Tuesday, Sept. 30, 1997 | 7:58 a.m.
The citizens of Nevada aren't the only people who would be affected by the dumping of nuclear waste on Yucca Mountain.
Often left out of the equation is the Western Shoshone Indians, who live nearby and consider the mountain sacred ground, according to Emily Saliers of the folk group the Indigo Girls, who will be performing here tonight as part of a nationwide tour raising awareness of the proposed dumping of nuclear waste on native land.
"What people are saying is, 'let's dump it there, no one lives out there,' " says Saliers. "We want the people of Nevada to think that not only is it coming to their state, but the fact that they share this state with the Western Shoshone. We need to think of each other as a human family. What's done to them is done to us."
Saliers hopes her efforts will mean the dumping doesn't get done at all, using her month-long 1997 "Honor the Earth Tour" to attract opposition to the passage of the 1997 Nuclear Waste Policy Act, currently being deliberated by Congress.
The third annual tour was joined by Bonnie Raitts's like-minded "No Nukes" tour last week in Washington D.C., where they held a press conference on the steps of the Capitol. The two tours will join again tonight at the Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel with Raitt, Jackson Browne and Graham Nash.
Saliers and her partner, Amy Ray, decided to expand their work on environmental issues to those that helped indigenous groups after meeting activist Winona LaDuke in 1991.
They formed "Honor the Earth," a non-profit organization made up of three Native American groups -- the Seventh Generation Fund, the Indigenous Women's Network and the Indigenous Environmental Network -- to raise money and awareness on issues affecting Native Americans.
"Indian communities don't have as much political clout or money," explained Saliers, "and they tend to be the higher victims of environmental racism. For example, they're downstream from the mills.
"For once, we have a huge national issue that is right in line with the Indian issue as well," Saliers continues. "The Indians have been pushed out of their original lands, and now they're being encroached upon once again. They've already suffered terrible losses, destruction of the land, because the Test site has been there so long."
The "Honor the Earth" tour, which began Sept. 7 and ends in Montana on Oct. 2, hopes to raise $250,000 and bombard politicians with action cards signed by audience members, Saliers says.
She realizes that she is using her celebrity to draw attention to the cause. "That's the reality," she admits. "But I'm humbled by the political leaders who have taught me and Amy so much. We'll use what we can to do the good we do."
So far, the message is being heard.
"I have no doubt that attention is being paid," she says. At each concert, people have come up to Saliers to tell her how much they've learned. And, she points out, "the pro-nuclear industry wrote us a letter, saying we shouldn't be doing this," she laughs. "So we know we're getting through.
"I'm sure Nevadans know more about this than people in any other state, because it's coming to you all," she says. "If I lived in Nevada and this thing were going on in my hometown, in my state, I'd have 100 percent return on those action cards. I can't see why anyone wouldn't want to fill one out."
Rick Nielsen, executive director of Citizen Alert, a statewide organization opposed to the Yucca Mountain Project, says that the concert will help revitalize local activism.
"For people here, this thing has been rolling at us for so long, it gets to a point where everybody gets numb, you lose people's attention," he says. "This helps recharge the batteries. Having people of their celebrity status taking up the case adds so much awareness and credibility. We just can't thank them enough."
After this tour, the Atlanta-based Indigo Girls will continue touring with their most recent album, "Shaming of the Sun," then return to the studio next fall, continuing their activism the way they always have -- with songwriting.
"You know we're going to be writing songs about what we're experiencing," says Saliers. "I'm sure it will show up in the next batch."
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