by Hugh
Stevens, Chairman, Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone
Indian
Country Today
Posted: June 23, 2004
AN
OPEN LETTER to the President of the United States, the
U. S. Congress, and the American People from the Western
Shoshone Nation
Concerning
the Worst Case of Injustice to be Inflicted Upon our
Nation's American Indians in More than a Century
Dear
President Bush, Members of Congress, the People of the
United States:
Today,
the Western Shoshone Nation is in a struggle for
survival against powerful forces within the U. S.
Congress that are attempting to steal our ancestral
homeland. While Western Shoshone warriors are fighting
in Iraq to defend and protect the United States, certain
members of Congress are attempting to illegally
confiscate our homeland, which the U.S. Government
promised to preserve and protect for the Western
Shoshone Nation by the 1863 Ruby Valley Treaty.
If
the Western Shoshone Claims Distribution Bill (H.R.
884/S.618) is passed and approved by the President, our
Western Shoshone warriors will not have a homeland to
return to when they complete their tour of duty in Iraq.
Today,
the Western Shoshone People are not being attacked by
U.S. Army soldiers who are firing their rifles and
swinging their sabers in murderous attacks upon our
people, as they did in the 1800s. Instead, today, the
Western Shoshone People are being attacked by a
Congressional juggernaut that has been fueled by false
and misleading information that is intent upon stealing
our sacred lands from under our feet.
While
the direct frontal attacks of the 1800s were deadly and
killed many Shoshones, today's Congressional attacks
upon the Western Shoshone are far more devastating and
destructive, since, if they are successful, they will
destroy the entire Shoshone Nation.
People
say "How could this be happening in the United
States of America in the 21st Century?" But it is
happening, and the legislative conquest of the Western
Shoshone will succeed unless stopped by Congress, the
American People, and the President of the United States.
WHAT
CONGRESS IS BEING TOLD
Members
of Congress have been told that the Western Shoshone
People want the distribution of the funds that were made
available to the Western Shoshone Nation in 1979 by the
Indian Claims Commission for damages inflicted upon the
Western Shoshone People in 1872. The funding, which
represents 15¢ per acre plus interest, is currently
being held in the U.S. Treasury.
THE
TRUTH
Seven
tribal governments of the Western Shoshone Nation
strongly oppose the distribution of the Indian Claims
Commission funding which, if accepted, will extinguish
their title and ownership of 24,000,000 acres of Western
Shoshone lands that were guaranteed to the Western
Shoshone by the U.S. Government by the 1863 Ruby Valley
Treaty.
These
lands have never been ceded or sold by the Western
Shoshone, and remain the homeland of the Western
Shoshone Nation.
ILLEGAL
ACTIONS BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
In
1951, Western Shoshone filed a claim for damages with
the Indian Claims Commission for actions being taken by
the Federal Government to illegally confiscate Western
Shoshone lands. Twenty-seven years later, in 1978, the
Indian Claims Commission got around to responding to the
Western Shoshone claim. Finally, in 1979, the Indian
Claims Commission attempted to make a final judgment on
the Western Shoshone claim. By law, in order for the
Indian Claims Commission to make a final judgment on a
tribal claim, two actions were required. First, the
amount of monetary judgment for damages had to be
determined by the Indian Claims Commission, and
secondly, a final report had to be filed with Congress
that defined the basis for the judgment. In the case of
the Western Shoshone claim, the amount of monetary
judgment was established by the Indian Claims
Commission, BUT THE REQUIRED FINAL REPORT WAS NEVER
FILED WITH CONGRESS. WITHOUT BOTH STEPS BEING TAKEN, ANY
SETTLEMENT AMOUNT WOULD BE INVALID, AND ANY PAYMENT BY
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FOR THE TAKING OF INDIAN LANDS
WOULD BE ILLEGAL.
During
the time period from 1946 to 1979 that the Indian Claims
Commission was authorized by Congress to address Indian
claims, 320 claims were addressed, but 20 claims were
not completed, since no final reports were filed with
Congress on the 20 claims. The Western Shoshone claim
was one of the claims that was never completed by the
Indian Claims Commission before Congress abolished the
Indian Claims Commission in 1979.
