My current event was about Native American tribal leaders as well as environmentalists attempting to convince federal judge Larry Hicks to keep the two-year old court rule that prohibited a gold mine expansion. The Western Shoshone Indians enabled the restriction of the gold mine expansion in December 2009. The gold mine expansion would take place on Mount Tenabo which in fact is about 250 miles east of Reno, Nevada. Many tribes consider this mountain sacred and disapprove of mining for gold on it. The Cortez Mountains are located in North Central Nevada and the highest point of the Cortez Mountains is Mount Tenabo. The Western Shoshone consider Mount Tenabo land to be sacred as a site of local creations stories. The Western Shoshone have been using Mount Tenabo for seasonal ceremonies and religious purposes as well as gathering pine nuts, medicinal plants as well as other seeds and plants for nourishment. The Western Shoshone community believes that the mine will create irreplaceable harm as well as prevent them from accessing the land they consider to be sacred. Bryan Cassadore, chairman of the Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone states that “The spring water and natural resources of rural Nevada has always been important to the Western Shoshone Indians for thousands of years and continues to be.” Throughout history, Native Americans have viewed the land as sacred where as white perceive the land as a source of mineral.
On the other hand, the lawyers for the U.S. Bureau of Land management yearn for Judge Larry Hicks to allow gold mining expansion involving part of the Toronto-based Barrick Gold Cooperation’s Cortez Hills project. The Cortez Joint Venture has been mining around Mount Tenabo since 1967. The Cortez gold mine is a joint venture between Rio Tinto Kennecott Explorations (Australia) and Barrick Cortez, cooperation. The Barrick Gold Cooperation has the largest reserves in the gold industry and contains 26 operating mines as well as having advanced exploration as well as development projects across five continents. The most recent completion of building a mine for the Barrick Gold Cooperation was the Cortez Hills in Nevada which was finished in early 2010. On September 7, 2011 it was announced that the Barrick Gold Cooperation made two gold discoveries on the Company’s Cortez property in Nevada which is under their complete ownership. The two discoveries are identified as Red Hill and Gold Rush. These discoveries are located six kilometers southeast of the Cortez Hills mine as well as 24 kilometers southeast of the Pipeline mine. These two new findings are geographically similar to Barrick’s Cortez Hills and Goldstrike mines.
The mining may pollute the air as well as dry up the limited water resources in northeast Nevada’s high desert and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals stated that the Bureau of Land Management failed to evaluate the possibilities. In support of the Bureau of Land Management the Justice Department lawyers stated that the bureau created a new and improved analysis that they believe to meet the terms of all state as well as federal environmental laws. With an opposing view, the lawyers for the tribes as well as the Reno-based Great Basin Resource watch believe that there are no precise protections for the environment within the mining plans but rather a monitoring schedule of the groundwater supplies that is suppose to discover any possible pollutants. The appellate judges ruled that the Bureau of Land Management’s review was insufficient under the National Environmental Act which states it’s necessary to carefully examine large-scale projects on federal land. The appellate judges stated that the bureau didn’t take into consideration the impact of air quality from transferring ore from an off site processing facility 70 miles away. They also said that pumping water out of the pit would then cause a decrease in the groundwater level and could possible dry up over twelve streams and springs.
Although the Western Shoshone tribes don't own the land but consider it to be sacred,do you think this is a valid reason to stop the mining for gold on Mount Tenabo? Why do you believe this to be true?
I think that it would be a good reason and would not be a good reason, because even though it is sacred to the tribe they do not own it. And legally who ever owns the land they can do what they want to it. But they should also consider that it is a sacred land to the Native Americans and the mining for gold is messing up the land, they should do what is right and stop mining on that land.
