Native Americans divided over land battle

[mrbowler]

There can be few places in America more breathtakingly beautiful and bitterly divided than the Indian Lands of Nevada: 24 million acres of disputed territory.

Now President Bush hopes to settle one of America's longest running land disputes in approving a $140m payment from Congress to the Western Shoshone Indians.

In return, the American government would get the Shoshone ancestral lands seized by settlers and speculators in the 19th Century.

But in the president's way stand two unlikely and increasingly isolated figures of resistance.

Sacred land

Carrie and Mary Dann are Shoshone sisters who have spent all their lives on the family's ramshackle ranch in Nevada's Crescent Valley.

It is a 10-hour road trip from Las Vegas to their ranch.

I travelled to their ranch just as President Bush was about to sign the deal.

When I arrived, I found two sisters who were at times difficult, stubborn, argumentative and consistently tough - the result of 30 years fighting the American government over who owns much of their land.

They are known as the old ladies locally but neither will reveal their age.

But their lined, worn faces reflect a life of working the land they call "sacred".

"Our land represents our lives and all living things," says Carrie Dann. "I feel sorry for the government for trying to take this land. They just can't take 'sacred' away from us."

For the Dann Sisters, this battle is about defending years of tradition, about preserving a way of life, about protecting the customs and faith of Native America.

Dilemma

The US government sees it very differently.

For the government, it is all about territory it believes it owns and about using land, rich in gold, for development.

In September 2002 the government raided the Dann sisters' ranch and searched their land.

Convoys of police vehicles surrounded Crescent Valley; helicopters were used to round up livestock; and the Dann sisters were terrified.

Video of the raid shows Carrie Dann screaming at officials. "You're stripping us of our dignity," she cried. "I think that's wrong, totally wrong."

The problem the Dann sisters have is that their defiance has divided their tribe.

The vast majority of Western Shoshone no longer live off their land.

Instead they live in Elko, Nevada, classic small-town America, and they work in banks, shops and local government.

The modern Shoshone want to accept the government's financial deal that would give each tribal member £11,000 each.

"It's been coming to us for all these years; we want it," says Gracie Bagey, a tribal elder. "My grandma died when she was 104-years-old, and she used to say the government owes us lots of money that we never get."

It has been a real moral dilemma for the modern Shoshone.

They want the money but fear the erosion of a traditional way of life.

Heroines or outlaws?

The momentum is with them. President Bush has approved a bill that would give them their money.

But still the sisters refuse to accept defeat and are actually stepping up their campaign to keep hold of their land.

Their strongest support has come by way of a former corporate lawyer from Minneapolis.

[tlspiegel -Closed]

Only 17.6 percent of Arizona's lands is privately owned. More than a quarter of Arizona is owned by the state's 21 Indian tribes, while more than half of the Grand Canyon State is held by the federal and state governments and administered through agencies such as the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Arizona Game and Fish Department, and the U.S. Forest Service.

[mrbowler]

TY Toby-I was hoping you would read this...thought you might have a better understanding of this issue. Some good info about Arizona..What is your feelings about this issue?

Here is a good read & some stat's:

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"It's wrong to tie the money to the land issue, insists Amy Spanbauer, deputy chief of staff for Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., sponsor of the House bill. "There is no explicit ceding of land claims by accepting this distribution. The money is rightfully theirs and a majority of the Western Shoshone want it," she says.

All the bill would do, she adds, is give Congress' authorization to distribute the money awarded by the Indian Claims Commission in the 1970s. Congressional approval is required for such distributions.

The Western Shoshone should take the money and work with Congress to expand their land base, says a spokeswoman for Sen. Harry Reid, R-Nev. The senator's staff last month held meetings with several tribes in Nevada to discuss returning some federal lands to the Indians for housing and economic development. More than 80 percent of Nevada is owned by the government."

[mrbowler]

Here's a nice find

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[bobbcat]

I am not at all well informed on this issue, but doesn't this bill strike you guys as just yet another land grab attempt on the part of the gov't? Why not allow the Shoshone to have the land and the money? Has American gov't not done enough already to screw the Native Americans?

[tlspiegel -Closed]

MrB, I rarely get into political or religious discussions. I keep my opinions to myself, however on the part of the Native Americans - I would tend to side with them.

[mrbowler]

Originally Posted by tlspiegel

MrB, I rarely get into political or religious discussions. I keep my opinions to myself, however on the part of the Native Americans - I would tend to side with them.

Ok Toby...I'll respect your wish. I do value your opinions on issues that are close to home(your home). From what I have read so far I do believe that the Shoshone should be careful in accepting this money until they get rulings in regards to mining rights etc. Further explanation of the Ruby Treaty(check that!).

Off Topic-I've read some articles in that many Indians get a huge benefit on all the fires in the west. In that they are approx. 50% of the workers.

[tlspiegel -Closed]

Many - in fact most all the fires are in heavily wooded areas up north. That's where most of the tribes live. A few tribes exist south of Phx in Maricopa. But it would stand to reason, that the fire personnel who would be fighting the fires would live near their locale.

I'm not sure about that stat but it sounds fairly feasible and reasonable - give or take.