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Winnemucca Indian Colony Update: State of Nevada Drops Criminal Charges Against Winnemucca Indian Colony Land Defenders

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Vermont National Lawyers Guild, Press Release – December 31, 2022

Paiute and Shoshone lands, Winnemucca, Nevada, U.S.A — On December 27, 2022, the Humboldt County District Attorney asked the Justice Court of Union Township to dismiss without prejudice all criminal charges against two settler-descendant land defenders who were targeted, profiled, arrested and prosecuted for their support of the Native Elders facing ongoing colonization in the form of eviction from their homes on the Winnemucca Indian Colony.

Defenders of Winnemucca Elders faced increasing repression and surveillance in the late months of 2021 and early months of 2022, amidst ongoing escalation from the Winnemucca Tribal Council seeking to evict Paiute and Shoshone Elders from their homes. Land defenders Honey and Epona had been monitored by law enforcement for months; they were known supporters of Elders on the Colony in their fight against eviction and displacement. In February of 2022, BIA officers followed, detained, and arrested Honey and Epona when the two were driving down a public roadway in the Colony. Since then, the State of Nevada has pursued baseless criminal trespass, evading arrest, and “license plate display” charges against them. The prosecution attempted to rush the cases forward without Honey and Epona having access to discovery, an attorney, or any meaningful way of obtaining a fair trial before being convicted of multiple fabricated offenses. But Honey and Epona pushed back against the repression and advocated for themselves until they found a pro bono attorney who slowed the process and fought for access to information regarding their detention and arrest. On December 27, 2022, the prosecution moved to dismiss the charges–just hours before a status conference where the defense planned to highlight the
prosecution’s failure to fulfill its Constitutional discovery obligations to the Defendants. The prosecution abruptly ended the case before this information could be exposed and before further attention could be drawn to the impropriety of these arrests.

“Newe Elders were being violently removed from intergenerational homes,” Says Land Defender Epona about the context of her arrest. “My interest in fighting this case was not about the false charges. It’s about reparations and keeping corrupt politics off sovereign land.”
Criminal prosecutions against Indigenous Elders and other Residents and Defenders are ongoing in the Winnemucca Indian Colony Tribal Court. The Winnemucca Elders’ eviction cases are also ongoing, with the motion for an emergency stay being denied on December 28th but the substantive appeal still pending at the Inter Tribal Court of Appeals of Nevada.

Honey shares these parting thoughts after the dismissal of their charges: “Union Justice Court Judge Jim Loveless tried to ram our trial through at our very first court appearance. We had not had the opportunity to find a lawyer or even to view the evidence against us. This type of corruption, unfortunately enough, however, has been a hallmark of the struggle for Paiute-Shoshone sovereignty in Winnemucca. Several of our comrades are still facing charges in tribal court, and the elders and residents are still embattled by impending eviction and home demolitions. As this frontline struggle continues to unfold, all I can say is –

Respect the Elders! Land Back! ALL EYES ON WINNEMUCCA!”
For past legal updates on the situation at Winnemucca please visit:
●December 7, 2022, Indigenous Elders Evicted and Banished from Winnemucca Indian Colony
Without Trial
●December 12, 2022, Winnemucca Indian Colony Update: Inter-Tribal Court of Appeals of
Nevada (ITCAN) Hearing Will Be Held Regarding Stay of Eviction Order on Thursday,
December 15, 2022
●December 16, 2022, Winnemucca Indian Colony Update: Oral Arguments Heard in Inter-Tribal
Court of Appeals of Nevada (ITCAN)
●December 29, 2022, Inter-tribal Court of Appeals of Nevada Denies Request for Stay

Requests for Assistance:
Donations to support Elders and Residents can be made to $defendWIC on Cashapp
Donations to support the ongoing Legal Observer presence at the Colony can be sent to VT NLG’s paypal
@vermontnlg
Attorneys interested in providing pro-bono representation for unrepresented residents impacted by Tribal
Court order pending appeal in ITCAN please contact: communications@waterprotectorlegal.org

About Vermont NLG:
The Vermont Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild is a collective of lawyers and legal workers
supporting movements for collective liberation in navigating the legal system.

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No Thanks, No Giving! Indigenous Action Yearly Fundraiser (online)

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Support Indigenous radical autonomous, anti-capitalist, anti-colonial organizing & agitation!

COLONIZERS GOTTA PAY! SMASH THE NON-PROFIT CAPITALIST
INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX!

Donate to Indigenous Action:

LINK: www.paypal.com/paypalme/indigenousaction

This is our yearly call for material support for Indigenous Action activities & donation drive for Táala Hooghan infoshop unsheltered support & operational expenses.

