousPeoples #IndigenousNews #RioTinto CopperMine #BHP #Apache #NDAA #BigMountain #CulturalGenocide #Genocide #Arizona #ChichilBildagoteel #RioTinto #CopperMine #SanCarlosApache #Arizona #ProtectOakFlat #protectthesacred #DefendTheSacred #IndigenousActivism #SaveOakFlat #WaterIsLife #SacredSite #CopperMining #RecycleCopper #MiningWithoutConsent #ProtectTheSacred #CulturalGenocide #Ecocide #NativeAmericanNews #Greenwashing #NoMiningWithoutConsent #CorporateColonialism #PeacefulProtest
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#ApacheStronghold Continues Journey of Prayer to the #SupremeCourt to Stop the Shattering of Human Existence and to Protect #MotherEarth
Apache Stronghold to #ThackerPass
Apache Stronghold, #CensoredNews, August 4, 2024
Contact: [email protected]
"Today, August 4, 2024, the Apache Stronghold will be continuing our prayer journey to stop the shattering of human existence and to protect Mother Earth. The prayer journey began in the #LummiNation, north of Seattle, in July, and it will conclude on September 11, 2024 when the Apache Stronghold files their appeal at the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC, with stops along the way visiting tribes and supporters for prayer and ceremony. The full route is outlined [at the link below].
"We will be traveling to Thacker Pass, Nevada for a #PrayerGathering on August 6th. This will be our second stop of the journey. After Thacker Pass, we will be traveling to the #BayAreaCalifornia on August 8th for another prayer gathering. Please pay close attention to your emails as we will be updating along the way, as well as our social media @protectoakflat to follow along the journey with us.
"It is a very crucial time right now, so we ask if you cannot join us along the journey please continue to pray for our journey as we make our way across the U.S to the Supreme Court in Washington D.C. We are in this fight together, as we are one drum, one circle, one prayer."
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/08/apache-stronghold-to-thacker-pass-on.html
#RioTinto #CopperMine #SanCarlosApache #Arizona #ProtectOakFlat #protectthesacred #DefendTheSacred #IndigenousActivism #SCOTUS #SaveOakFlat
#WaterIsLife #SacredSite
#CopperMining
#RecycleCopper
#MiningWithoutConsent
#ProtectTheSacred
#CulturalGenocide
#ChichilBiłdagoteel
#Ecocide #SaveOakFlat #ReaderSupportedNews
#NativeAmericanNews
#IndigenousNews
#Greenwashing
#NoMiningWithoutConsent #ResolutionCopper #CorporateColonialism -
[Photos] #PrayerHorseRide to Peehee Mu'huh
Nanesootuhina Pookoo Goobakatudu
#CensoredNews, March 28, 2024
Photos by Melissa Robles-DyerPeehee Mu'huh (#ThackerPass) -- "The Prayer Horse Ride, March 17-26, began in Schurz on its jouney to Peehee Mu’huh, Thacker Pass. The ride is in the traditional, ancestral and #unceded lands of the #Paiute, #Shoshone and #Bannock.
"'We do this prayer ride to reconnect our way of life,' said #JoshDiniSr., #WalkerRiverPaiute, #WaterProtector and #PrayerHorseRider.
"The Prayer Horse Ride is to raise awareness about #LithiumMining in #McDermittCaldera, and also #CopperMining in the #PineNutHills, in remembrance of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women/People (#MMIW / #MMIP). Riders are revitalizing cultural identity, languages and lifeways in #Indigenous communities."
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/03/prayer-horse-ride-to-peehee-muhuh.html
#ProtectThackerPass #IndigenousActivism #IndigenousPeoples #PeeheeMuhuh #NoLithiumMining #EnvironmentalRacism #RecycleElectronics #RecycleLithium #LandBack #TraditionalLands #LithiumNevada #LithiumAmerica #RioTinto #CorporateColonialism
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#ThackerPass protesters claim “biodiversity necessity defense” in court case with #LithiumNevada Corporation
By Kevin Sheridan
Published: Mar. 26, 2024WINNEMUCCA, Nev. (KOLO) - "Six protesters being sued by the Lithium Nevada Corporation are using what they are calling a 'biodiversity necessity defense'.
"They say the defense is 'a legal argument used to justify breaking the law when a greater harm is being prevented; for example, breaking a car window to save an infant locked inside on a stifling hot day, or breaking down a door to help someone screaming inside a locked home. In these cases, trespassing is justified to save a life.'
"This week’s filing states that the 'Defendants possessed an actual belief that their acts of protest were necessary to prevent the present, continuing harms and evils of ecocide and irreversible climate change.'
"'We’re in the midst of the 6th mass extinction of life on Earth, and it’s being caused by human activities like mining,' said attorney Terry Lodge, who is representing the protesters. 'Our lives are made possible by biodiversity and ecosystems. Protecting our children from pollution and biodiversity collapse isn’t criminal, it’s heroic.'
