U.S. lithium mine approval violated Indigenous rights, report finds
The U.S. government approved the Thacker Pass lithium mine in Nevada without full tribal consultation, violating international human rights law, according to a report from Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union.
Jeniffer Solis reports for Nevada Current.
In short:
- The Bureau of Land Management fast-tracked approval for the Thacker Pass lithium mine during the COVID-19 pandemic, limiting tribal consultation.
- Several Indigenous groups, including the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony and the Burns Paiute Tribe, were not contacted despite cultural ties to the land.
- The report urges U.S. officials to align mining regulations with international human rights standards, including Indigenous communities' right to consent.
Key quote:
“The Thacker Pass project shows how US mining laws and the permit process run roughshod over the rights of Indigenous peoples.”
— Abbey Koenning-Rutherford, ACLU and Human Rights Watch
Why this matters:
Thacker Pass, a remote stretch of high desert in northern Nevada, is at the center of a growing clash between Indigenous rights and the rush for critical minerals. Known as Peehee Mu’huh to the Paiute and Shoshone people, the site holds deep cultural significance as a place of historical trauma and spiritual importance. Tribal members say the land, where a massacre of their ancestors occurred in the 19th century, is also a source of traditional foods and medicines that have sustained their communities for generations. The Thacker Pass lithium mine, seen as a key to the Biden administration’s push for domestic battery production, has become a flashpoint, with tribes, environmentalists and government officials at odds over the future of the land.
