Sovereign Conflicts and Divided Loyalties:Native American
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University of New Mexico UNM Digital Repository American Studies ETDs Electronic Theses and Dissertations 7-11-2013 SOVEREIGN CONFLICTS AND DIVIDED LOYALTIES:NATIVE AMERICAN SURVIVANCE IN THE ERA OF NUCLEAR MODERNITYA STORY OF THE WESTERN SHOSHONE AND THEIRRESPONSE TO THE YUCCA MOUNTAIN HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE REPOSITORY Amy Sue Goodin Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/amst_etds Recommended Citation Goodin, Amy Sue. "SOVEREIGN CONFLICTS AND DIVIDED LOYALTIES:NATIVE AMERICAN SURVIVANCE IN THE ERA OF NUCLEAR MODERNITYA STORY OF THE WESTERN SHOSHONE AND THEIRRESPONSE TO THE YUCCA MOUNTAIN HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE REPOSITORY." (2013). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/amst_etds/16 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Electronic Theses and Dissertations at UNM Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in American Studies ETDs by an authorized administrator of UNM Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Amy Sue Goodin Candidate American Studies Department This dissertation is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication: Approved by the Dissertation Committee: Alyosha Goldstein, Chairperson Vera Norwood Bradley Cullen Hank C. Jenkins-Smith i SOVEREIGN CONFLICTS AND DIVIDED LOYALTIES: NATIVE AMERICAN SURVIVANCE IN THE ERA OF NUCLEAR MODERNITY A STORY OF THE WESTERN SHOSHONE AND THEIR RESPONSE TO THE YUCCA MOUNTAIN HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE REPOSITORY BY AMY SUE GOODIN B.A., Geography & Political Science, University of New Mexico, 1993 M.A., Geography, University of New Mexico, 1997 DISSERTATION Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy American Studies The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico May 2013 ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my dissertation chair, Dr. Alyosha Goldstein, for stepping in and taking on the role of committee chair when my chair at the time resigned from the University for a new position elsewhere. I would also like to thank Dr. Goldstein for his patience in waiting for me to finally finish this treatise I would also like to thank Dr. Vera Norwood, despite having retired, for stepping in to take her place as a committee member when Dr. Goldstein accepted the position of committee chair. I also appreciate the Dr. Bradley Cullen for his willingness to serve on my committee as an outside departmental member. Having been a long-time mentor over the years and familiar with my work as a student in geography, his time was very much appreciated. Additional thanks go to Dr. Hank Jenkins-Smith, from the University of Oklahoma. His acceptance to serve as an outside committee member who has expertise in my chosen study area has benefited me greatly over the years. I would like to acknowledge and thank Melanie Armstrong, Jennifer Richter, Bill Dewan, Alison Fields, Andrew Marcum, and Shannon McCoy-Hayes for the early support and editorial comments on my topic during our ad hoc dissertation support group meetings. I would like to thank Jessica Jatkowski for her support, editorial comments, endless pots of coffee, and frequent encouragement as I slogged through to the end. The support of Dr. Amanda Cobb (Chickasaw) was invaluable in the early development of my topic and research design and her presence on my committee was sorely missed when she returned home to her tribe to assist with the design and management of the Chickasaw Nation Cultural Center. However, I know her energies and time were well- directed and that the Chickasaw are grateful for her efforts. And, finally, to my husband, Riley, and my youngest daughters, Maggie and Hannah, for their love and support during this process as they put up with the stress and frustration of having endless books, articles, and discarded drafts scattered about the house, as well as my constant lamentations as I struggled to find the right words to finish chapters. I also thank them for the peace and quiet offered as I pushed through to the end and for their encouragement to get done. I also thank Sarah and Rachel, my eldest daughters for their words of encouragement, and Peter, my son-in-law and Sarah’s husband, for his willingness to let me invade his home during my defense and final edits. iii SOVEREIGN CONFLICTS AND DIVIDED LOYALTIES: NATIVE AMERICAN SURVIVANCE IN THE ERA OF NUCLEAR MODERNITY— A STORY OF THE WESTERN SHOSHONE AND THEIR RESPONSE TO THE YUCCA MOUNTAIN HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE REPOSITORY By Amy Sue Goodin B.A., GEOGRAPHY & POLITICAL SCIENCE, 1993 M.A., GEOGRAPHY, 1997 PH.D., AMERICAN STUDIES, 2013 ABSTRACT This is the story of the ways in which the Western Shoshone have articulated identities amidst the ever-changing structures of governance that have defined U.S.