"In a filing with the court, Lodge and other attorneys claimed the company had 'unclean hands', and that Lithium Nevada has 'engaged in serious misconduct including violating the Defendants’ human rights, Defendants’ civil rights, misleading the public about the impacts of lithium mining and how lithium mining contributes to climate change and biodiversity collapse, and conducting the inherently dangerous and ecologically destructive practice of surface mining at the Thacker Pass mine'.
"They further argue stopping the mine will prevent significant greenhouse gas emissions, and that their actions are justified because they are working to prevent #CimateChange."
#ClimateNecessityDefense #BiodiversityNecessityDefense #ThackerPassProtectors #SLAPPs #SaveThackerPass
#PeeheeMuhuh #Pauite #Shoshone #NoMining #LithiumMining #DirectAction #EarthDefenders #SacredSites #ProtectThackerPass -
#ThackerPass #Protectors File First-Ever '#BiodiversityNecessityDefense' in #Nevada Court
While pursuing a '#ClimateNecessityDefense,' and making allegations that #mining company has violated their rights, their attorney said, 'They’re not criminals; they’re heroes.'
Bhie-Cie Zahn-Nahtzu: “#LithiumNevada is a #greedy #corporation on the wrong side of history when it comes to #EnvironmentalRacism and desecration of #SacredSites. It’s ironic to me that I’m the trespasser because I want to see my ancestral land preserved.”
By #ProtectThackerPass, #CensoredNews, March 26, 2024
"In a first for the American legal system, the lawyers for six people sued by Lithium Nevada Corporation for protesting the Thacker Pass mine are arguing a ‘biodiversity necessity defense.’
"The necessity defense is a legal argument used to justify breaking the law when a greater harm is being prevented; for example, breaking a car window to save an infant locked inside on a stifling hot day, or breaking down a door to help someone screaming inside a locked home. In these cases, trespassing is justified to save a life.
.
"This week’s filing states: 'Defendants possessed an actual belief that their acts of protest were necessary to prevent the present, continuing harms and evils of #ecocide and irreversible #ClimateChange.'"'We’re in the midst of the 6th #MassExtinction of life on Earth, and it’s being caused by human activities like mining,' said attorney Terry Lodge, who is representing the #protesters. 'Our lives are made possible by #biodiversity and #ecosystems. Protecting our children from pollution and biodiversity collapse isn’t criminal, it’s heroic.'
"Currently Earth is experiencing one of the most rapid and widespread extinction events in the planet’s 4-billion-year history.
"Biologists report that habitat destruction, like the bulldozing of nearly 6,000 acres of biodiverse #sagebrush steppe for the Thacker Pass mine, is the main cause of this '#6thMassExtinction.'"
Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/03/thacker-pass-protectors-file-first-ever.html#ThackerPassProtectors #SLAPPs #SaveThackerPass #PeeheeMuhuh #Pauite #Shoshone #NoMining #LithiumMining #EarthDefenders
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Judge Tosses Out One Claim Against #ThackerPassProtectors, Five Claims Remain
Rejects 'Unjust Enrichment' Claim, But Five Other Claims Proceed in Ongoing Lawsuit Over Spring 2023 Protests
By Protect Thacker Pass, Censored News, March 11, 2024
WINNEMUCCA, Nevada — "A judge has dismissed an “unjust enrichment” charge filed against seven people sued for protesting the Thacker Pass lithium mine in Nevada, but allowed five other charges to move forward.
District Judge Michael R. Montero rejected #LithiumNevada Corporation’s claims that protesters had engaged in unjust enrichment by writing online messages encouraging supporters to donate, ruling that these messages are '#ProtectedSpeech under the #FirstAmendment.'"'This is a very significant win for my clients and a rebuke to Lithium Nevada,' says Terry Lodge, an attorney representing six of the protesters. 'But,' Lodge says, 'we’ve still got a long way to go in this case.'
[...]
"While one portion of Montero’s ruling was favorable to the protesters, other portions were not. Judge Montero issued a prelimary ruling in Lithium Nevada’s favor on five other claims. But, Lodge says that at this stage, the judge was not determining whether Lithium Nevada’s claims are true or not. He was simply reviewing Lithium Nevada’s allegations, taking them as true, and determining whether those allegations were violations of Nevada law.
[...]
Native Land Claims “Frivolous”
"In another part of his ruling, Judge Montero called arguments that a #Paiute protester has a right to access the September 12, 1865 #ThackerPass massacre site within Lithium Nevada’s mine site to pray for massacred Paiute #ancestors 'frivolous'.
"The ruling states that recognizing traditional native land claims 'would unequivocally undermine each and every property owner’s rights' and concludes that '[t]his is a Pandora’s box the Court is unwilling to open.”
