Spring 2002 Newsletter

On February 14th, the U.S. declared it’s love of nuclear weapons by conducting a subcritical nuclear weapons test at the Nevada Test Site. This comes on the heels of a proposed $5.9 billion budget for the continued research, development, testing and production of nuclear weapons for the 2003 fiscal year (this amount does not include delivery systems).

The NTS retains its ability to resume full-scale nuclear weapons tests within a 2 year time period. The recently released, classified, nuclear posture review calls for that time to be shortened to less than 6 months. This indicates a move towards the resumption of these tests by George W. Bush. The Department of Energy’s request for $5.9 billion for nuclear weapons research and development continues to show that the U.S. is ready and willing to use nuclear weapons.

Shundahai Network has long held the position that the subcritical nuclear weapons tests at the NTS are a research tool in the design of new nuclear weapons. If the U. S. resumes full scale nuclear testing, it proves that the U.S. is committed to creating a more modern nuclear weapons arsenal. The current arsenal is supposed to be cut- according to agreements made between G.W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Nuclear Posture review indicates that the arsenal will not actually be destroyed, but instead will only be de-alerted, and possibly dismantled, but that the U.S. will retain it’s ability to quickly generate thousands more nuclear weapons.

The U.S. is the only country in the world that has used nuclear weapons in combat, and has repeatedly threatened their use in conflicts. A resumption of nuclear weapons testing would not only have devastating environmental and health effects across the U.S., but would also send a signal to the world that another nuclear arms race is about to begin.

Nuclear weapons did not protect the U.S. from the terrorist attacks on September 11^th; they are not designed for the new brand of warfare that is spreading across the globe. The only good nuclear weapon is a dismantled and destroyed nuclear weapon.

Shundahai Network invites you to join with people across the nation as we gather to honor the 10^th year of the nuclear weapons testing moratorium, and call for an end to the U.S. testing program, and full nuclear weapons disarmament. We will gather October 11^th-14^th, at the Nevada Test Site, and demand that the U.S. government stops holding the world hostage by its nuclear weapons programs.

Shundahai Network: Facing the Critical Issues of Our Time

We give thanks for all of you who are involved in the continued struggle to protect Mother Earth. This past year we have seen some alarming trends in U.S. nuclear policy. President Bush has officially given notice to Congress that he approves of Yucca Mountain as the nations first permanent high-level nuclear waste dump; the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Private Fuel Storage are preparing to go ahead with building a “temporary” high-level nuclear dump on the Skull Valley Reservation in Utah; and, the Pentagon has released its “Nuclear Posture Review” calling for increased spending on nuclear weapons, continued subcritical experiments and a possible resumption of full scale nuclear weapons testing at the Nevada Test Site.

To address these critical issues Shundahai Network has developed three main programs; Action for Nuclear Abolition Campaign, working for complete nuclear disarmament and closure of the Nevada Test Site; Nuclear Free Great Basin Campaign, linking dumping and transportation of nuclear waste in the southwest; and our Environmental Justice Now Campaign to assist indigenous communities affected by nuclear issues in having their voices heard on the national level.

Along with our ongoing work in building alliances with affected communities, organizing and supporting conferences, workshops, speeches, rallies, and direct actions, we are also beginning to mobilize internationally to bring thousands of activists to the Nevada Test Site. Our first event will be the 4th Annual Mothers Day “Gathering to Celebrate Life”, May 10 - 13. We will build a spiritually based community of nonviolent resistance. We will welcome and host the Western Shoshone, Newe Sogobia Mava’a Mia “Walk on the Sacred Land”. Sweatlodges, ceremonies, networking, planning for the future, and nonviolent direct action will be mixed with good food, music and the beautiful springtime desert.

Throughout the summer we will continue our mobilization for a series of Fall Events. This mobilization will include speaking tours, nonviolence trainings, regional affinity group formation and action planning. On Hiroshima Day, the “Family Spirit Walk For Mother Earth” will leave Los Alamos, New Mexico and begin a journey to the Test Site, raising awareness and attention as they go. We hope that hundreds will join us for this pilgrimage. Our campaign this year will culminate in the October 11 -14, Action for Nuclear Abolition Nonviolent Direct Action Camp. During this time our community will gather to plan and carry out nonviolent occupations of Yucca Mountain and Nevada Test Site.

If you have never been to the test site events or if it has been many years since you were involved, now is the time to come and experience Peace Camp. Bring your family and friends. We must show the U.S. government that the people will not let the U.S. continue its “terroristic” nuclear policies.

Help us in this important work. Join one of the Shundahai Network Collectives. Be a part of the adventure! Take Action! Become a member of Shundahai Network. We need you.The future needs you.

Environmental Impact Statement Whitewashes Nuclear Dangers

In January, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) released it's Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for an Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation at Skull Valley. The Skull Valley Band of Goshutes are a small tribe whose reservation is approximately 45 miles west of Salt Lake City Utah. This document suggests that there will be no significant impacts to the environment if a nuclear dump is built on the reservation.

