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
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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.