The defendants are seeking monetary donations to their legal defense fund."FMI and full article:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/03/judge-tosses-out-one-claim-against.html#LandBack #NativeActivists #CulturalGenocide #ThackerPass #PeeheeMuhuh #Pauite #Shoshone #Bannock #NoMining #LithiumMining #SaveThackerPass #SLAPPs #LithiumAmerica
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#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]
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/02/prayer-horse-ride-2024-in-honor-of.html
#PrayerRide #WaterIsLife #WaterProtectors #IndigenousLands #IndigenousActivism #EnvironmentalRacism #CulturalGenocide #NoUraniumMining #NoMining #LandBack #LandDefenders #CorporateColonialism
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📄 "On the frontlines of lithium extraction"
A joint position about #lithium #mining made by organisations at the Yes to Life No to Mining Network in 2021 ✊
👁️ https://yestolifenotomining.org/latest-news/ylnm-lithium-communique/
#Atacama #Chile #ThackerPass #Nevada #Jadar #Serbia #Barroso #Portugal #Cáceres
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Humans think they are so superior -- that it's okay to cause #extinction of species for their own comfort. And profit. Let's not forget the PROFIT!
US wildlife service considering endangered status for tiny snail near #Nevada #LithiumMine
Story by By SCOTT SONNER
2/8/2024RENO, Nev. (AP) — "Federal wildlife officials have agreed to conduct a full, year-long review to determine whether a tiny #snail found only in high-desert springs near a huge lithium mine being built along the #Nevada- #Oregon line should be listed as a threatened or #endangered species.
"The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said in a finding published Thursday in the Federal Register that enough scientific exists to warrant the review sought by environmentalists who say that groundwater pumping required for the operation of the #ThackerPass mine could push the #KingsRiver pyrg to the brink of extinction.
"However, the agency said in the new finding it 'does not anticipate the species is immediately at risk.'
"The @WesternWatershedsProject argued in its formal petition for the listing in September 2022 that the tiny snail no bigger than the tip of a ball-point pen was imperiled even before any new mining was contemplated due to livestock grazing, round-building and the anticipated impacts of #ClimateChange."
https://apnews.com/article/lithium-mine-endangered-snail-nevada-15c0008372a93a984c64ddbd741232c4
#Koyaanisqatsi #LifeOutOfBalance #SaveThackerPass #LandBack #IndigenousRights #ExtinctionRebellion #LastStand
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#FortMcDermitt Tribal Leader Choked Youth During #LithiumAmericas Community Meeting
Crutcher attempted to pressure Jimmy into deleting portions of the meeting. Dorece Sam said that was not going to happen because it was a live broadcast
By Brenda Norrell, Censored News
Video by Young Warrior"A Fort McDermitt tribal leader attacked a minor and choked him. The youth was videotaping a public community meeting being held about financial benefits from lithium mining by Lithium Americas, now digging into the Paiute Massacre Site in northern Nevada.
"The incident was broadcast on #KPFK Los Angeles. It occurred during the quarterly meeting with Lithium Americas and #FortMcDermittTribalCouncil, on Monday, Jan. 8.
During the meeting, Arlo Crutcher, former chairman of Fort McDermitt #Paiute #Shoshone, walked across the conference room where tribal youth Jimmy, a minor, was videotaping."Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/01/fort-mcdermitt-tribal-leader-choked.html#moreLink to video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jWAKwPbb0U#LithiumMining #PauiteShoshone #EnvironmentalRacism #CorporateColonialism
#WaterIsLife #CulturalGenocide
#OpenPitMining #StopThackerPass #ThackerPass -
Battle of #LithiumMining at #Paiute Massacre Site Links Struggles Against #Greenwashing Around the World
By Brenda Norrell, #CensoredNews
December 6, 2023"The struggle to protect #PeeheeMuhuh, #ThackerPass, from lithium mine links the #global struggles of uncontacted #Indonesians battling #nickel mining, child slaves in #Congo's #cobalt mines, and the peoples' battles against lithium mining in #Serbia and #Argentina. They are all battling the greenwashing of the false solution of #electricvehicles for #ClimateChange.
"The desecration of the sacred Paiute Massacre site by #LithiumAmericas of Canada is proceeding because federal laws do not protect massacre sites. Further, a man camp of lithium miners threatens the rural communities of #FortMcDermitt Paiute #Shoshone Nation, and the town of #Winnemucca with crime, specifically sex trafficking.
"Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, #RenoSparks Indian Colony Chairman Arlan Melendez called for a new mobilization of #PeacefulProtests that will bring awareness to the public about the ongoing desecration to the sacred place and the damage to the #environment. He called for support from #SouthDakota and elsewhere to bring this desecration to the forefront.
"'We lost the lawsuit because the law favors #mining, especially in this state,' Chaimrnan Melendez said.