"Environmental Justice contentions brought by Ohngo Gaudadeh Devia Awareness (OGDA) are going to be heard by the NRC." Said Skull Valley tribal member, Ms. Margene Bullcreek. "It is important for them to hear who we are as Native Americans from the Skull Valley Band of Goshutes. That the large corporation of PFS is providing millions of dollars to just a few tribal members for this portion of our reservation. We call our land Sogobia, it is sacred and sovereign and is our home. OGDA says no to the nuclear waste and its poison. We need to protect our future generations. Our spirituality is important to us. Who we are is priceless. We remain to stand strong, defending ourselves, our land, our way of life and our future."

In a recent development, the NRC ordered both PFS and the old Skull Valley tribal council to make a public record of the millions of dollars that have traded hands during PFS's negotiations with Leon Bear, former tribal chairman. This is a major victory for tribal opponents who have long said that a small number of tribal members have been bribed to support the deal.

This project is a blatant example of environmental racism. A group of rich utility companies, targeting a small impoverished nation for disposal of the most deadly substance ever created. Private Fuel Storage maintains that this dump would only be temporary until Yucca Mountain opens, but fails to take into consideration the possibility that Yucca Mountain will never open.

The FEIS also fails to take into consideration several important pieces of information; the transportation risks associated with moving high-level nuclear waste across the country, the environmental racism of siting a nuclear dump on a small impoverished reservation, and the idea that the waste might actually be there for more than 40 years.

The FEIS states that since a lease agreement was signed by the Tribal Chairman (Leon Bear), there is no significant Environmental Justice impact. This is blatantly untrue- the lease agreement was indeed signed by the former tribal chair, who has since been ousted from that position, The lease was never reviewed or agreed to by the entire tribe. In fact, the entire tribe has never actually seen the lease agreement, and many oppose it. There is a contention before the NRC, filed by tribal members, that this project will force the loss of cultural resources and identity.

The entire process subverts the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, which declared that Congress, not the nuclear industry will select a national nuclear waste dump. This proposal, made by a limited liability corporation- Private Fuel Storage, takes Congress out of the picture entirely. The proposal would affect the entire nation, and should be a national decision, not one that is left in the hands of a faulty government agency and a corporation whose interests are strictly financial, ignoring the health and safety of millions of people.

“Let’s Unite Ourselves” Message From Corbin

“We have to stand up for our rights and for all living things. We are the ones with a voice. We are the ones that should be saying what our government is doing is dangerous. Our government was formed way back a few hundred years ago and you the people are the backbone of the government. Our leaders, the lawmakers, what ever you want to call them, are not looking our way. This is the reason our Mother Earth is suffering today. All the government and businesses are thinking about is money. Lets not think that way, lets all hold hands together, talk to each other, laugh together and have ceremonies together. This is what we were put here for. This is something that we have to do together. We are the people that are going to have to do it.

Someday, somewhere, the young folks are going to come up to us and say, “Why didn’t you people save something for us instead of leaving us with a mess that is going to take our life, make our lives miserable.” Lets not let that happen. Lets do something about it together. Lets unite ourselves together and have our voices heard. We are the backbone of our government. Lets do something about it for the younger generations.

We need your help. Whoever you are, whatever color you are, wherever you come from on this Mother Earth of ours. We’ve only got this one Earth and we all have to take care of it. Lets not try to destroy it. So today, I am asking all of you people throughout the world to unite yourselves together. Give us a helping hand so we can take care of all the living things.”

Corbin Harney is a Newe (Western Shoshone) Elder, Traditional Healer and Founder of Shundahai Network. He serves as the Chairman of our Board of Directors and splits his time between being on the road giving talks, leading ceremonies and developi ng Poo Ha Bah, Retreat Center for Indigenous Healing in Tecopa California.

Continuing the Struggle With You

I was recently chosen by our Board of Directors, to move into the Shundahai Network’s Directors position. I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself to those that do not know me and let you all know that I look forward to working with you.

I have been involved in antinuclear and human rights organizing since 1987. I have helped organize many peace walks, demonstrations, conferences, educational workshops and outreach campaigns and have been arrested over 35 times for nonviolent direct actions to stop nuclear testing and weapons production, nuclear waste dumping, and old growth forest clear cutting. When I came to the Nevada Test Site for the American Peace Test “Reclaim the Test Site II” action in 1989, I felt like I had finally found my spiritual home. I experienced a connection with the desert and the people fighting to protect it that I had never felt before. It was then that I knew a major focus of my life would be on stopping Yucca Mountain and closing the test site. I didn't realize it was going to become my entire life.

Over the past seven years I have had the honor of being a part of the growing story of Shundahai Network. It seems so long ago when I joined the Shundahai staff in DC during the spring of 95. I was young, full of energy, enthusiasm and high ideals. I came to the Network because I was so absolutely inspired by Corbin and the Shundahai family. I was certain this provided me the best opportunity to work for nuclear abolition and in support of indigenous peoples. Each year since then has been an epic adventure and together we have accomplished many great things.

