Desert Voices
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Desert Voices The Newsletter of Nevada Desert Experience • Volume 19, Number 2 • June 2006 ISSN 1539-9869 The People versus Infernal Strake Large Coalition Unites to Halt Above-ground Chemical Detonation at the Nevada Test Site E\:LOO3DUULVK From May 27-28, they camped by the dozens. Nearly 200 people gathered outside of the Nevada Test Site, located in the occupied Western Shoshone Nation, for a weekend of workshops, ceremonies, rituals, a peace camp, and a rally and march to the Test Site main gate. The “Stop the Strake!” gathering, called for by Western Shoshone spiritual leader Corbin Harney, was originally conceived as a demonstration against the US federal govern- ment’s planned “Divine” Strake - a 700-ton nuclear weapon simulation bombing of Shoshone land, using Ammonium Nitrate and Fuel Oil. It turned into a victory celebration on the morning of the 27th, when the National Nuclear Security $GPLQLVWUDWLRQ 116$ DQQRXQFHGWKDWWKHWHVWZDV³LQGH¿- nitely postponed.” Protesters march to the Test Site gates, holding the Western Shoshone Remarkably, the gathering was cobbled together by the ÀDJDVDSURFODPDWLRQRIWKHLUVWHZDUGVKLSULJKWVWRWKHODQG organizations involved—Shundahai Network, the Western )URPOHIWWRULJKW3HWHU%HUJHORI$PHULFDQ3HDFH7HVWDQG2UHJRQ3HDFH- Shoshone Defense Project, Citizen Alert, Nevada Desert ZRUNV-LP*ROGWRRWKRI,QGLJHQRXV(QYLURQPHQWDO1HWZRUN-LPER6LPPRQVRI Experience, and others—within perhaps less than a month. ,QWHUQDWLRQDO,QGLDQ7UHDW\&RXQFLODQG-RKQQLH%REERIWKH:HVWHUQ6KRVKRQH I personally only decided to make the trek out to Nevada, 1DWLRQDO&RXQFLODQGQHZ1'(ERDUGPHPEHU from my hometown of Santa Barbara, on Thursday, May 25. NDE members. I arrived at the Amtrak station the following day just minutes The gathering was an interesting mix of veteran Test before the departure of the train on which my trip depended. 6LWHRSSRQHQWVDQG¿UVWWLPHUV²,ZDVLQWKHODWWHUFDWHJRU\ A sense of rushed anxiety, which no doubt characterized the 1RWVXUSULVLQJO\HYHQWKHYDVWPDMRULW\RIWKH¿UVWWLPHUV event for many of those involved, was very much alive inside myself included, are already committed activists. I only of me for most of the trip. met a small handful of people the entire weekend who Upon arriving at the Peace Camp outside of the Test Site, aren’t already strongly involved in nuclear disarmament located about 60 miles northwest of Las Vegas, the anxi- or a related cause. The people hailed from all parts of the ety turned into a mixture of excitement, determination, and western United States, including Nevada, Utah, Arizona, joy—in short, a sense of community. Shortly after arriving, California, Oregon, and New Mexico. I was given a pink “Lovarchy” (love and anarchy, or the There hasn’t been any kind of mass protest movement Rule of Love) t-shirt by Marcus Page, a member of the NDE at the Test Site since the late-’80s, though NDE, Shundahai ERDUGZKRVH³DI¿QLW\JURXS´,MRLQHGQRWLQSDUWEHFDXVH Network, and the Western Shoshone Defense Project main- it also included my good friend Chelsea Collonge and other tain consistent opposition on a smaller scale. Citizen Alert has been strongly involved in the effort to prevent the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste depository from being sited on INSIDE THIS ISSUE the Western Shoshone’s land. Corbin Harney in particular *RRGE\H5HÀHFWLRQIURP1'('LUHFWRU devoted many of his remarks at the gathering to reviewing 25th Anniversary Event Nurtures Dialogue........3 the impressive history of activism at the Test Site, including recalling his 1987 global speaking tour to bring awareness NDE Events Spring Roundup............................4 7KH815XOHVIRU6KRVKRQH/DQG5LJKWV anti-Divine Strake protest - continued on page 7 The mission of Nevada Des- Allured into the Desert ert Experience (NDE) is to E\$P\6FKXOW] stop nuclear weapons test- That is why I will lure her into the desert and there I will speak to her heart. And I will ing through a campaign of make a covenant with the birds of heaven and the creeping things of the earth. I will prayer, education, dialogue and nonviolent direct ac- remove all weapons of war from WLRQ1'(PRELOL]HVSHRSOH the land, all swords and bows, and RIDOOIDLWKVWRZRUNWRZDUG will let my people live in peace and nuclear abolition and non- security. (Hosea 2:14, 18) YLROHQW VRFLDO FKDQJH :H Occasionally, it rains in the are committed to providing Nevada Mojave desert. When the support for communal and water and earth meet, the result is personal renewal in the des- a warm and dusty pungency. The HUWWUDGLWLRQ2XULPPHGLDWH creosote bushes exude an aroma attention focuses on ending that is now a part of me. sub-critical tests and other As I leave my position as an ZDUPDNLQJ SUHSDUDWLRQV at the Nevada Test Site and NDE employee, I am very