'Without water, there is no life,' said Dean Barlese, #PyramidLakePaiute, who offered the opening traditional prayer honoring all created things, all sacred creation. 'We're teaching our young people these prayer songs.'"'Our songs are still out there on the land.'
"Chairman Melendez said they are concerned about the crime that the mine will bring to Fort McDermitt region, in a rural area, including man camps, especially with the concern for missing and murdered women.
The lithium boom is like the gold rush, the whole state has lithium deposits, and #Nevada's 28 bands and tribes are sure to be affected. Already, sacred sites are being desecrated by lithium mining.
Chairman Melendez said the strategy is to mobilize tribes to speak with a louder voice so that the people will understand the devastation."Read more: https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2023/12/battle-of-lithium-mining-at-paiute.html
#MMIW #EnvironmentalRacism #CorporateColonialism #WaterIsLife #Mining #OpenPitMining #StopThackerPass
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Group outraged as controversial mining project breaks ground on site of massacre: ‘[We] were not consulted’
Rick Kazmer
Sun, November 19, 2023"A lithium mine is being constructed on #Nevada land that’s culturally important to #NativeAmericans. The project by #LithiumAmericas is at #ThackerPass, where on Sept. 12, 1865, United States soldiers massacred Native Americans, killing up to 50 people, according to the Guardian.
"Now, 158 years later, the Thacker Pass area has been identified as having the country’s largest #lithium lode. But members of tribal communities who consider the land sacred told the Guardian that they have been left out of the discussion as the operation moves forward, a point contested by the company on its website.
“'All the people here on the reservation were not consulted when this mine was approved,' Dorece Sam, a descendant of one of three survivors of the massacre, told the newspaper.
Why is lithium important?"Lithium is a key part of #batteries that power electric vehicles #EVs and other tech. Much of it is refined on the other side of the world, with Australia and China among the leaders. The U.S., however, is among the global leaders in underground lithium reserves, with more than 13 million tons, according to Visual Capitalist, an online data collector.
"Proponents of mining the untapped U.S. reserve cite the need to gain independence from China for lithium and other metals, a goal marked at the highest level of our government.
"LithiumMining, however, can be invasive. Native Americans interviewed by the Guardian said that since it’s happening on sacred land, it’s an invasion of the highest order.
"'You can’t blow up a mountain and call it green,' Max Wilbert of Protect Thacker Pass said in a press release quoted on the Sacred Land Film Project website.
What’s the impact?
"Mining at Thacker Pass is projected to use about 1.7 billion gallons of #water, producing more than 66,000 tons of lithium a year, per the Guardian.
"Company officials claim on their website that the project has been planned for a decade with input from tribal leaders. They plan to permanently employ 500 people for at least 40 years, generating $8 billion in tax payments during the mine’s lifetime.
"At least two tribes have lawsuits filed against the project. However, tribal historic preservation officer Michon Eben told the Guardian that activity on the land is already disturbing.
"'So, if any tribes or anybody wanted to mitigate that destruction, what are we going to mitigate?' Eben said to the newspaper, noting frustration with the court system.
What’s being done to help?"#Noninvasive lithium mining, or alternatives to the metal for use in batteries, is in the works in labs worldwide. The right solution could eliminate the need for #mining, or lithium, altogether.
"To help Native Americans protect Thacker Pass, you can research their story. The #SacredLandFilmProject has several ways to help, including #fundraising, calling #media and #officials, and sharing the story on #SocialMedia to highlight the cause."
Article source: https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/group-outraged-controversial-mining-project-110000784.html
Link to Sacred Land film project:
https://sacredland.org/thacker_pass/Take action:
https://www.protectthackerpass.org/take-action/#StopThackerPass #CulturalGenocide #OpenPitMining #ProtectPeeheeMuhuh #LithiumNevada #NativeAmericanHistory
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Boo hiss! Judge Du did give the tribes another month to amend their complaint.
Judge again rules against #tribes’ effort to stop #lithium mine
By: Jeniffer Solis - November 21, 2023
"A Nevada federal judge ruled against three #NativeAmerican tribes seeking to halt construction of the country’s largest #openpit lithium mine, but will allow them to amend their complaint against the U.S. government.
"In the meantime, construction at #LithiumNevada’s mine near the #Nevada - #Oregon border will continue. Major construction on the lithium mine is scheduled to start in 2024, while production is expected to begin in late 2026, say Lithium Nevada officials.
"In the order, filed earlier this month, U.S. District Judge #MirandaDu dismissed the tribe’s claim that the mine’s approval violates federal preservation law and land policy.
"#Du ruled the three Native American tribes’ failed to prove that the #BureauOfLandManagement did not adequately consult with them, as required by the National Historic Preservation Act, which gives tribes the right to consultation when a project affects areas of #religious or #cultural significance.
"However, the judge gave the tribes a month to amend their complaint, which claims construction of the lithium mine in #ThackerPass near the sacred site of a 1865 massacre violates #FederalLaw.