I wish I could say that it is all over and we only have to celebrate our successes. But the truth is, I fear the hardest days are still to come. That is why Shundahai Network is so important. We are helping to nurture this evolving, growing movement. We have to become a tight knit community, sharing our resources and energy and creating solutions together.

I can not even begin to name all of the hundreds of wonderful people who have given a part of their life to our struggle and who have touched me personally and helped me on this journey. That is why I have to thank you all collectively. Thank you for all of your hard work, dedication, love, courage, inspiration, prayers, actions, and creativity. I promise to continue the struggle and I know that you will be there with me. Please feel free to contact me with your thoughts and ideas.

Yucca Mountain Sample Letter

There are nuclear reactors scattered across the country which currently have nuclear wastes stored on site; the nation’s nuclear lobbyists would have you believe that Yucca Mountain would somehow make these reactor sites safer. This is just plain wrong. While moving most of the nation’s high-level nuclear waste to one centralized location gives the impression of cleaning up sites around the country, as long as those reactors are operating, they are producing more deadly nuclear waste. Any operating nuclear power plant is a threat to it’s surrounding community- just by operating. Yucca Mountain will not shut down any nuclear power plant; in fact, it will only allow the nuclear power industry to continue operations. Transporting high-level nuclear waste through downtown Atlanta, St. Louis, Chicago, Denver, Salt Lake City, and past fifty million people is a dangerous proposition. Even the Department of Energy admits it would be a thirty-year transportation campaign involving thousands of shipments and hundreds of accidents. Each shipment is a potential terrorist target- moving past hospitals, schools, playgrounds and our families. A much better solution is to stop creating nuclear waste by phasing out nuclear power, and to keep the waste stored on-site until a less politically motivated solution to this international problem can be found.

Send this Letter to your Congressional Representatives, your Local Newspaper, Your Friends and Family. Together We CAN stop this project.

Nuclear Abolition Talking Points

- Since 1945, the world has been held hostage by U.S. nuclear policies that started and fed the international nuclear arms race.

- The U.S. is the #1 nuclear terrorist organization in the world, since we have refused to back down from our possible first strike use of nuclear weapons.

-The U.S. through the Department of Energy’s Nuclear Weapons Stockpile Stewardship and Management program is modernizing the nuclear weapons industry to be able to continue to design, test and produce new nuclear weapons for the next 20 years.

-The only safe and reliable nuclear weapon is a dismantled and destroyed nuclear weapon.

-NTS is currently testing nuclear weapons under the guise of subcritical nuclear weapons experiments. This violates the spirit of the CTBT and destroys global trust in U.S. nuclear policy fueling a continued international arms race.

-The Nevada Test Site is part of the military occupation of Western Shoshone lands. The Western Shoshone believe that U.S. nuclear programs within their country are part of the ongoing efforts of genocide against their people.

-The nuclear weapons programs at the Nevada Test Site and all of the DOE laboratories are directly contaminating the ground water and land around the facilities with radioactive material that will be deadly for hundreds of thousands of years.

Contact your elected officials

If you live in the U.S., the vote on Yucca Mountain is coming up very quickly. Send the letters! Make the Phone Calls! We need your voice to be heard! Speak Out!!

Rethinking the Waste Crisis: The Peoples Summit

Citizens Awareness Network is organizing a High-Level Nuclear Waste Summit. The People’s Summit will gather people from impacted communities to address our country’s high-level waste crisis; confront conflicts among us and develop consensus; to unify ourselves and solidify our commitment to a waste policy inclusive of ordinary people’s needs.

The Peoples’ Summit is being held in April 2002 at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT . With Northeast reactors facing either premature shutdown or filled to capacity irradiated fuel pools, issues of decommissioning and on-site waste storage have forced reactor communities to address nuclear waste problems. September 11^th created greater awareness in people about the dangers of a catastrophic event.

The nuclear industry with the support of the Bush administration is lobbying for siting of waste in Yucca Mountain and on the Goshute Reservation in Utah. The industry is exploiting peoples’ fears of terrorism to support transport and siting. Communities chosen for nuclear contamination are encouraged to act opportunistically to protect themselves by accepting another’s defilement. This enables the industry to pit sacrifice community against sacrifice community rather than working together to stop nuclear power.

A second generation of nukes on old sites, requires a “solution” to the present waste crisis- a “disappearing act”, shipping waste thousands of miles away and pitting of communities against each other. Our working in solidarity can stop a second generation of nukes, close this generation, and stop environmental racism.

The Summit will convene people from reactor, transport and dump communities, radioactive waste and other experts, as well as local, regional and national environmental organizations to address– irradiated fuel, onsite storage, fuel pool expansion, transport, burial and terrorism- to initiate a discussion that can develop into a HLW policy. This policy must be inclusive addressing Environmental Justice– that poor, rural, and people of color communities are disproportionately chosen for nuclear sacrifice.