aware preventing the return of full of all that I carry with me – what VFDOHQXFOHDUWHVWLQJ has become part of me. These last few years have been a gift, full of personal and organizational challenges and movements <><><><><><> of the Spirit. With these experiences, I carry all the relationships. From my interactions with the Nye County Sheriffs to my co-workers to the stones and cacti of the desert, I NEW have felt connection. The desert has spoken tenderly to me through her human hands and ADDRESS mouths. I have been fed, sheltered, educated, loved and blessed by these connections. I also carry with me a deeper conviction for a nuclear-free world and acknowledge that 1'(¶V/DV9HJDVRI¿FH without dialogue and reconciliation, there is no non-violence. UHPDLQVLQWKH6W)UDQFLV And I can utter no words to the desert, so sacred and desecrated, and to all of you, but House community, but we have closed our Bay Area thank you! Thank you for supporting me, walking by the line with me and believing in RI¿FH3OHDVHGLUHFWFDOOV the work that we do – work that has made a movement and transformed so many hearts. WRRXU/DV9HJDVRI¿FHDQG Thank you for striving for a land free of swords and bows, so that we all may live with mail to our new address peace and security. $P\6FKXOW]KDVVHUYHGDV1'(¶VGLUHFWRUDQG\RXWKFRRUGLQDWRUIRUWKHODVWWKUHH Nevada Desert Experience 1420 West Bartlett Avenue \HDUV6KHDQGKHU¿DQFp3DWULFN)LQQZKRKDVDOVRZRUNHGIRU1'(WKLVSDVW\HDUZLOO Las Vegas, NV 89106-2226 PRYHWR)ORULGDDWWKHHQGRIWKHVXPPHU7KH\DUHPRYLQJWREHFORVHUWR$P\¶VIDPLO\ (702) 646-4814 DQGKRSHWRFRQWLQXHZRUNLQPLQLVWU\IRUVRFLDOMXVWLFH$QG\HVWKH\NQRZDOODERXWDO- OLJDWRUVHOHFWLRQVDQGKXUULFDQHV NEW EMAIL ADDRESS &KHOVHD&ROORQJHDQG6U0HJDQ5LFH6+&-ZLOOFRQWLQXHWRVHUYH1'(ZLWKKHOS You can use our new email IURP0DULR3,QWLQR-UDQG*DU\&DYDOLHU:HZLOOPLVV$P\DQG3DWULFNYHU\PXFK address: info@nevadade- VHUWH[SHULHQFHRUJWRUHDFK NDE Board Welcomes New Members, New Visions HLWKHURIRXURI¿FHV :HDUHOXFN\WRZHOFRPH'U During our April 27th board meeting we brainstormed gifts that each )LQDOO\SOHDVHFKHFNRXW Bonnie Bobb of the Cor- RIXVEULQJVWR1'(DVDQRUJDQL]DWLRQDORQJZLWKYLVLRQVIRU1'( the updates to our website, poration of Newe Sogobia, DVDPRYHPHQW0HJDQVXPPDUL]HGRXUGUHDPVIRU1'(¶VIXWXUH Johnnie Bobb of the Western LQWRD¿YHSRLQWHGVWDU including online donating and Shoshone National Council, 0RUHFROODERUDWLRQZLWKPRYHPHQWVIRFXVHGRQHOLPLQDWLQJQXFOH- SLFWXUHVIURPRXUHYHQWV,W Karin Holsinger, graduate arism and other forms of violence, sharing our gifts, experience and is a great tool for introducing RIWKH)UDQFLVFDQ6FKRRORI expertise others to NDE, so please 7KHRORJ\ZKRZRUNVIRUWKH * Bringing more people to the Test Site for education and nonviolent share far and wide! Jesuit Volunteer Corps, and action, both the “40,000” requested by Corbin Harney, Western Sho- 3HJJ\0D]H-RKQVRQRI&LWL- shone spiritual leader, and the small groups of student immersion www.nevadadesert ]HQ$OHUW:HDUHDOVRKDSS\ trips and local gatherings experience.org WRKDYHEDFN&KULV0RQWH- 0RUHFRPPXQLFDWLRQIRUH[DPSOHWKURXJKFUHDWLYHXVHRIWKH VDQRRIWKH&DWKROLF:RUNHU NDE website, legislative action or letter-writing, and bold, respectful )DUPLQ6KHHS5DQFK&$ interpersonal dialogue &RQWLQXLQJWRGHYHORSWKHVNLOOVRI1RQYLROHQW&RPPXQLFDWLRQDQG bringing that philosophy into our events 3DJH-XQH 0RUHVXVWDLQDELOLW\LQRXUUHVRXUFHVVRZHFDQH[SDQGRXUZRUN A New Page in our Commitment to Dialogue in the Nuclear Age WK$QQLYHUVDU\(YHQW)DFLOLWDWHG'HHS/LVWHQLQJ%HWZHHQ'LIIHUHQW([SHULHQFHVRI:HDSRQV7HVWLQJ E\&KHOVHD&ROORQJH From March 30 to April 2, 2006, we brought together peo- kind of encounter can be shared broadly. We will continue to ple whose lives and hearts have been affected by the nuclear think about and articulate the ways in which this healing work weapons establishment in very different ways in an event called is appropriate even before the achievement of nuclear abolition, “Speaking from the Heart: Testimony as a way of creating space for deeper and Healing in the Desert.” Partici- understanding of nuclearism and pow- pants of our inner circle included a erful unexpected partnerships. survivor of the Hiroshima atomic This Lenten Desert Experience bomb; a former Manager for Test event also marked NDE’s 25th an- and Operations at the Department niversary. Highlights of the weekend of Energy; a resident of St. George, included a party where we shared a Utah who lost her daughter and sister slideshow of 25 years of experiences to cancer from living “downwind” of in the desert and a new song by Peter the Nevada Test Site; a Jesuit priest Ediger (see below); a mass co-cel- and ploughshares activist; a former ebrated by Joyce Hollyday and Bill director of the Lawrence Livermore Wylie-Kellermann, long-time peace National Laboratory and US delegate activists, and Bob Nelson, former to the Strategic Arms Limitations