"The three litigating tribes — #SummitLake #Paiute Tribe, #RenoSparks Indian Colony, and #BurnsPaiute Tribe — refer to Thacker Pass as “Peehee mu’huh” which translates to 'rotten moon' in honor of their ancestors who were massacred by the U.S. Cavalry in 1865 in an area of the pass shaped like a moon.
"In a ruling in 2021, Judge Du said evidence presented by the tribes that a massacre took place in Thacker Pass 'further highlights the shameful history of the treatment of #NativeAmericans by federal and state governments' but 'does not definitely establish that a massacre occurred' within the proposed project site.
"All three tribes claimed the BLM withheld crucial information from relevant agencies and #misrepresented the extent of the agency’s tribal consultation before approving the lithium mine project.
"The government dismissed those claims by arguing they have satisfied federal law by consulting with relevant tribes prior to approving the mine, and by continuing that consultation with tribes after the mine’s approval.
"Du agreed with the government’s argument and dismissed the tribe’s legal challenge, but left room for the tribes to amend their complaint related to the #NationalHistoricPreservationAct and further explain their claim that the BLM was legally required to complete the consultation process before approving the project. Du also gave the tribes space to amend their claim on how the government might have violated the Federal Land Policy and Management Act.
"Part of the tribe’s lawsuit seeking to block construction of the mine is still pending at the 9th U.S Circuit Court of Appeals, where oral arguments will be heard in February [2024].
"Will Falk, representing the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony and Summit Lake Paiute Tribe, said consultation should have been completed before construction began to avoid or mitigate harm to the sacred site.
"Tribal attorney’s on the case are still considering whether to amend the complaint by the Dec. 9 deadline or focus on their pending appeal, said Falk.
"'We are very disappointed that the court is allowing Lithium Nevada to destroy the site of an 1865 massacre of Paiute peoples and a whole Traditional Cultural District before the Bureau of Land Management finished consulting with tribes,' Falk said. 'While #ClimateChange is a very real, existential threat, if government agencies are allowed to rush through permitting processes to fast-track destructing mining projects like the one at Thacker Pass, more of the #NaturalWorld and more Native American culture will be destroyed.'
"The new ruling is the latest in a series of legal setbacks for opponents of the lithium mine. Over the summer, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to vacate federal land managers’ approval of a lithium mine, ruling that the U.S. government took a sufficiently 'hard look' at the project’s impacts before approving it.
"Before that, Du also ruled largely in favor of Lithium Nevada and the Bureau of Land Management in a consolidated case involving claims brought by environmental groups, a local rancher, and two Native American tribes.
"'We’ve dedicated more than a decade to community engagement and hard work in order to get this project right, and the courts have again validated the efforts by Lithium Americas and the administrative agencies,' said Tim Crowley, the vice president of government and community relations for Lithium Nevada, in a statement."
#NativeAmericanHistory #CulturalGenocide #RespectTheTreaties #LithiumAmericas #OpenPitMining
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Just Released: "Mining the Sacred: #IndigenousNations Fight #Lithium Gold Rush at #ThackerPass
Watch now:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLO7ClVtlBA"#Cree Journalist Brandi Morin said, 'We are taking back the narrative and this story about North America’s largest lithium mine being constructed while violating sacred Indigenous territories is told from the Native perspective. The 'green' energy revolution isn’t what you think it is!'
IndigiNews Media and The Real News, September 12, 2023
Go watch! @IndigiNewsMedia @TheRealNews @ricochet_en
"Follow Native journalist Brandi Morin, who came from Canada, and covered this powerful story.
"In Nevada’s remote Thacker Pass, a fight for our future is playing out between local #Indigenous tribes and powerful state and #corporate entities hellbent on mining the lithium beneath their land. Vancouver-based Lithium Americas is developing a massive lithium mine at Thacker Pass, but for more than two years several local tribes and #environmental organizations have tried to block or delay the mine in the courts and through direct action.
"The Thacker Pass Project is backed by the Biden administration, and companies like General Motors have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the project, looking to capitalize on the transition to a 'green energy economy,' for which lithium is essential. While it is a vital component in the manufacturing of electric vehicles and batteries, though, there’s nothing “green” about mining lithium. Ending our addiction to fossil fuels is urgently necessary, but the struggle of the local tribes around Thacker Pass reveals the dark side of a 'green revolution' that prioritizes profit and consumption over everything (and everyone) else."
-- Mining the Sacred
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2023/09/just-released-mining-sacred-indigenous.html
#IndigenousNews #LithiumMining #IndigenousRights #Greenwashing #Pauite #ProtectThackerPass #EnvironmentalRacism
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#Paiute #Shoshone Court Date is Friday for Defending Massacre Site from #LithiumAmericas
May 31, 2023
Ox Sam Camp, #ThackerPass, Nevada: "I would like to ask all of you out there to kindly share this for my fellow sister warrior descendant, she stands here for her lineage through her great great grandfather Ox Sam whose family was massacred here at Thacker Pass also known as Peehee Muhu which is translated as Rotten Moon.