The
Indian Claims Commission "final judgment" on
the Western Shoshone claim remains incomplete as of this
day, and can never be completed, since the Indian Claims
Commission is no longer in operation.
SECRETARY
OF INTERIOR ACCEPTS INDIAN CLAIMS COMMISSION FUNDING AS
THE "TRUSTEE" OF THE WESTERN SHOSHONE
Despite
the fact that the legal responsibility of the Indian
Claims Commission was never fulfilled, the Secretary of
Interior, acting as the trustee of the Western Shoshone
Nation, accepted the payment of 15¢ per acre, plus
interest, as a "fair settlement" for the
confiscation of 24,000,000 acres of Western Shoshone
lands by the federal government, a settlement that
included compensation for the richest gold fields in the
United States from which $25 billion in gold has been
removed from Western Shoshone lands without any
compensation being paid to the Western Shoshone Indians,
as required by the 1863 Ruby Valley Treaty.
THE
INDIAN CLAIMS COMMISSION DECLARED THAT THE WESTERN
SHOSHONE LANDS WERE "LOST" BY THE WESTERN
SHOSHONE ON JULY 1, 1872 AS A RESULT OF "GRADUAL
ENCROACHMENT" ON THE WESTERN SHOSHONE LANDS ... A
COMPLETELY FABRICATED AND UNTRUE STATEMENT.
The
1863 Ruby Valley Treaty was a treaty of "peace and
friendship between the Western Shoshone and the U.S.
Government. Article II of the 1863 Ruby Valley Treaty
gave the U.S. Government, emigrants, and travelers
across the Western Shoshone lands permission to have
unobstructed and free access to travel through and on
Western Shoshone lands, but the Treaty never ceded
ownership of the lands. Specifically, Article II of the
1863 Ruby Valley Treaty states:
"The
sevaral routes of travel through the Shoshone Country,
now and hereafter used by White men, shall be forever
free, and unobstructed by the said lands, for the use of
the Government of the United States, and of all
emigrants and travelers under its authority and
protection, without molestation or injury from
them."
For
the Indian Claims Commission to declare that the
Shoshone "lost their lands" in 1872, three
years after the Ruby Valley Treaty was ratified by
Congress, is not possible inasmuch as
"encroachment" by definition means to trespass
on or through territory, and the word
"trespass" means to enter without permission.
The Western Shoshone gave their permission for the U.S.
Government, emigrants, and settlers to pass through and
use Western Shoshone lands; therefore, the taking of
Western Shoshone lands by "gradual
encroachment" was a fabricated myth that was made
up by the Indian Claims Commission. It is not possible
to trespass across lands if permission is granted to
enter and use the lands, and that is precisely what the
Western Shoshone Nation granted to the U.S. Government,
to all emigrants and settlers by the terms of the 1863
Ruby Valley Treaty.
WHAT
THE WESTERN SHOSHONE NATION IS SEEKING
Mr.
President, and the People of America, please do not
allow the Congress to use the injustices and abuses of
our nation's American Indians that occurred during the
1800s to serve as the standard for which continuing
abuse and mistreatment of Indian people will continue in
the 21st Century, precisely what approval of
H.R.884/S.618 would perpetuate.
The
United Nations, the Organizations of American States,
and the National Congress of American Indians have all
called for the U.S. Government to enter into good faith
negotiations with the Western Shoshone Nation in an
attempt to resolve this long-standing dispute that
threatens our people, our culture, and the very survival
of the Western Shoshone Nation.
We
are prepared to enter into good faith negotiations, and
we sincerely believe that a fair and just resolution of
this matter can be achieved.
We
appeal to the President of the United States to issue an
Executive Order to the U. S. Department of Interior to
direct the Secretary of Interior to enter into good
faith negotiations, on a nation-to-nation basis, with
the Western Shoshone Nation in an attempt to a reach
fair and just resolution of the land dispute related to
the 1863 Ruby Valley Treaty between the Western Shoshone
Nation and the U.S. Government.
And
we appeal to the U.S. Senate, please do not approve
H.R.884/S.618 without at least giving the Western
Shoshone Nation a hearing on the bill so that our voices
may be heard.
Signed: Hugh
Stevens, Chairman, Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone
This article
can be found at
http://www.indiancountry.com/?1088003040
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