Indigenous Action (IA/originally Indigenous Action Media) was founded on August 25th, 2001 to provide strategic communications and direct action support for Indigenous sacred lands defense. We are a volunteer-run radical autonomous crew of anti-colonial & anti-capitalist Indigenous trouble makers & propagandists.

We generally are comprised of designers, artists, writers & frontline agitators that work together on a project by project basis (some long-term some short) for liberation for Mother Earth and all her beings. We’ve organized hundreds of actions, marches, banner drops, workshops, conferences, benefits, & much more. 100% of all proceeds directly support radical Indigenous organizing. Everything we do is based on community support. We don’t rely on grants. We’re all in for total liberation.

Some (not all) active projects & organizing we’re currently directly involved with:

  • IA Podcast+ Táala Hooghan Infoshop
  • KinłaniMutualAid.org
  • HaulNo.com
  • ProtectthePeaks.org
  • Ongoing local/regional frontline support:
  • Resource/supply distro, bail, jail support
    organizing, etc.
  • Graphic & web support for a dozen
    current Indigenous-led campaigns.

Some larger yearly expenses we need immediate support for:

  • Táala Hooghan taxes & utilities (the space has been free to use by KMA for 3 years):
    Approx. $6,000+/year.
  • Regional supply distro for Indigenous unsheltered relatives: $1,000-$3,000, we also maintain funds for emergency hotels.
  • Anti-state repression + DA support: $3,000+ varies, but we maintain an ongoing bail fund & frontline resource support.

www.indigenousaction.org

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anti-colonial

16th Annual No Thanks, No Giving!

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Indigenous Action presents:
16th Annual No Thanks, No Giving!
Food share, anti-colonial resistance & solidarity discussion circle, & online fundraiser!


DONATE: 



1:30p – 4pm
We will prepare and serve mutton stew and other foods for all who join us. Please bring any dish to contribute if you wish, we also plan on actively distributing (possibly mobile) any extra foods.

Local volunteers needed! Contact: indigenousaction@gmail.com

At 2:30p we will have a talking & action circle focused on anti-colonial resistance & solidarity. Representatives of Kinłani Mutual Aid, Haul No!, volunteers with Protect the Peaks, and autonomous organizers supporting unsheltered relatives will present & discuss upcoming actions & organizing. We will also discuss building Indigenous solidarity with local efforts to Free Palestine. Come ready to share, support and get involved! Everyone welcome!
This event is free, please bring donations for unsheltered relative support (tents, sleeping bags, tarps, jackets, etc).

This is also our yearly fundraiser for Táala Hooghan infoshop and Indigenous Action activities!
Please donate online via PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/indigenousaction
Support Indigenous autonomous organizing and agitation!

*We will not host a livestream this year.

When: Thursday, Nov. 23, 2023
1:30pm – 4:00pm MST.

Where: Táala Hooghan Infoshop1704 N 2nd St, Kinłani (Occupied Flagstaff), AZ

MASKS REQUIRED This event will be held both indoors and outdoors (dress warm!) with limited indoor space. We will maintain social distancing & mask protocols for immunocompromised relatives.

For 16 years we have hosted No Thanks, No Giving! as an anti-colonial event to bring together radical Indigenous voices, share traditional foods, and benefit unsheltered relatives at Táala Hooghan Infoshop in Kinlani (Flagstaff, AZ). More info: www.indigenousaction.org

#nothanksnogiving #MutualAid #indigenousmutualaid #solidaritynotcharity

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anti-colonial

New Book: No Spiritual Surrender, Klee Benally

New Book: No Spiritual Surrender: Indigenous Anarchy in Defense of the Sacred is a searing anti-colonial analysis rooted in frontline experience.

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No Spiritual Surrender, Klee Benally Book
New Book: No Spiritual Surrender, Klee Benally

NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE & SELECT BOOKSTORES: No Spiritual Surrender: Indigenous Anarchy in Defense of the Sacred

No Spiritual Surrender: Indigenous Anarchy in Defense of the Sacred is a searing anti-colonial analysis rooted in frontline experience. Klee Benally (Diné) unrelentingly agitates against colonial politics towards Indigenous autonomy and total liberation of Nahasdzáán (Mother Earth).

Available now from Detritus Books detritusbooks.com

406 pages | $20 Nonfiction | Paperback Available in select bookshops.

About the author: Klee Benally is a Diné (Navajo) anarchist and undisciplined agitational propagandist. Originally from Black Mesa. Klee currently resides in occupied Flagstaff, Arizona. kleebenally.com, indigenousaction.org

www.detritusbooks.com

Wholesale inquiries: detritusbooks.com
Now booking speaking tour dates: indigenousaction@gmail.com

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