Due to recent events of her being served a TPO that is restricting her from accessing her Rights to her unmarked ancestral burial grounds and sacred site at Sentinel Rock by #LithiumAmerica Corporation. She now has to go back and forth to #Winnemucca 150 miles round trip where the court is being held and conducted which adds up a lot of miles and she is still looking for a Nevada attorney preferably pro indigenous rights for her legal issues filed by Lithium America a Canadian Based Corporation. So we're kindly asking you all to share these links to try and get her all the help we can do for her and to help her along as we continue to shed light and love on the current happenings at PeeHee Muhu Ox Sam Camp. (Newe Momokonee Nokutun)
Thank you for Very Much."The legal hearing for Dorece, Chuck, Paul, and Max is now scheduled for Friday (June 2nd) at 1:30 pm in Winnemucca. We're asking the court for an extension but it may not be granted. So that's our timeline for now. I'm not sure if supporters will be allowed in the courtroom, but if anyone wants to come out and support us feel free (although I wouldn't want to take people away from camp). For now, that's our deadline for legal representation. The situation is evolving. Thank you."
#SaveThackerPass #CulturalGenocide #IndigenousNews #EnvironmentalRacism #OxSamCamp #Frontline #Biodiversity #Solidarity #Help #Nevada #Environment #Climate #DirectAction #ProtectPeeheeMuhuh #LithiumNevada #LithiumMining #OpenPitMining #OpenPit #Mining
More at:
https://www.facebook.com/Drone.nation2017Via Censored News:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2023/05/paiute-shoshone-court-date-is-friday.html -
Now! #Pauite Blocking #LithiumMine Construction at #ThackerPass, Nevada
Protect Peehee Mu'huh!
April 25, 2023
"#FortMcDermitt and #PyramidLake Pauite are offering prayers, and blocking construction by #LithiumAmericas of Canada at the Pauite Massacre Site in northern Nevada."
#NativeAmericans #IndigenousNews #StopThackerPass
Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2023/04/now-paiute-blocking-lithium-mine.html -
Driver Killing #MyronDewey Enters Plea Agreement of Guilty of Manslaughter
by Brenda Norrell, Censored News, April 11, 2023
"Myron's death remains suspicious as he was battling both the expansion of the #NavySeal Bombing Range in Fallon, pushed by the #Nevada Congressmen, and a Canadian company's #lithium mine on the Pauite Massacre site at #ThackerPass..."
#IndigeneousNews #WaterIsLife #NoDAPL #SaveThackerPass #ActivistsRead more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2023/04/driver-killing-myron-dewey-enters-plea.html -
Definition, Examples, and Environmental Impact
By Rebecca Coffey, Updated July 26, 2022
"Environmentally, open-pit mining is devastating. It consumes enormous amounts of water, heavily pollutes water and air, disfigures landscapes, and permanently destroys habitat. Even after pits are exhausted and sites are rehabilitated, the pit area retains elevated risks of #erosion and #flooding.
"Heavy clouds of dust form during mining operations. Blasting alone is an enormous piece of the problem. In 2018 an international team of scientists publishing in E3S Web of Conferences reported that about 10 billion cubic meters of rock are exploded annually. The resulting clouds transport about 2.0-2.5 million tons of dust.
"The dust from drilling and blasting at some mines is highly radioactive. This is the case, for example, at uranium mines. The problem is not limited to well-known radioactive ores, however, as all ores are #radioactive to some degree.
"Even when it’s not radioactive, dust containing heavy metals can be very dangerous. When it is breathed it can create a variety of respiratory problems including black lung disease.
"The explosives used in blasting release fumes rich in #smog- and #AcidRain-producing gases like highly toxic nitrogen dioxide. As far back as 1973 Soviet scientists reported that the smog can form in the pits themselves.In 2019 Chinese scientists reported that a mine-produced hydrochloric acid mist was caustic enough to corrode concrete.
" One of the most significant problems in open pit mining is also endemic to underground mining. The mineral pyrite is often found in coal mines. It contains sulfur. When pyrite is exposed and sulfur reacts with air and water, it forms an acid. Acidic water as well as any rock-bound heavy metals that the acid has dissolved leach out of the mines and into nearby rivers, lakes, and streams, killing aquatic life and making the water unusable.
"A 2021 study in the peer-reviewed journal Ecological Applications showed the elimination of 40% of the marine animal species in 93 bodies of water downstream from an area of Appalachia that has multiple open-pit mines. Especially problematic in relation to coal mining, acid mine drainage can continue for hundreds of years, even long after the mine has closed."