The Summit can empower people to recognize they have the ability, the right and the obligation to not only understand the issues but to protect their communities and others. It is important for people to experience that unified effort, with a broad perspective can confront the many battles ahead successfully. We will unify our voice and resolve to act in solidarity in a democratically defined strategy utilizing all nonviolent means necessary to stop impending waste transportation until a scientifically sound, democratically instituted, environmentally just solution is defined. If groups can act in solidarity rather than self-interest, we can create a sane, safe, and farsighted national high-level nuclear waste policy as defined by the people.

For more information contact: CAN Central: 413- 339-5781, CTCAN: 860-345-2157 Can@nukebusters.org.

Take Back America's Future: Peoples Forum on High Level Radioactive Waste

Twenty-four members of tribal and community organizations on both ends of the nuclear fuel chain met in Fresno, CA, February 16-18, 2002, to discuss a public policy on HLW. The following outlines some of our preliminary conclusions.

Take Back America’s Future- Stop All Production of High Level Waste (HLW). After fifty years of the best scientific research in the world, there is no solution to HLW in sight. Moving some HLW to contaminate a new site will not eliminate the problem. Nuclear reactors and their pools are just as dangerous as the waste they generate, both as daily threats to public health and as terrorist targets.

Federal HLW Storage Proposals Based on Racism Are Illegal. Both sites being studied for HLW storage, Yucca Mountain and the Skull Valley Goshute Reservation, are on indigenous lands. This obvious violation of environmental justice continues the culture of genocide on which the United States was founded. For the next 10,000 years, let’s set policies that foster respect for all Americans and transcend the nation’s racist beginnings.

Reduce Dangers To The Public By Eliminating ‘Axles of Evil’ For 100-150 Years. There is no recognized safe way to store or transport HLW materials anywhere in the world. Obviously, HLW going zero miles per hour is less dangerous than waste going 60-90 m.p.h.. We all concur, including those living in reactor communities, that in most instances, transportation of HLW poses a much greater danger to the public than responsible on-site storage. By leaving irradiated fuel as close to point of generation as possible for at least 100-150 years, the nature of the hazard decreases exponentially. Much of the danger to public health through repetitive doses along transportation routes or severe doses due to traffic accidents would be avoided.

Criteria for Responsible HLW On-Site Monitored Retrievable Storage (MRS). The Nuclear Waste Fund can easily pay for MRS, and is projected to have approximately $35 billion in the future. As reactors are shut down, the containment vessels can be modified to hold MRS casks, safely isolating them from the environment. Currently there is only minimal external cask monitoring. Casks must be monitored internally for radiation levels, pressure, and temperature. Only by knowing the condition and deterioration of the fuel rods, will technicians know how to safely reopen the casks in the future.

Public Oversight of HLW is Mandatory at Every Level. It is clear after twenty years of industry-biased research by the Dept. of Energy that a new credible approach is needed. Local Oversight and Safety Committees should be in place for each facility and include community members. We recommend the creation of a public nonprofit corporation to study the problem of high level waste disposal. It would include members of the industry, the public, and independent scientists. This approach would get away from the culture of fear and nuclear denial, and would foster new ideas.

Renewable Energy Production: A Windmill On Every High Tension Tower Could Supply America. The twenty percent of our nation’s electricity provided by nuclear reactors could be readily replaced by conservation, efficiency, and renewable sources of electricity such as wind and solar power. Rebates and financial incentives for efficiency and conservation should be encouraged. This shift would provide for a just transition of workers from the nuclear field to the healthier field of renewable energy production, utilizing comparable job skills and minimizing retraining.

Radioactive Groundwater and the Nevada Test Site

Citizen Alert, one of our strong allies in the fight to protect the air, land and water of the Great Basin from the nuclear contamination, recently released a report on radioactive groundwater under the Nevada Test Site. This water which is essential for continued life in the harsh desert ecosystem has been contaminated by over 1000 nuclear explosions that shook the area, leaving behind 130 million curies of radiation. The DOE has spent more than $200 million of taxpayer money and still does not have the basic information necessary to establish whether radioactive contamination will reach Oasis Valley in 12 or 500 years, both predictions which have been made in the past.

Citizen Alert hired technical experts to perform an independent analysis of the effectiveness of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) groundwater monitoring program of the northwestern section of the Nevada Test Site. The study looked at the government’s ability to provide early detection and warning of radioactivity in water in time to prevent harm to people and the environment. Citizen Alert’s main concern is that the present strategy being executed by the Underground Testing Area program “presently is not plausible or even useful and is dangerous in that it is delaying the creation of a long term groundwater early warning monitoring network.”

The analysis found that none of the possible 260 plumes migrating in the groundwater from the nuclear tests has ever been found and studied. No one knows the plumes’ constituents, nor the whereabouts of the over 130 million curies of radiation released into the environment, said Citizen Alert. Some of the plumes may have merged and created even larger and more complex plumes, the study suggests. Citizen Alert is asking that the Department of Energy recognize that its present Underground Testing Area strategy has not produced adequate information, and renegotiate with Nevada Department of Environmental Protection (NDEP) for a new strategy.

