Indigenous knowledge is a climate solution! At the epicenter of massive fracking in Oklahoma, Casey Camp-Horinek (Ponca Nation) Environmental Ambassador, WECAN Earthen Lodge Project Coordinator

Indigenous knowledge is a climate solution! At the epicenter of massive fracking in Oklahoma, Casey Camp-Horinek (Ponca Nation) Environmental Ambassador, WECAN Earthen Lodge Project Coordinator and Board Member, and her community are leading a renewed approach to food sovereignty and climate solutions with the building of the Earthen Lodge, originating from Indigenous wisdom and knowledge of the Ponca Nation.

Watch and share this video and support climate justice in action!

The Earthen Lodge is stewarded by the Pa'tha'ta Women's Society in the Ponca community, as they seek seventh generation survival and beyond for their Nation in the midst of the escalating climate crisis. WECAN is honored to work in collaboration on this project, which is supporting community resiliency in the face of extreme fossil fuel extraction and ongoing climate disruption. The Lodge will provide safe harbor in times of climate disaster; offer space for cultural ceremonies and teachings; and create healthy and sustainable food and medicines for current and future generations in a region where the water and soil has been poisoned by Big Oil for decades.

�Learn more about the Earthen Lodge Project by visiting our website: https://www.wecaninternational.org/earthen-lodge-project

On March 13, WECAN was in Washington D.C. outside the Army Corps of Engineers offices with the Indigenous Women’s Treaty Alliance to deliver a petition calling on the Army Corps of Engineers

On March 13, WECAN was in Washington D.C. outside the Army Corps of Engineers offices with the Indigenous Women’s Treaty Alliance to deliver a petition calling on the Army Corps of Engineers to conduct a robust environmental review of the Line 5 crude oil pipeline reroute.

Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline has continued to operate illegally through the Bad River Band’s land in northern Wisconsin and the Straits of Mackinac in Michigan. Despite strong opposition, Enbridge is moving forward with a proposed reroute and expansion of the pipeline. The existing Line 5 pipeline must be shut down and decommissioned, not simply re-routed and expanded. At a time of climate crisis, Line 5 is putting at risk sacred ecosystems, clean drinking water, treaty territories, and our global climate!

The petition was delivered by members of the Indigenous Women’s Treaty Alliance, alongside allies from WECAN, Sierra Club, and the broader community. Since 2022, WECAN has been honored to facilitate the Indigenous Women’s Treaty Alliance, a group of Indigenous women leaders from the Great Lakes region.

On International Women's Day 2024 we are releasing a new WECAN video that highlights the advocacy of global women leaders fighting to end the era of fossil fuels while advancing a Just Transition

On International Women's Day 2024 we are releasing a new WECAN video that highlights the advocacy of global women leaders fighting to end the era of fossil fuels while advancing a Just Transition and advocating for climate solutions, Indigenous and human rights, rights of nature, and thriving communities and planet.

Donate: https://givebutter.com/protectthackerpass

PRESS RELEASE:

As Court Ruling Nears, Thacker Pass Sacred Sites Already Being Damaged

Tribal Chairman:

Donate: https://givebutter.com/protectthackerpass

PRESS RELEASE:

As Court Ruling Nears, Thacker Pass Sacred Sites Already Being Damaged

Tribal Chairman: “It’s Our Responsibility to Protect Sacred Sites”

RENO, NV — The Thacker Pass Lithium Mine in northern Nevada is headed back to Federal Court on January 5th as the lawsuits against the project near completion, but project opponents are raising the alarm that Lithium Nevada Corporation has already begun work on the proposed mine.

Lithium Nevada’s workers at Thacker Pass have begun digging test pits, bore holes, dumping gravel, building fencing, & installing security cameras where Native Americans often conduct ceremonies. Lithium Nevada also conducted “bulk sampling” earlier this year, & may be planning to dig dozens of new test pits across Thacker Pass. They’re claiming this work is legal under previous permits issued over a decade ago. But Tribes & mine opponents, including the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony & Summit Lake Paiute Tribe, disagree.

They point to language in the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Thacker Pass Lithium Mine that says “authorization of [the mine] will terminate the [earlier permits].” The Federal permit for Thacker Pass was approved on January 15th, 2021.

