ACTION ALERT!!! ACTION ALERT!!!
ACTION ALERT!!!!
Wednesday, February 5, 2003
Today, federal agents started moving into Western Shoshone homelands to set up impoundment
operations to seize Mary and Carrie Dann's horses scheduled for tomorrow, February 6.
Due to bad weather the previous weekend, over 400 horses still remain to be
gathered by the Western Shoshone Nation. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is
refusing to wait until the horses can be corralled, as they previously indicated. We
are preparing to monitor the situation and need your help in bringing attention and
justice to this struggle.
ACT IMMEDIATELY!!!! Please call, write, or email President Bush, Secretary of State
Colin Powell, Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton, Senator State Director Robert Abbey,
U.S. Senator Harry Reid, and U.S. Representative Gibbons (addresses below). Tell
them to stop the impoundment of Western Shoshone horses and honor international treaty
obligations to the Western Shoshone Nation.
As President Bush prepares for war against Iraq for supposedly violating international
agreements, call upon him to honor the international treaty agreement between the U.S.
government and the Western Shoshone Nation.
Following is a sample letter of support regarding the current situation. Thank you for
your support and taking action in this time of crisis.
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SAMPLE LETTER OF SUPPORT
Re: Call for Western Shoshone Land Talks
Dear _______:
I stand in solidarity with Western Shoshone Grandmothers Mary and Carrie Dann and the
Western Shoshone Nation. The Western Shoshone are in a crisis situation caused by
the actions of the federal government. I call upon you to take whatever action you
can to immediately stop the impoundment of the
horses owned by traditional Western Shoshone grandmothers Mary and Carrie Dann and instead
enter into good faith negotiations with the Western Shoshone.
Last September, the federal government sent 40 armed agents, ATVs, rented cowboys, and a
helicopter and seized over 200 head of cattle from Western Shoshone grandmothers Mary and
Carrie Dann. Now the State and federal government are moving in and preparing to
seize hundreds of Indian horses belonging to these same grandmothers.
Simultaneously, the United States is also attempting to automatically distribute
monies set aside by the Indian Claims Commission in a forced payment of approximately 15
cents an acre for Western Shoshone land title. The pressures are mounting and many
Western Shoshone feel the end is coming, either the end of a long fight with a successful
resolution, or the end of themselves as Western Shoshone people and as caretakers of their
mother earth.
On January 9, 2003 the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Organization of American
States, rendered its final decision in the case of Western Shoshone land rights in the
favor of Mary and Carrie Dann. This international body found the actions of the U.S.
government to be in violation of Western Shoshone rights to property, to due process and
to equality under law. The United States was called upon to remedy the situation,
either legislatively or otherwise and to review its laws and policy with regards to
indigenous peoples and their rights to property. Instead of seeking to find a just and
fair resolution of the Western Shoshone claims, the United States has stepped up its
threats against these people.
[If this is a letter from your organization, please enter organizational information here]
I ask you to act immediately to stop the impoundment actions of the Western Shoshone
horses and act honorably in accordance with international law to commence good faith
negotiations with the Western Shoshone Nation.
Sincerely,
Your Name
Address
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Please help us to pull in as many voices as possible perhaps then we can force the
government's hand and turn a terrible tragedy into a story that can be handed down to
future generations. We call upon the United States to stop their present destructive
actions and to act honorably by immediately commencing good faith negotiations with the
Western Shoshone. We also call upon individuals and organizations across this United
States and around the world to join in this struggle and to stand strong alongside the
Western
Shoshone.
Letters of support should be sent or e-mailed to:
President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500
(202) 456-1414
president@whitehouse.gov
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell
Department of State
2201 C St., NW
Washington DC 20520
(202)647-7098
www.state.gov
secretary@state.gov
Secretary of Interior Gale A. Norton
Department of the Interior
1849 C St., NW
Washington DC 20240
(202)208-3100
www.doi.gov
gale_norton@ios.doi.gov
State Director Robert Abbey
Bureau of Land Management Nevada State Office
1340 Financial Blvd.,
Reno, NV 89502
(775)861-6400
www.nv.blm.gov
bob_abbey@nv.blm.gov
Senator Harry Reid
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-3542
www.senate.gov/~reid/email_form.cfm
Representative Jim Gibbons
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
(202) 225-6155
mail.gibbons@mail.house.gov