For more information, contact Citizen Alert: (702) 796-5662, (775) 827-4200, www.citizenalert.org

Mother Earth is not for sale: Western Shoshone Action Alert

Greetings from the people of the Western Shoshone Nation. We are facing a political assault upon our homelands by efforts of US Senator Harry Reid to force distribution of the Indian Claims Commission Award in Docket 326-K upon our people. We need your immediate support to oppose S. 958.

The history of Western Shoshone resistance to the Indian Claims Commission process, created when racial discrimination in America was ripe, is long and well documented. At the core of this issue is the fact that the Western Shoshone Nation has never abandoned, ceded or sold Western Shoshone Territory to the US and the 1863 Treaty of Ruby Valley bears this fact out. Mother Earth is not for sale. Title remains vested in the Western Shoshone Nation of people.

The identity, culture, religion and life-ways of our people are intimately connected to our lands. We survive as an indigenous nation and today are making important strides maintaining sovereignty, land preservation and protection of the health and well being of the people. But we need help. Letters opposing to S. 958 will make the difference in convincing the US Congress not to move forward with legislation to take Western Shoshone land. We ask that you stand with the people of the Western Shoshone Nation to seek justice by calling for an investigation of fraud against the Western Shoshone people by attempts to deprive us of our land and rights. We ask that letters be sent to:

Senator Cantwell, Senator Reid, Senator Akaka, Senator Wellstone, Senator Johnson, Senator McCain, Senator Hatch, Senator Domenici, Senator Murkowski, Senator Inhofe, Senator Thomas

Western Shoshone National Council Indigenous Activists Mobilize Native Communities in the Great Basin

The Nuclear Risk Management for Native Communities Project has a new host, the Native Community Action Council. The NCAC is composed of 15 Western Shoshone and Southern Paiute community activists mobilized to create community awareness of threats from nuclear weapons testing. The NCAC is a new organization fulfilling the fundamental infrastructure role necessary for the present and future support of projects like the Nuclear Risk Management For Native Communities Project.

Though the NCAC is a new organization it’s members are proven community activists working to gain understanding and communicate impacts of the nuclear age on Native American communities downwind from the Nevada Test Site.

With new word from the Bush Administration on the resumption of full scale nuclear weapons testing, work of the Nuclear Risk Management For Native Communities Project becomes imperative. Documenting baseline conditions, monitoring threats and planning surveillance of old and new disease become increasingly important for minimizing threats, managing risks or supporting impact mitigation for Native American communities.

Past successes of the Nuclear Risk Management For Native Communities Project properly identifying doses to downwind Native American communities 7 times greater than predicted by the Department of Energy based upon life-style differences alone. This is important since it demonstrates that Native Communities understand threats from the perspective of the community that provide a meaningful community based approach to identifying impacts. Not only is this a culturally appropriate approach, but it also provides more meaningful information to the community and scientific researchers as well.

For further information about the work of the NCAC or the Nuclear Risk Management For Native Communities Project contact the NCAC at: (775) 289-6931.

Nanish Shontie: Intertribal Community Living in Harmony with Mother Earth

There was once a time when people walked the Mother Earth, treating it with deep respect. Their ways were simple. Kinship with all that is the animals, the forest – was a way of life. Nature was not “the wilderness”; nature was their home. These people were Native Americans and today some of their leaders and elders are working together to preserve the traditional ways and to impart them to all who seek to help the Mother Earth.

The people of Nanish Shontie believe in this vision. Nanish Shontie means, “to ask the creator for a blessing.” Nanish Shontie is an intertribal, interracial community and healing center based upon Native American traditions and values.

That is a brief introduction to Nanish Shontie. It is a place for people of good will who are ready to learn how to live in harmony with the Mother Earth in all they do.

It is a place for learning in a new yet ancient way – a way that at one time was lived on the Mother Earth. It will be a place for healers from all walks of life to gather and share knowledge and wisdom under the guidance of traditional Native people.

Nanish Shontie is helping to build bridges between the past and the future. It builds bridges between people of different cultures and backgrounds, dispelling misunderstandings and prejudices and it helps build bridges between people and the Mother Earth.

If you would like to share in this vision, or would like to help in some way, or if you know of some land that might be appropriate for these beliefs, please contact…

Nanish Shontie, PO Box 177, Monmouth, OR 97361 USA, Office 503-606-9354, Fax 503-838-3914

Newe Sogobia Mava’a Mia “Walk on the Sacred Land”

May 5 -11, 2002 The Walk / Run will begin in Warm Springs, Nevada, at sunrise on Monday, May 6th. Western Shoshone and supporters will circle the eastern side of the Nevada Test Site holding ceremonies to pray for the healing of the land.

For more information please contact Johnnie L Bobb HC61 Box 6250, Austin NV 89310, 775-964-2210

Shundahai Network Takes Action for Peace and Justice

Since we have been here, we have helped organize and participate in many demonstrations, workshops, trainings conferences and marches. Some of the highlights include weekly People for Peace and Justice vigils to protest the war, the ABC’s of Nuclear Waste Workshops, the Conference for Global Justice, The Mock Olympic Torch Run, and the March for Our Lives. We have also produced a Nuclear Free Utah Activist Guide that can be downloaded from www.shundahai.org (follow the links to the Nuclear Free Great Basin Campaign page) If you would like a hard copy mailed to you, please let us know.

