Inside the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa, Western Shoshone Defense Project Executive Director Fermina Stevens had a clear message for the country’s companies seeking to mine lithium in Nevada.
Her shirt showed off a map of “Newe Sogobia,” or the People’s Land, the traditional, 60-million-acre territory of the Western Shoshone people that the U.S. government once recognized through the 1863 Treaty of Ruby Valley.
“Water is life; without water, there will be no life,” said Stevens, of the Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone. “We need to take it more seriously. Our human rights have been violated.”
Stevens, who runs the Indigenous advocacy group, spoke to reporters Thursday alongside Amnesty International, following the release of a report alleging that three Nevada lithium mining projects disregard the rights of Native Americans. They were joined by Mary Gibson of the Noowuh Knowledge Center in Elko.
In its report, the nongovernmental human rights organization has zeroed in on the United Nations principle of “free, prior and informed consent,” or FPIC. It gives Indigenous people the right to grant or withhold consent for extractive projects that affect their homelands — and three lithium mining projects have fallen short, researchers say.
Though President Barack Obama signed the U.N.’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2010, the principle of FPIC is not legally required of agencies, nor is it followed within the United States. In Nevada, the Bureau of Land Management’s obligatory consultation with tribal leaders is often left to written letters.
“We are here to say that Canada and the United States are falling short,” said Ketty Nivyabandi, secretary general for Amnesty International Canada, who added that both countries must take steps to enshrine FPIC into federal law.
A focus on three projects
The three projects the report focuses on are the Thacker Pass mine close to the Nevada-Oregon border, the Rhyolite Ridge mine in Esmeralda County and the Nevada North Lithium Project near Elko. Thacker Pass and Nevada North Lithium are associated with Canadian companies — Lithium Americas and Surge Battery Metals, respectively.
Thacker Pass is perhaps the most controversial among tribes, some of which claimed in a lawsuit that the mine’s construction would destroy the site of a 19th century massacre of Northern Paiute. That legal challenge did not result in any meaningful action from a federal judge, but Indigenous protests did garner international headlines.
The report’s central takeaway is that in each scenario, both the mining companies and the companies that may use minerals benefited from a legal framework that leaves Native Americans behind.
“Ignoring FPIC allows companies to advance projects without addressing community concerns about environmental, social or cultural impacts, forcing Indigenous People to bear disproportionate harms for the benefit of multinational mining companies and electric vehicle manufacturers,” the report authors wrote.
It draws similar conclusions that a Human Rights Watch report did last year about Thacker Pass, declaring that consultation with tribes before issuing federal permits was mediocre at best and that lithium extraction echoes centuries of colonial-era mistreatment.
As an addendum at the end, the report includes responses from each of those companies.
A spokesperson for Ioneer, the company behind the Rhyolite Ridge mine that has obtained federal permits but lost its most crucial investor last year, was the only company that provided additional comment to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The company “firmly disagrees” with the report, a spokesperson said, pointing to 328 points of contact with 13 tribal nations and voluntary agreements with tribes.
In its letter responding to criticism of Thacker Pass, Lithium Americas said the researchers should have interacted with the company when it traveled to Humboldt County to meet with tribal representatives. Repeating points the company has made before, the letter states that the U.S. government does not interpret the U.N. treaty as legally binding.
Evolution Mining’s letter in the report explains that it is only in the exploratory drilling phase for the Elko project, and that it is Surge Battery Metals that will be in charge of the project once it is operational.
Legislative change
somewhat unlikely
In the U.S., any meaningful changes to the General Mining Act of 1872 would be controversial.
Neither of Nevada’s U.S. senators replied to a request for comment, nor did Reps. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., or Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., who represent the mines’ home districts. Both Nevada Republicans and Democrats have expressed support for the state’s lithium mining sector despite high-profile concerns for tribal communities.
In response to an inquiry for comment, a spokesperson for the BLM said the agency “takes tribal consultation responsibilities seriously.” All outreach was done for the three Nevada projects according to existing federal laws, the agency added.
Federal regulations say agencies should consult tribes to “develop and evaluate alternatives or modifications to the undertaking that could avoid, minimize, or mitigate adverse effects on historic properties.” Tribal councils have 15 days to decide if they will participate after initial contact, but letters don’t always reach remote communities.
According to the report, about 79 percent of the nation’s known lithium reserves are within 35 miles of reservation lands.
Stevens, of the Western Shoshone Defense Project, said consultation is mostly a box-checking exercise in practice.
“We’re seen as obstacles,” she said. “We’re seen as hurdles. We’re seen as a nuisance in this so-called ‘progress.’”
Amnesty International officials want Canadian lawmakers to work on legislation that would require its mining companies to follow FPIC abroad, but it’s unlikely that Canadian law would usurp the laws of the country that a mine is situated in.
Contact Alan Halaly at ahalaly@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlanHalaly on X.