Will Falk, attorney for the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, explains: “Lithium Nevada told the government & the American public that it would terminate the older permits upon BLM's approval of the Thacker Pass Project. Now they are going back on their word, it appears they are lying to get a headstart on building the Thacker Pass mine, & the BLM is allowing them to get away with it.”

Thacker Pass, known as Peehee Mu’huh in Paiute, is a sacred site to regional tribes whose ancestors lived in the area for thous&s of years, & were massacred there on at least two occasions.

Michon Eben, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer at Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, says the site is incredibly important to Native American history. “Peehee Mu’huh is a sacred place where our ancestors lived & died. We still go there to pray, gather food & medicine, hunt, & teach our youth about the history of our people.” Eben & the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony are currently hosting an exhibit on the impacts of mining on Native people of Nevada.

Tribal members have stated in court filings that, because of the history of battles & massacres on the site, Thacker Pass is as significant to their culture as a site like Pearl Harbor is to American history. Arlan Melendez, Chairman of the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, underst&s the importance of battle & massacre sites as both a Native American & as a U.S. Marine Corps veteran.

“As tribal leaders, it’s our responsibility to protect & honor our sacred places,” says Melendez. “Throughout US history, tribes have always been set up to lose in the US legal system against BLM. This Lithium Mine st&s in the way of our roots & it’s violating the religious freedoms of our elders, our people.”

Falk, the Tribal attorney, says that Lithium Nevada’s construction activities at Thacker Pass are also violating tribal consultation rights.

“The Reno-Sparks Indian Colony & Summit Lake Paiute Tribe are still engaged in consultation with the BLM about the September 12, 1865 massacre site, a site that will be completely destroyed by Lithium Nevada’s mine if this project is built,” Falk says. “It’s hard to believe a government agency is consulting in good faith when they are already allowing the site to be harmed.”

Shelley Harjo, a tribal member from the Fort McDermitt Shoshone Paiute Tribe & an employee of the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, has called the planned destruction of Thacker Pass “the biggest desecration & rape of a known Native American massacre site in our area.”

The upcoming January 5th hearing in Reno’s Federal Courthouse will be the final oral argument in the ongoing lawsuits against the Thacker Pass mine. Mine opponents are planning a march & rally outside. Plaintiffs, including the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, Burns Paiute Tribe, four environmental organizations, & local rancher Edward Bartell, have alleged numerous violations of the law, & Judge Mir&a Du is expected to issue her opinion in the case within days or weeks of the January 5th hearing.

“No matter what happens in court on January 5th, Thacker Pass is being destroyed right now & that threat will be ongoing,” says Max Wilbert, co-founder of Protect Thacker Pass. “We have to stop that.”

Lithium Nevada claims that its lithium mine will be essential to producing batteries for combating global warming, & the Biden administration has previously indicated some support for Thacker Pass. Opponents of the project have called this “greenwashing,” arguing that the project would harm important wildlife habitat & create significant pollution. They say that electric cars are still harmful to the planet.

#ProtectThackerPass #ProtectPeeheeMuhuh #lithium #climate #greenwashing #BrightGreenLies

https://ProtectThackerPass.org

In spring 2024 the Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the Fish and Wildlife Service to protect Wilson’s phalaropes under the Endangered Species Act. These dainty shorebirds are best

In spring 2024 the Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the Fish and Wildlife Service to protect Wilson’s phalaropes under the Endangered Species Act. These dainty shorebirds are best known for their spectacular congregations at large salt lakes in the U.S. West, like Great Salt Lake in Utah, which face imminent collapse due to climate change and other human-caused threats.

To catch brine flies, alkali flies, and brine shrimp, Wilson’s phalaropes like to swim in a tight, fast circle that forms a whirlpool, helping raise food from the bottom of shallow water. And in phalaropes, the typical bird sex roles are reversed: The larger, brighter-colored females pursue males, have multiple mates, and aggressively defend their nests, while males care for chicks.

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About the Center:

The Center for Biological Diversity is a 501c3 nonprofit headquartered in Tucson, Arizona. At the Center, we believe that the welfare of human beings is deeply linked to nature — to the existence in our world of a vast diversity of wild animals and plants. Because diversity has intrinsic value, and because its loss impoverishes society, we work to secure a future for all species, great and small, hovering on the brink of extinction. We do so through science, law and creative media, with a focus on protecting the lands, waters and climate that species need to survive.

We want those who come after us to inherit a world where the wild is still alive.

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