We are currently organizing a series of events under our Nuclear Free Great Basin Campaign that will take place in April around the next NRC Atomic Safety and Licensing Board hearings for the proposed Skull Valley nuclear dump.

If you are living near Salt Lake City and would like to keep up to date with our efforts, please join our SLC Action Alert list. emai lreinard@shundahai.org or call 801-359-2614 to sign up.

Here are some excellent web sites to find out what is going on in Salt Lake City:

Family Walk for Mother Earth

Commemorating the ten-year anniversary of the Walk Across America For Mother Earth and the U.S. moratorium on full-scale nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site.

We will be leaving Los Alamos, New Mexico on the anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and arriving at the Nevada Test Site to participate in the Action for Nuclear Abolition Peace Camp over Columbus Day weekend.

Our goal is to continue a prayer that was started ten years ago in hopes to positively contribute to the direction of U.S nuclear weapons policies. We are committing to taking every step in honor of all those that suffer, past, present, and future, from the inter-generational effects of nuclear weapons testing and use. We are committing to taking every step in prayer for every living thing impacted by the U.S. military and the environmental damage caused by military actions globally. We are committing to walking in wellness and recognize that by our daily conduct, we are individually and collectively contributing to the healing of our human world.

The Telulah Youth Healing and Learning Center in Chimayo, New Mexico (approximately 45 minutes from Los Alamos), will be hosting our base camp August 6-9, 2002 so that we may prepare for our journey together.

We are looking for organizational and family sponsorship to support this project. If your organization or family would like to be a sponsor and can make a monetary contribution of $250-$500 please contact us at walk@shundahai.orgIndividuals are also more than welcome to contribute a tax-deductible donation. If you are interested in being committed participant, please write us for guidelines and participant information.

Send all monetary contributions and inquiries to: Family Spirit Walk For Mother Earth

Sponsored by For Mother Earth, Belgium, Tewa Women United, Shundahai Network, New Mexico Alliance, Tewa Environmental Watch Alliance, Nevada Desert Experience, and the Telulah Youth Healing and Learning Center.

If you can’t make it for the whole walk, think about joining us for the last leg from Las Vegas to the Nevada Test Site, October 4th- 14th.work

Declaration for a Nuclear Free Great Basin

We’ve long been assured of the safety of nuclear energy and nuclear weapons. We’ve found out the hard way they are anything but safe. Federal and State governments have neglected to take responsibility for the health problems that have resulted from this toxic legacy, especially to Downwinders and uranium mining victims. They have also neglected their fiduciary responsibility to Native Nations, which has resulted in economic deprivation that has made our Native Nations vulnerable to economic blackmail and ecological abuses.

United, we commit to educate, organize, and empower our local communities to stop the pattern of abusing our natural environment. We commit to building a citizen campaign of awareness and action, to stop Private Fuel Storage and the Department of Energy from transporting nuclear waste across the country to Skull Valley and Yucca Mountain. We also commit to oppose the generation of more nuclear waste, and ensure the clean up of toxic and radiological contamination on Native lands and all people of color and disenfranchised communities of this country.

To accomplish this, we will promote sustainable, economic development for the Native Nations that are the target of these waste proposals. We will honor all treaty rights. We will take this issue to the states where PFS operates and hold their member utilities accountable for the waste they have produced.

Every living creature has a right to a healthy, sustainable, equitable, and safe environment. To meet these needs, all communities must have a viable and sustainable economic base that protects the diversity of our communities. Nuclear waste jeopardizes the most basic human right, which is a clean environment. We commit to end the cycle of abuse that has been initiated by our government and corporations.

Drafted at the Skull Valley Goshute Reservation, October 6-7, 2001, during the Nuclear Free Great Basin Gathering. Please sign on to support this declaration, by sending an email to reinard@shundahai.org or calling 801-359-2614.

April 8th, 2002 Rally for a Nuclear Free Great Basin and Public Comments at the NRC Hearings In Salt Lake City

Week of April 22nd, Environmental Issues- possibly the EJ issues, but that might go in the first week of May

Once the locations have been finalized, this will be listed on the NRC website, under ASLB. www.nrc.gov Public Comment- Limited Appearance Statements will most likely be taken on April 6th & 7th, and possibly again sometime later in the month.

Shundahai Network Family News

While we cannot acknowledge individually the hundreds of people that are part of the Shundahai family. We did want to take this a moment to celebrate the lives of a few special people. This past year we have lost two strong members. Nick Bailey and most recently Susan Lee Solar have passed over into the mystery of death. They were both an integral part of our Peace Camp and organizing community in the 90’s and they will both be greatly missed. Yet as we celebrate the completion of life, we also have cause to celebrate the beginning of life. Three daughters have joined our family this past year. Stephanie Fraiser has given birth to Audrey, Michelle and Mateo have been blessed with beautiful Malaya, and Allison and Alex brought Alisia into the world.

