The Reno-Sparks Indian Colony (RSIC) on Tuesday hosted a press conference to discuss the dismissal of their federal lawsuit to stop lithium mine development at Thacker Pass.
“For two-and-a-half years, Native American Tribes, including the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, have been speaking out about the cultural importance of Thacker Pass, a remote mountainside in northern Nevada which Lithium Nevada Corporation plans to turn into a massive open-pit lithium mine to supply batteries for General Motors’ electric vehicles,” tribal officials said in a statement released prior to the press conference.
Tribal members say the land is sacred and is the site of two massacres of their ancestors. Several northern Nevada Tribes, including the RSIC, have been protesting and filing lawsuits to halt the mine’s development for the past few years.
Several members of RSIC, including their attorney and a Tribal historic preservation officer, said the recent decision was extremely disappointing and frustrating. They said they will not appeal the most recent decision.
Tribal Community Information Officer Bethany Sam told This Is Reno that they “pray to have the truth be told” about the history of the proposed mine.
“The massacres are part of our history that has been erased,” Sam said. “I don’t think America in general realizes how many massacres have happened just in this area for gold mining. We have the opportunity to make it better than what they had 140 years ago. This is our opportunity to tell the truth and tell our history from our side. Not from the colonial school teachings that we get today.”
The meeting was attended by a small group of media and community members and can be found archived on the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony Facebook page.
