#NativeAmericaCalling: Remembering the 1974 #Navajo border town murders

Friday, April 19, 2024

"The torture and gruesome murders of three Navajo men by white high school students touched off a series of racially-fueled conflicts in #FarmingtonNewMexico, on the border with the Navajo Nation.

"The murders in April 1974 became known as the #ChokecherryMassacre. One protest organizer at the time called Farmington 'the #SelmaAlabama of the Southwest,' referring to the simmering racial tensions.

"Demands by Navajos and other #NativeActivists since then have improved relations in the border town and surrounding areas somewhat.

"But many residents and observers say the sources of the problems remain just below the surface.

"Join Native America Calling to recount this little-known period of #FourCorners history and discuss what community relationships are like 50 years later.

Guests on Native America Calling

- #JohnRedhouse (#Diné and #Ute), longtime activist
- #ChiliYazzie (Diné), Shiprock community member
- #NateDuckett, current mayor of Farmington

Listen here:
https://indianz.com/News/2024/04/19/native-america-calling-remembering-the-1974-navajo-border-town-murders/

#Racism #ChokecherryMassacres #DodgeBenally #JohnEarlHarvey #DavidIgnacio,

Judge Tosses Out One Claim Against #ThackerPassProtectors, Five Claims Remain

Rejects 'Unjust Enrichment' Claim, But Five Other Claims Proceed in Ongoing Lawsuit Over Spring 2023 Protests

By Protect Thacker Pass, Censored News, March 11, 2024

WINNEMUCCA, Nevada — "A judge has dismissed an “unjust enrichment” charge filed against seven people sued for protesting the Thacker Pass lithium mine in Nevada, but allowed five other charges to move forward.
District Judge Michael R. Montero rejected #LithiumNevada Corporation’s claims that protesters had engaged in unjust enrichment by writing online messages encouraging supporters to donate, ruling that these messages are '#ProtectedSpeech under the #FirstAmendment.'

"'This is a very significant win for my clients and a rebuke to Lithium Nevada,' says Terry Lodge, an attorney representing six of the protesters. 'But,' Lodge says, 'we’ve still got a long way to go in this case.'

[...]

"While one portion of Montero’s ruling was favorable to the protesters, other portions were not. Judge Montero issued a prelimary ruling in Lithium Nevada’s favor on five other claims. But, Lodge says that at this stage, the judge was not determining whether Lithium Nevada’s claims are true or not. He was simply reviewing Lithium Nevada’s allegations, taking them as true, and determining whether those allegations were violations of Nevada law.

[...]

Native Land Claims “Frivolous”

"In another part of his ruling, Judge Montero called arguments that a #Paiute protester has a right to access the September 12, 1865 #ThackerPass massacre site within Lithium Nevada’s mine site to pray for massacred Paiute #ancestors 'frivolous'.

"The ruling states that recognizing traditional native land claims 'would unequivocally undermine each and every property owner’s rights' and concludes that '[t]his is a Pandora’s box the Court is unwilling to open.”
The defendants are seeking monetary donations to their legal defense fund."

FMI and full article:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/03/judge-tosses-out-one-claim-against.html

#LandBack #NativeActivists #CulturalGenocide #ThackerPass #PeeheeMuhuh #Pauite #Shoshone #Bannock #NoMining #LithiumMining #SaveThackerPass #SLAPPs #LithiumAmerica