International Activists to take Action for Nuclear Abolition

The culmination of Shundahai Network’s Action for Nuclear Abolition Campaign this year will be a gathering of international activists in Nevada. This October, marks the 10th anniversary of the U.S. full scale nuclear testing moratorium and the last major Nevada event that brought thousands of people from around the world to demand an end to nuclear testing. International activists are already hard at work beginning the mobilization of thousands of people to return to the beautiful Great Basin Desert to celebrate and reinvigorate the movement for nuclear abolition.

Throughout the summer we will continue our U.S. mobilization with speaking tours, nonviolence trainings, regional affinity group formations and action planning. On Hiroshima Day, August 6th 2002, the “Family Walk for Mother Earth” will leave Los Alamos, birthplace of the atomic bomb, to begin a pilgrimage through the southwest to Nevada. They will reach Las Vegas around October 3rd.

We will hold an International Nuclear Abolition Summit in Las Vegas and after a nonviolent demonstration at the DOE headquarters, begin the final leg of the 5 day walk to the Peace Camp at NTS, 62 miles away. We hope to have hundreds of people join this portion of the walk to begin forming our community and hold trainings to prepare for taking nonviolent direct action to “Reclaim the land for all life”

The official Action for Nuclear Abolition Nonviolent Direct Action Camp will begin on Friday, October 11 with an action to “Keep Space for Peace” in solidarity with the week long series of events taking place internationally. Saturday, October 12, will focus on a mass rally and action at the gates of NTS. Sunday, October 13, will be a day for workshops, trainings and action planning. On Monday, October 14th, will begin the occupations.

Organizers hope that action plans will develop for two series of nonviolent blockades and occupations. The first target would be the test site, demanding an end to nuclear testing and complete nuclear disarmament. We also anticipate many people from the U.S. will want to hold actions at Yucca Mountain, 32 miles from Peace Camp. Yucca Mountain has been designated by the Bush Administration to be the nations first permanent high-level nuclear waste dump.

Both NTS and Yucca Mountain are within Newe Sogobia, the Western Shoshone Nation. We will be following the leadership of Western Shoshone elders and activists in the planning and hosting of these events.

Creating sane and safe nuclear policies is going to take the effort of all of us. Please join us for these series of events to help us move in that direction. For more information visit our web site at www.shundahai.org email, shundahai@shundahai.org or call 801-359-2614

Faith Based Communities Seek nuclear Abolition

Nevada Desert Experience, the internationally known, faith-based nonprofit seeking the abolition of nuclear weapons, is entering its 21st year. NDE’s schedule for 2002 includes events that should appeal to many now wondering what they can do to promote peace in this “post-Sept. 11” period of warfare and grave international concern.

Our 2002 Lenten Desert Experience gatherings include a Feb. 15-17 weekend cosponsored by the United Methodists, a March 15-17 Buddhist Weekend cosponsored by the Buddhist Peace Fellowship (coinciding with its Dharma Walk), and a March 22-24 Palm Sunday Weekend which leads into the Holy Week Walk. All these events take place in Las Vegas and at the Nevada Test Site.

The Holy Week Walk will start in Las Vegas and end at the Nevada Test Site, a 65-mile peace walk. For more information, please contact us for the registration form our phone is (510) 849-1540, and our web site is www.NevadaDesertExperience.org .

We will also hold our August Desert Witness event at the Nevada Test Site during the August 6-9, 2002, period for a peaceful protest in memory of those that perished in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in W.W.II. This is in synch with commemorative events in Japan and in other regions of the world at that time.

As the US government’s plans for the Test Site include such things as possible use for a “counter-terrorist” training of troops, a possible return to full-blown nuclear testing, the current anthrax production project, continuing storage of numerous radioactive contaminants, ongoing “subcritical” nuclear tests, and other dangerous activities, it continues to have a major impact on the world.

All who agree with our principles of nonviolent protest are welcome to our events. In the past, 1,000’s have participated, and we hope that the numbers will grow again. The specter of global annihilation by nuclear weapons still haunts the world as the US is even considering using miniature nuclear weapons in its “war on terrorism”.

Please join us to show our strong, grassroots opposition to this and ALL forms of violence, and to make an equally strong statement for peace. Contact: NDE PO Box 7849 Oakland, CA 94601 (510) 849 1540 sallight1@earthlink.net for more information.

Better Active then Radioactive

March 15 -17, BUDDHIST WEEKEND AT NEVADA TEST SITE, Overlaps with the Dharma Walk coming to the Nevada Test Site. Cosponsored by the Buddhist Peace Fellowship Contact: NDE PO Box 7849 Oakland, CA 94601 (510) 849 1540 sallight1@earthlink.net

March 18-24, WEEK OF ACTION TO PROTECT THE YELLOWSTONE BUFFALO, Workshops, nonviolent direct action, and ceremonies. We are also helping to organize solidarity rallies across the country on March 23. If you are interested in helping to organize the Day of Action in your community, please contact Dan Brister or Pete Leusch at bfc-media@wildrockies.org.