ReplyDeleteI think legally, the tribe technically has no control over the land so this is not a valid reason. Whoever owns the land does have the right to it, so presented legally the Natives wouldn't have a case based on this. I do however think that the people who are doing the gold mining should take this into consideration. If the people consider it sacred land, then the owners should not mine there. It's kind of a mean and selfish thing to do, and I don't they should be doing it, but the natives don't have enough leverage against it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Maddie. The Native American tribes don't own the land and therefore they have no control over what happens with it. However, they do have a say in it, seeing as it's sacred to them, and I feel like the people who want to use the land for gold mining should consider the tribe's opinion. While I do feel like it's wrong to invade land that is considered spiritual to them, the Native American tribes should try and come to a compromise with the miners to possibly divide the land into sections where they can mine and can't. In the end, the miners are able to get what they want and the Western Shoshone tribes will still have a place for their religious ceremonies.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, i think the gold companies shouldn't mine their because of the Shoshone's describing the land as a sacred and resourceful land, However the Shoshones's do not own the land so technically the land is not under their control, making the gold companies do whatever they want. Legally, these companies can mind their without problem of Indians caring about their land, but i think that the companies should take into consideration about what they are doing to others than caring to much about their profit.
ReplyDeleteI'm sort of split between the two. I agree with everyone whose posted so far. Although the Natives believe that the mine is sacred, they don't own it and therefore they don't have jurisdiction over the land at all. On the other hand, the miners who do own the land can do whatever they want with the land and therefore can mine it if their hearts desire to. But to avoid controversy between the two, they [miners] really should do what is right and not mine there or they will have bad relations with the Natives. In a political standpoint, the Natives can't make a case to bring this into a legal matter because they don't own the land and therefore they can't do anything about it. But, the miners can decide to not mine the sacred land of which they only wanted for profit, and let it continue to be sacred land of the Shoshone. So, it's a cross between the two, but if I had to choose, I would say that the miners should not mine their because it is sacred land to the Shoshone, even if it means that they lose out on a great profit.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion I agree with Maddie. I believe that legally there is nothing they can do. The Shoshone tribe does not own this land at all so they really do not have a say in what happens on this land or not. But I do think that the people who want to mine there should take in what the Shoshone tribe has to say and understand that to them that area has been sacred for many years and where they have religious practices. So if they mine there then it will have a huge impact on the Shoshone tribe. In the end I believe that they should not be mining there because they don't really need to and it is a little mean towards the Native Americans, but then again the Shoshone tribe doesn't have much to bring to it since they do not own any of the land.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, I think that The Shoshone tribe doesn't have the right to say what is done to the land. They have no ownership over the land, even if they consider it sacred land. The people who own the land have the right to do what they want with it. I understand that the Shoshone tribe considers it sacred and has for a long time. I agree with my fellow classmates saying it is mean and selfish to mine on that land, but what can the Shoshone do about it. They technically have no right to stop the mining considering the land does not belong to them. I feel bad for the Shoshone tribe, since the land is sacred and it is being tainted. Athough in the end, they can't really do anything about the mining, if they don't own the land.
ReplyDeleteMy personal opinion conserving the Shoshone Tribe and the land is that the tribe does not have any legal rights to back them up. They have no legal binding to this land, therefor have should have zero say in what goes on in/on the land. However, I do also think that they should possibly have some sort of voice in the mining for gold on mount Tenabo. The Shoshone tribe has been calling these lands sacred for many years, and do have a great attachment to this land. But based on the legal side, they dont have the right to say what can and cannot be done on the "sacred" land.
ReplyDeleteFrom a personal stand point the land is sacred to the Shoshone Tribe, and that should count for something. However the tribe has no legal papers stating they own the land (whether its theirs because they were there first is up for debate) so the gold in Mount Tenabo is really up for grabs. There is nothing that the Shoshone can really do about this problem. A good grace on the companies part may be to take into consideration that Mount Tenabo is sacred ground to the Shoshone and try and find a respectful way to go about mining, if that is at all possible.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe the Shoshone tribe has a valid reason to stop other from mining for gold on Mount Tenabo. Basically, like everyone else has said, this tribe does not own the land therefore their reason is invalid. If they really wanted to keep this land however, they could sue for the sake of environmental issues. If this piece of land is that important to the Shoshone tribe, then that is the path they should go down. I do agree with Maddie however, that the miners should consider the tribe's mindset. It is very important to them for whatever reason, so they should at least be a little considerate and maybe strike a deal with them or something. But technically, the members of Shoshone do not have the ownership of the land they call theirs.
