Lithium mine being built on 'sacred ground' where Native Americans say they were massacred
Joe Biden wants the US to be the world leader in electric cars, which
requires lithium. But is a mine being built on the site of a massacre?
It could be a scene from centuries ago. In the Nevada desert, Native
Americans are protesting over a mining project they say desecrates
sacred land.
They are riding to Sentinel Mountain, which their
ancestors once used as a lookout in times gone by. Here, they say, more
than 30 of their people were massacred by US cavalry in 1865.
Today, the land is at the heart of America's electric car revolution and Joe Biden's clean energy policy
Native American tribal members say the mine neglects their interests and offends their history.
The
route of the "Prayer Horse Ride", a journey on horseback through
mining-affected communities in Northern Nevada, is designed to publicise
their objections.
"Being the original inhabitants of the land means we have cultural
ties and roots to these landscapes," says Gary McKinney, a member of the
Duck Valley Shoshone Paiute tribe.
"To me, it's sacred ground,"
says Myron Smart. His grandmother survived the massacre of 1865 as a
baby. Industrialising this place, he says, offends her memory and
reflects the story of Native Americans through time.
"We're people too. We have red blood just like everybody in the United States."
However, a US judge has rejected their complaints and the project is going ahead.
The
open mine, which is on public land, will source lithium to power up to a
million electric vehicles a year and will create 1,800 jobs in its
construction phase.
President Biden aims to make the United States
a world leader in electric vehicle technology and reduce reliance for
lithium supply on countries like China.
The Thacker Pass project has supporters as well as opponents.
Lithium Americas, the company behind the project, insists the mine is
not located on a massacre site. This was supported by a judge in 2021
who ruled the evidence presented by tribes "does not definitely
establish that a massacre occurred" within the proposed project area.
Tim
Crowley, the company's VP of Government and External Affairs, said in a
statement to Sky News: "Lithium Americas is committed to doing this
project right, which is why we have a community benefits agreement in
place with the local Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe that
ensures benefits from Thacker Pass accrue to them.
"Concerns about
cultural and environmental resources were thoroughly addressed in the
BLM's (Bureau of Land Management) approved Environmental Impact
Statement, which withstood comprehensive reviews by the Federal District
and Circuit Courts."
However, members of different Nevada-based Native American tribes
continue to oppose the mining project. They say their evidence of the
1865 massacre, and a separate inter-tribal conflict, is rooted in the
oral history passed on from their ancestors, through generations - not
collated with a court case in mind, but compelling nonetheless.
"Back
in our ancestors' days, they didn't write any documentation down, they
didn't send letters, they didn't write in journals," says Gary. "So
there was no way that the United States government could know our story.
"These
stories have been passed down generation to generation, so we have
direct lineage from survivors of these massacres, which is how these
stories remain in our families."
The courts have also rejected complaints by tribal members and
conservationists on the environmental impact and planning consultation.
The project throws a focus onto the issues surrounding the pursuit of clean energy.
"First
off, we have to acknowledge that we need electric vehicles," says
Amanda Hurowitz of Mighty Earth, a global environmental non-governmental
organisation.
They are more efficient than petrol and diesel cars, she says, and they are needed for the US to hit its climate targets.
But they also need more mined minerals - like lithium - and getting those materials out of the ground has an impact.
"All mining operations need to get consent from the local people," she adds, "and the more consent, the better."
