Nevada tribe says coalitions, not lawsuits, will protect sacred sites as US advances energy agenda
A Nevada tribe is gearing up for a different kind of fight against the U.S. government as it tries to build more public support for protecting Native American sacred sites
RENO, Nev. (AP) — The room was packed with Native American leaders from across the United States, all invited to Washington to hear from federal officials about President Joe Biden's accomplishments and new policy directives aimed at improving relationships and protecting sacred sites.
Arlan Melendez was not among them.
The longtime chairman of the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony convened his own meeting 2,500 miles (4,023 kilometers) away. He wanted to show his community would find another way to fight the U.S. government's approval of a massive lithium mine at the site where more than two dozen of their Paiute and Shoshone ancestors were massacred in 1865.
Opposed by government lawyers at every legal turn, Melendez said another arduous appeal would not save sacred sites from being desecrated.