#OpenPit #Environment #Pollution #WaterIsLife #LithiumNevada #LithiumAmericas #Lithium #ThackerPass #WaterIsLife #PeeheeMuhuh #ProtectThackerPass
Read more:
https://www.treehugger.com/what-is-open-pit-mining-definition-and-environmental-impact-5219892 -
Construction begins on controversial #lithium mine in #Nevada
Opponents say the Thacker Pass lithium project was rushed in the name of the green transition.
by Gabriela Aoun Angueira, March 3, 2023
"'It’s an important place not only because a terrible massacre occurred, but also because it’s a place where people gather, it’s a place for ceremony, for hunting,' said Michon Eben, tribal historic preservation officer for the Reno Sparks Indian Colony, a government that includes members from the the #Paiute, #Shoshone and #Washoe tribes. The colony is advocating for Peehee Mu’huh to be on the National Register of Historic Places. 'It’s really hard to be a tribal member and see our homelands destroyed,' said Eben.
"#ThackerPass also comprises thousands of acres of #sagebrush and is a nesting ground for the sage grouse and a migration corridor for pronghorn #antelope. Environmental groups including the Great Basin Resource Watch and Western Watersheds Project say the mine would cause irreversible #ecological damage, and that the project’s impact was not adequately studied.
"'It got by the environmental impact statement process in just under a year and I would expect a project of this scale and complexity to take 3 to 5 years,' said John Hadder, director of Great Basin Resource Watch. 'That’s sloppy permitting on the side of the federal government.'
"Tribes, #environmental groups and a cattle rancher are all plaintiffs in a combined case against the Bureau of Land Management, or BLM, and #LithiumNevada, a subsidiary of #LithiumAmericas. On February 6, a federal judge in Reno ruled that the BLM had complied with federal law in approving the mine, with the exception of one matter regarding waste disposal, which the judge ordered the BLM to revisit. The plaintiffs filed an appeal in the 9th Circuit and an emergency motion to block construction before the appeal hearing. The appeals court rejected the injunction and set the hearing date for June. "
https://grist.org/climate-energy/construction-begins-lithium-mine-nevada-controversial/
#PeeheeMuhuh #NotGreen #EnvironmentalRacism #NativeAmericans
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@WesternWatershedsProject "Opponents argue the #ThackerPass project—which would tap into the largest known source of lithium in the United States and was approved during the final days of the Trump administration—was unlawfully authorized and will irreparably damage lands and wildlife.
"Three #NativeAmerican tribes—the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, Burns Paiute Tribe, and Summit Lake Paiute Tribe—are also suing in a bid to block construction of the mine, claiming that claimed BLM withheld key information from the Nevada State Historic Preservation Office and misrepresented how much the agency consulted with tribes prior to approving the project."
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About Protect #ThackerPass
Why are we protesting?
Because we envision
- A world in which we prioritize the health of future generations.
- A world in which we live in harmony with the natural world, rather than relying on extraction.
- A world in which blowing up a mountain for #lithium is just as unacceptable as blowing up a mountain for #coal.#Nevada is the driest state in the USA, yet the mine plans to use 2,600 acre-feet (850 million gallons of water) per year in phase one, and 5,200 acre-feet (1.7 billion gallons or water) per year in phase 2.
What do we want?
- We want people to understand that lithium #mining is as dirty as coal mining.
- We want to stop Lithium Americas from physically disturbing Thacker Pass.
- We want the world to know what is happening here.
- We want the current administration to rescind the Thacker Pass #LithiumMine Project permit.
- We want the September 12, 1865 Thacker Pass Massacre Site and the Thacker Pass Traditional Cultural District designated protected under the National Register of Historic Places (#NRHP).
- We want the current administration to withdraw Thacker Pass from federal mine leasing.
- We want the current administration to reduce our nation’s dependence on cars as part of an emergency shift to a “#degrowth” economic paradigm. A detailed description of our solutions is available at our website...To donate, get involved, or find out more:
https://www.protectthackerpass.org/ -
Diné elders resist eviction from Big Mountain
Debra O'Gara and Guerry Hoddersen, August 1986
"Forced relocation. The words bring to mind the Trail of Tears, Nazi concentration camps, and the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. Past atrocities, not present and future ones.
"But on the #BlackMesa surrounding Big Mountain in northeastern Arizona, over 11,000 #Diné (Navajo) are facing a new holocaust: removal by armed U.S. troops from their ancestral homelands in an area jointly held by the Navajo and Hopi nations.
"The U.S. media bills the government’s role as peacemaker in a #Hopi vs. #Navajo war. But the reality is very different at Big Mountain.
"For over 50 years, #mining companies have sought to exploit the rich mineral resources that lie beneath the land now occupied by the #Navajos. To do this they first secured the assistance of the federal government, which in the 1920s and ’30s unilaterally replaced the traditional forms of government, based on clan elders, with malleable tribal councils. Over the years these councils have been only too willing to negotiate mineral leases, and the elite who run the councils have gotten rich doing it.