ReplyDeleteI think that if you look at this issue from a legal standpoint the Shoshone tribe has no control what is done to the “sacred” land. I think that because they have been there for so long that they can argue that no gold mines should be created near Mount Tenabo; but I don’t think there is anything they can really do about it. There’re opinion may persuade the action but they have no legal way of stopping The Cortez Joint Venture. I think if they really tried they might be able to accomplish it but I don’t think they would stand a chance in a court with this. I believe this to be true because if you have the law behind your back and you try to fight someone who does, you are most likely going to lose; in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI believe that it would be respectful to the Shoshone tribe to stop the gold mining, but in reality I doubt it will happen. To the actual owners of that area, this means nothing and they will continue mining. Unless somehow inspired to do a good deed, the owners of this land will continue searching for riches of gold in this area. To the owners, it would not be worth losing the possible profit that is to come just to show respect to a Native American tribe. they should stop the mining to be respectful, but there is extremely little chance that this would happen.
ReplyDeleteFrom a legal point of view, no the Shoshone tribe has absolutly no control of what happens on their sacred land. The Shoshone tribe could argue that this land is religious to thier culture and has been for hundreds of years and even though they do not legally own this land, it still has a religious meaning and has much history for this tribe and in the tribes point of view it his a historical/ religious landmark and a gold mine should not be placed on this land. So in this case if they prove to the courts that it is a historical/religious landmark then they do have a slight clance of winning but there is a big chance that the gold mine could be placed on the land because they have no legal ownership of it.
ReplyDeletethe land may be sacred to the Shoshone tribes, but that does not make it their land. Legally, they cave no control over whether or not the people mine for gold on Mount Tenabo. In my personally opinion, i think that it is their land culturally, but they do not own it legally. Their is no legal reason on why the people should stop mining for gold on Mount Tenabo. i think that they should stop because the land has been sacred to the Shoshone tribe, but that is just in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the previous posts stating that since the Western Shoshone tribes don’t own the land, they don’t have a valid reason to altogether stop the gold mining on Mount Tenabo. Like Jeff stated, it would be respectful of the miners to not use this land to mine for gold, but they don’t have legitimate reasons to stop. Like Erika said, there best bet is to sue for environmental issues because those are legit and could potentially stop the mining which would allow them to save their sacred land. Since the tribes don’t have ownership, all they can hope for is that the fear of environmental issues will strike an important issue, and keep the miners from mining. Creating a deal, like Erika stated, would be another alternative. Since they can’t keep the miners from doing their job, maybe an agreement can be made within the two opposite parties that could preserve the most sacred or a portion of the sacred land; this way both the miners and tribes could have a partial benefit. Though it would be at the utmost respect if the tribes took the sacred land into consideration, it is highly unlikely since the tribes do not obtain legal ownership and since this is one of the most potential gold mining locations.
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ReplyDeleteThe tribe’s have been around for generations and generations and I believe that the Indians have the right to say that, that is sacred land and that they do have the right to argue that. I do not think that it is necessary to take the land and dig in it because the whites have all ready done enough to the Indians and they have all ready lost enough of there sacred land. So I believe that they should leave that land alone.
ReplyDeleteResources: http://www.barrick.com/default.aspx?SectionId=00384247-53f0-4158-a856-e3fa93164390&LanguageId=1
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mining-technology.com/projects/cortez/
http://www.earthworksaction.org/MountTenabo.cfm
http://www.riotinto.com/media/18435_media_releases_7117.asp
http://www.nativetimes.com/news/environment/6143-tribe-battles-blm-over-nev-gold-mine-in-us-court