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FOR MARY DANN THE FIGHT IS OVER May 1, 2005 Susan Bates

Mary Dann died the way she would have wanted - with her boots on. The 80 something year old Western Shoshone activist was repairing fences on her family's ranch in Nevada's Crescent Valley Friday when her ATV flipped over. For more than 25 years, Mary and her younger sister, Carrie Dann have fended off the U.S. Government as they tried to force the Western Shoshone Nation to accept a cash payment for their gold-rich land which was seized through the 1863 Treaty of Ruby Valley which gave the U.S. limited access to and use of Western Shoshone lands for specified purposes. One of the "specified purposes" was mining. According to Amnesty International, "More than 100 years of government policy in subsidizing and promoting the mining industry has led to a modern mining boom unlike any in world history. Western Shoshone lands now account for the majority of gold produced within the United States and almost 10 percent of world production. " In 1974, the United States government sued Mary and Carrie Dann, who had refused to accept the payment and would not be evicted from their land, for trespassing because they were grazing their cattle on public land without a permit. The women's determined fight took them all the way to the Supreme Court which ruled that the "Western Shoshone had been paid because the government had placed funds into a trust account in the name of the Western Shoshone, and that such payment barred the Dann sisters from raising Western Shoshone title as a defense against the federal government's trespass charges." In April 1993, the Dann sisters filed a petition with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) alleging that their human rights had been, and were still being violated by the United States under various articles of the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man (the "American Declaration"). The U.S. government denied violating the Dann's rights and maintained the sisters and the Western Shoshone lost their rights to their land in 1872 as a result of "encroachment by non - Native Americans." In 1979, the United States Court of Claims awarded less than $27 million – the 1872 value, to the Western Shoshone Nation to be held in trust for the tribe. That amount has since grown to approximately $140 million. (Depending on whose figures you accept, this amounts to as little as .15 and acre.) Mary and Carrie Dann would not be bullied into moving. In September 2002, 40 heavily armed BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) agents accompanied by helicopters, raided their ranch and confiscated 232 head of cattle. They were sold at auction for $24,444 and applied the amount to the over $3 million in grazing fees the US Government says the two owe the American Tax Payers. Unbowed by the attack, Carrie Dann commented, "It's disgraceful how the United States makes international statements about human rights and then commits this kind of assault in our own backyard. It destroys their credibility and moral authority." On January 9, 2003, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights found that the "United States has been violating the human rights of the Western Shoshone, including the right to equality before the law, the right to judicial protection and due process, and the right to property," marking the first time that the U.S. has been formally found in violation of international human rights in its treatment of Indigenous peoples within its border. Shortly after the release of that finding, the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) announced it would round up the nearly 1,000 of the Dann's horses. Because of the threat, The Western Shoshone National Council (WSNC) created the Western Shoshone International Goodwill Horse Program whose goal is to "promote economic development opportunities for Indian Nations through horse management and gentling programs and to strengthen youth empowerment activities." Mary and Carrie Dann donated their horses. Mary Dann, the "quiet thinker" of the duo preferred to stay home while her sister Carrie traveled the country to rally support for her People. Her ashes will be scattered on the land that she loved and fought for. Meanwhile, the Indian Wars continue.

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"I was indigenous and in one single evening they made me indigent. If you think the Indian wars are over, then think again" Carrie Dann on October 31, 2002 <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>   References: April 25th issue - Las Vegas SUN (AP Article) LeDuff, Charlie. October 31, 2002. Range War in Nevada pits U.S. against 2 Shoshone Sisters. The New York Times. Page A16. Sewall, Christopher. June 1999. Digging Holes in the Spirit: Gold mining and the survival of the Western Shoshone Nation. Inkworks Press. Amnesty International Web Page

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