"Now, giant energy #corporations like #PeabodyCoal, #KerrMcGee, and #Exxon want unhampered access to the estimated 44 billion tons of high-grade #coal and deposits of oil, natural gas, and #uranium found on and around #BigMountain.
"There’s only one problem: the traditional Diné who live on the land will not move voluntarily.
"So once again the energy moguls have turned to their servants in the government and the Hopi council for help.
"Forced relocation, the holocaust hatched in corporate boardrooms, has in fact gathered formidable support: it is endorsed by Congress, covered up by the press, and sanctioned by a phony tribal leadership."
#CulturalGenocide #ForcedRelocation #NativeAmericans #EnvironmentalRacism #ThackerPass
https://socialism.com/fs-article/dine-elders-resist-eviction-from-big-mountain/ -
Documentary: Vanishing Prayer (2004)
A 15-minute documentary about how Native American Grandmothers and Elders at #BIgMountain, both #Dineh/#Navajo and #Hopi, resisted relocation by #PeabodyCoal, who wanted to mine on their land, and used legal precedents from #Colonialism (as well as corrupt tribal leaders appointed by the #BIA), to force people off their land.
#NativeAmericans #Genocide #Mining #Lithium #BlackMesa #ThackerPass #EnvironmentalRacismWatch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zs2DXHUKASA
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What's going on with #ThackerPass isn't new. Peabody Coal wanted to mine in Hopi-Dineh territory, so they got their government allies (including John McCain) to help pass legislation that amounted to genocide. The UN was called in, and documented the #HumanRights violations being committed. Here's some background from 2002. And no, this isn't an exaggeration, as I was helping to send supplies to Dineh grandmothers who were part of the resistance.
UNHRC #BigMountain Statement to the World
By Roberta Blackgoat [#KleeBenally's grandmother] & Kee Watchman
"We would like to make and reaffirm an understanding about what our #Dineh (#Navajo Indians) Peoples in struggle on #BlackMesa are facing daily. They face unyielding threats of #evictions, complete denial of rights, confiscations of livestock, and #destruction of their prayer gathering places. This type of daily living has drastically eliminated many valuable lives of human beings especially among the traditional elder populations.
"The cause and factors of our current struggle, however, go back beyond the United States government’s creation of an Executive Order of 1882, which set aside an Indian reservation that encompassed the overlapping territories of Dineh and Hopis. Our initial request for this understanding therefore is that, our existence includes our struggle to maintain our sovereignty, our religion and that, our history dates back to the times of the Spanish colonial conquest and finally, to the American #colonization which brought about a ‘death march’ known today as, The Long Walk of 1864. Half of our Dineh population was annihilated within a 15-year period of military invasions by the United States army, and an episode of that aggression occurred upon our ancestral homelands of the #BigMountain region. For some of our ancestors at that time, they were in exile or in captivity in a concentration camp in New Mexico, and little did they know that our Treaty of 1868 with the US would not be honored.
"Then, just a few generations after since our forefathers and foremothers believed they were free, the uprooting of our livelihood and the explorations of the resources beneath our pathways began a repeat of history. On a daily basis, we are once again forced onto another Long Walk: our foods are taken away from us and we only subsist on rations, we are left to spent winters in the cold because of restrictions from gathering firewood, we are denied accessibility to adequate drinking water, our young generations’ identity are stolen from them, and the old and frail are left behind to be defeated by anxiety and depression from hopelessness. These are the results of the Executive Order of 1974 along with its recent amendments. Public Law 93-531 of 1974 adjudicated the partitioning of the 1882 Reservation and the immediate removal of Dineh residents caught on the 'wrong side' of the demarcation boundary."
Read more:
http://www.thepeoplespaths.net/Articles2002/UNHRC0204-05BMstatement.htm#NativeAmericans #CulturalGenocide #EnvironmentalRacism #LandBack
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We condemn Judge Du's approval of Thacker Pass Lithium Mine in Northern Nevada
This week, a federal court upheld the Bureau of Land Management's 2020 permit, allowing the Thacker Pass Lithium Mine to proceed in Northern Nevada.
Here is the response from People of Red Mountain:
"Federal Judge Miranda Du and her decision with the Thacker Pass Lithium Mine has just slithered into the malicious patterns of Americans law and a corporate-priority government.
People of color are not treated with respect and equality in United Corporations of America and capitalism is the #1 threat to our climate future.
Peehee Mu'huh will be added to the list of environmental and religious injustices to Indigenous people."
#PeeheeMuhuh #FalseSolutions #ThackerPass #Lithium
[alt decription - 4 slides with the above text in red and black, the first slide also shows a picture of Thacker Pass in Northern Nevada]