March 22 - 24, PALM SUNDAY WEEKEND AT NEVADA TEST SITE- Weekend Retreat leading into the Holy Week Walk Contact: NDE PO Box 7849 Oakland, CA 94601 (510) 849 1540 sallight1@earthlink.net

March 24- 29th NEVADA DESERT EXPERIENCE PEACE WALK FROM LAS VEGAS TO THE NEVADA TEST SITE. Contact: NDE PO Box 7849 Oakland, CA 94601 (510) 849 1540 sallight1@earthlink.net

April 12-14th THE PEOPLES SUMMIT ON HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE: The Peoples’ Summit is being held in April 2002 at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT . For more information contact: CAN Central: 413- 339-5781, CTCAN: 860-345-2157 Can@nukebsuters.org

April 13-14th, SAY “NO!” TO US GLOBAL DOMINATION AND NUCLEAR WEAPONS!! In Oak Ridge, TN. Come to the last full-scale operating nuclear weapons production plant in the United States, the Y-12 Plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. www.stopthebombs.org/calendar/April2002invite.html

April 14-17, ALLIANCE FOR NUCLEAR ACCOUNTABILITY-- DC DAYS, Keep the Commitment: Clean up the Radioactive Legacy, Stop Nuclear Weapons Production. Call 202-833-4668 or www.ananuclear.org for more info.

April 16th, DUMP THE DUMP- RALLY TO STOP THE YUCCA MOUNTAIN DUMP, Washington DC, contact NIRS for more info: 202-328-0002

April 20, STOP THE WAR AT HOME AND ABROAD, MARCH ON WASHINGTON DC. Contact aprilmobilization@riseup.netfor more info.

April 26 - 28, WESTERN SHOSHONE SPRING GATHERING, Crescent Valley NV, hosted by the Western Shoshone Defense Project. 775-468-0230

May 5-11, NEWE SOGOBIA MAVA’A MIA, “WALK ON THE SACRED LAND”, Beginning in Warm Springs, NV , walking the eastern side of the Nevada Test Site. For more information, contact Johnnie L. Bobb, HC61 Box 6250, Austin NV 89310, 775-964-2210

May 10 -12, GLOBAL NETWORK AGAINST WEAPONS AND NUCLEAR POWER IN SPACE, Annual membership conference, Berkeley CA. 352-337-9274 www.space4peace.org

May 10 - 13th, MOTHERS DAY WEEKEND “ GATHERING TO CELEBRATE LIFE”, Peace Camp, Nevada Test Site (60 miles north of Las Vegas on Hwy 95) For more information call 801-359-2614 or email shundahai@shundahai.org www.shundahai.org

May 10-11th, MOTHER’S DAY WEEKEND TO STOP PROJECT ELF, Luck WI. For more information Nukewatch: (715) 472-4185, nukewatch@lakeland.ws www.nukewatch.com or www.no-nukes.org/nukewatch

May 12-17th WEEK OF ACTIONS, VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE For Information (805) 343-6322 (805) 688-7610

May 18th ARMED FORCES ACTION DAY, Highway 1 Vandenberg Air Force Base , For Information (805) 343-6322 (805) 688-7610

August 6- October 14th - FAMILY SPIRIT WALK FOR MOTHER EARTH, from Los Alamos, NM to the Nevada Test Site, NV. Contact walk@shundahai.orgfor more information.

October 4 - 11, KEEP SPACE FOR PEACE International Week of Actions www.space4peace.org phone 352-337-9274

October 11 - 14th: ACTION FOR NUCLEAR ABOLITION, “Reclaim the Land for All Life” This will be the 10th anniversary of the full scale nuclear weapons testing moratorium. For more information call 801-359-2614 or email shundahai@shundahai.org. www.shundahai.org

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Be A Part of the Adventure: Join Shundahai Network Today!

Shundahai Network is a unique organization at a critical point in our history. One of the great aspects of Shundahai Network is that we have maintained our ability to evolve and adjust to political and logistical realities. By living and working collectively, utilizing volunteer time and strong community support for our projects we have been able to keep our overhead and administrative costs extremely low while accomplishing many great things. By combining the elements of education, community building, Spiritual Ceremony and nonviolent direct action, we are helping to strengthen the dedicated work of thousands of activists around the world. At Shundahai Network, a little money funds huge projects! Using creativity, dedication and commitment we are able to help solve the many pressing issues of our time.

Since last September nonprofit organizations have faced a funding decrease from foundations. Shundahai Network is experiencing these same funding difficulties. That is why we need you to become a member of Shundahai Network. Help us continue this work. Help us to be strong and well organized.

If every body who reads this sent in $10 we would raise over $45,000. This would get us through the rest of the year and allow us to organize and host some incredible events helping to increase our movement’s effectiveness. Of course not everyone is going to be able to send in $10. That is why we are asking you to send what ever you can afford right now. Regardless if it is $10 or $10,000, your membership donation makes a difference.

By supporting Shundahai network you are making an effective investment in the struggle to protect and defend our precious water, air, and Mother Earth.