- Native intergovernmental relations since the early days of U.S. efforts to colonize the American continent. However, the story focuses on nuclear colonialism. At issue is the specific nature of tribal participation in nuclear waste policy under emergent conditions of possibility as defined by U.S.-Native intergovernmental interactions (or a lack thereof). Ultimately, then, it is a story of how the Western Shoshone have articulated adaptive identities to assure survivance both physically and culturally to combat U.S. efforts to “kill the Indian and save the man” by attempting to gain a voice as a sovereign nation in the nuclear waste policy process. To tell this story I propose to examine the factors that have shaped Native nations’ ability to exercise sovereignty in intergovernmental relations and nuclear waste policy negotiations. This means specifically considering the nature and outcome of such interactions for the Shoshone as they have been engaged by and in the nuclear waste policy debate. Thick description is used to answer these questions by examining the ways the Western Shoshone have been excluded and included in the nuclear waste policy process, by whose choice, when, and how. The goal is to try to devise a mechanism for assuring that contentious public policy issues are more culturally sensitive and conciliatory such that they effectively serve the interests of more rather than fewer stakeholders in a given context. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION .............................................................................. 1 Introduction and Problem Definition ............................................................................ 1 Research Questions ....................................................................................................... 5 Existing Research.......................................................................................................... 8 Methodology and Plan ................................................................................................ 11 Significance of Research............................................................................................. 15 CHAPTER TWO THE RIGHT TO PRESERVE A CULTURE: LAND, SOVEREIGNTY, AND NUCLEAR WASTE POLICY ....................................... 17 CHAPTER THREE THE WESTERN SHOSHONE PEOPLE OF THE GREAT BASIN ANDLINKAGES TO LAND ....................................... 39 Colonizing the Americas in the Name of Discovery and Conquest ........................... 40 Physiography and Cultural Geography of the Great Basin ......................................... 41 The Treaty of Ruby Valley of 1863: a Thorn in U.S.-Western Shoshone Relations? .............................................................................................................. 49 The Nature of Being Native and Western Shoshone .................................................. 56 Speaking of Land…A quest for Liberty and Justice ................................................... 60 CHAPTER FOUR DUELING IDENTITIES—NATIVE AMERICANS AND AMERICAN CITIZENS: STAKEHOLDERS IN THE YUCCA MOUNTAIN POLICY DEBATE ............................................................ 69 Regulatory Framework: National Environmental Policy Act, the Nuclear Waste Policy Act & the 1987 Amendment ...................................................................... 70 CHAPTER FIVE DEFINING IDENTITIES: PUBLIC PARTICIPATION & SHARED INFORMATION—STAKEHOLDERS IN THE YUCCA MOUNTAIN POLICY DEBATE .......................................................... 88 Public Participation in the EIS Process ....................................................................... 95 Western Shoshone Participation in the EIS Process ................................................... 98 Native Voices in Context and the Bureaucratic Response........................................ 105 Comments and Responses: Chapter 1 – Proposed Action ........................................ 106 Comments and Responses: Chapter 2 – Nuclear Waste Policy Act ......................... 109 Comments and Responses: Chapter 3 – National Environmental Policy Act .......... 110 Comments and Responses: Chapter 4 – Other Legal, Regulatory, and Policy Issues ................................................................................................. 116 Comments and Responses: Chapter 5 – Alternatives ............................................... 116 Comments and Responses: Chapter 6 – Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste ........................................................................... 118 v Comments and Responses: Chapter 7 – Repository Design, Performance, and Affected Environment ........................................................................................