Shoshone Indians plan nuke protest

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Thursday, Oct. 9, 1997 | 11:01 a.m.

Western Shoshone Indians, who say that the Nevada Test Site was built on their land, are readying for this weekend's annual protest at the federal facility.

They are calling for an end to using their land for nuclear waste dumping and nuclear weapons experiments.

"The Test Site is in our front yard, it's in our backyard," said Western Shoshone spiritual leader Corbin Harney.

He will participate in the fall gathering known as "Healing Global Wounds" that will be held Saturday through Monday at the Test Site. The goal is to stop nuclear activities.

The group will present speakers and it intends to block the Test Site entrance to low-level nuclear waste shipments. It will also protest a congressional plan to store highly radioactive commercial fuel rods at the Test Site.

Additionally, it will protest subcritical experiments, nuclear waste dumping, and the launch of the satellite Cassini carrying 72 pounds of plutonium.

Activists will present the U.S. Department of Energy, which manages the Test Site, with an order to "cease and desist" nuclear weapons and waste activities under a 1996 International Court of Justice ruling that the threat or use of nuclear weapons is illegal.