Friend,
For decades, the Southern Nevada Water Authority has tried to take the water in Spring Valley for a 250-mile pipeline to Las Vegas, where it would fuel commercial development. In late 2020, a powerful coalition that included members of the Ely and Duckwater Shoshone tribes, cattle ranchers, and Mormon landowners were successful in stopping the project when the Authority announced their intention to “indefinitely defer” the pipeline.
The problem : “indefinitely” is not enough.
The decision to defer the building of the pipeline can be reversed at any time. This sacred place needs permanent protection from development now.
So we’ve joined a critical coalition of Native leaders and tribes, including the Duckwater Shoshone, Goshute, and Ely Shoshone Tribes, to call on President Biden to designate the land as the Swamp Cedars Bahsahwahbee National Monument and permanently protect the spirits of our Tribal Ancestors massacred in this sacred space.
Please help us make it happen by sending your own direct message now.
For generations, Bahsahwahbee, the “Sacred Water Valley,” was a ceremonial site where the Indigenous Newe Peoples gathered every year for spiritual practices and ceremonies.
In the 1800s, it was marred by genocide. Hundreds were killed in eleven massacres carried out by the military and vigilantes during ceremonial gatherings.
The Newe hold that the sacred grove of Swamp Cedars which grow on the land embody the spirits of the children, women, and men killed there. Indigenous Peoples from across the Great Basin make the pilgrimage to Bahsahwahbee to visit their ancestors, pray, and hold healing ceremonies.
This is not a place that should be stolen for Las Vegas development. The land; the trees; the water are sacred. It is not owned by developers who think they can take whatever they want in the interest of economic growth. That’s why we must permanently protect it.
Hawwih (thank you in Caddo),
Judith LeBlanc (Caddo)
Executive Director
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