Indian colony exhibit looks at mining impact on native people

Western Mining Action Network attendees visit the "Wounded Souls: Extracting from the Land and Our Spirits” at the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony.(Little Buck Harjo)
Published: Nov. 27, 2022 at 11:00 AM PST

RENO, Nev. (KOLO) -A Reno-Sparks Indian Colony Exhibit through March 8 shows art reflecting the mining industry impact on native people.

It is called “Wounded Souls: Extracting from the Land and Our Spirits.”

“What has brought wealth and job opportunities for some, has often meant the destruction of sacred sites and harm to the living culture of Native people,” Michon R. Eben, RSIC tribal historic preservation officer, said in a statement. “This exhibit is about the wounds we have suffered and also about our resilience in the face of colonization in all its forms.”

The exhibit opened in November as part of Native American Heritage Month and includes mining equipment, Comstock Lode artifacts, historical documents and information about the 1872 Mining Law, oral histories of the impacts of archeology and mining on native culture and an exhibit on Mary and Carrie Dann’s 30-year struggle for Western Shoshone sovereignty and to protect sacred Mount Tenabo.

RSIC and its allies successfully challenged a plan to put a kitty litter plant near RSIC land in Hungry Valley. A section of the exhibit is dedicated to the ongoing fight against a lithium mine at Thacker Pass.

“Wounded Souls” was developed in collaboration with the W. M. Keck Earth Science and Mineral Engineering Museum at the University of Nevada Reno.

The exhibit at 1995 East 2nd St. is free. Viewing hours are Monday to Friday from 11 a.m. to 6 pm and some Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Call 775-785-1326 before a visit to ensure staff will be on-site.

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