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Psychopath. We’ve heard the term a million times, on TV, in horror films, in books and as one of the most disturbing concepts in pop culture made famous by the fictional character, Norman Bates of the Psycho franchise. In the films and in his psychosis, Norman Bates suffers from dissociative identity disorder which compels him to take the lives of multiple unsuspecting victims with seemingly no remorse, much like the fossil fuel and lithium industries who take life in the same way. But what is a psychopath? According to Wikipedia, the medical community and well, society in general, a psychopath can be characterized by persistent antisocial behavior, untruthfulness, lack of empathy or remorse, and bold, disinhibited, and egotistical traits. In his need for power and control he might convince himself he can fly off into space should his plans go awry, and unbeknownst to his victims reading their morning news from the driver’s seat, they may never know the convenience of hands free comes at a cost the rest of us can’t afford. Consider how long we intend to sustain this Earth for the next seven generations, and it becomes clear that lithium energy is not the technology to carry us into that future. It is a short term resource and temporary come up for the green energy psychopaths who could care less about this planet for you, me, our kids and their kids.

In March of 2022, Indigenous Peoples Power Project reported on the approval of the Thacker Pass (Peehee Mu’huh) Lithium Mine and the implications it would have on land, water, and life for those that have made Thacker Pass home. Subsequent to an opponent filed request for injunction, federal courts denied that request, allowing for construction to begin leaving elders, activists, and ecosystems of Peehee Mu’huh desperate for an intervention. What are they fighting for? For tribes and communities who’ve lived in the area for thousands of years, it is one of the few remaining places where tribal citizens can still gather traditional foods such as chokecherries, wild potatoes and medicines such as toza root, or honor their ancestors at the site where 31 Paiute people were massacred by government soldiers in 1865. At the Ox Sam Camp, a group prayerfully protecting Peehee Mu’huh from the Thacker Pass lithium mine, the land they are fighting to defend is still used today for ceremonies, traditional hunting and gathering, and educating young Native people. The mine is destroying this unceeded land and the possibility for these traditional uses. Additionally, Peehee Mu’huh is critical wildlife habitat for threatened, endangered, and endemic species. This includes the greater sage-grouse, pronghorn antelope, Lahontan cutthroat trout, golden eagles, Crosby’s buckwheat, and old-growth sagebrush habitat. The mine will destroy all of this, and elders of the camp have issued a plea for help.

In recent weeks, amidst peaceful and prayerful resistance at Peehee Mu’huh, Fort McDermitt Paiute Shoshone elders and relatives of the Ox Sam Camp are building, erecting tipis, and creating space for any and all to peacefully assemble in protest of the lithium mine. Elders are asking for supporters to come to the site and take part in the ongoing ceremony of protection for water and for the land, and as we have witnessed for over five-hundred years, standing up to these psychopaths who set out to harm us and the planet is no easy task. The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department, under authority from the federal government are issuing temporary restraining orders to peaceful protectors, using the same dirty tactics to deter us, but there is too much at stake. As we’ve seen at Standing Rock, Mauna Kea and countless other direct actions to save our planet, we know we can make a difference when we come together. As construction of the mine has only just begun, so too has the fight to protect this sacred place from the harms we know will inevitably follow. If you’d like to know more about the efforts to stop the Thacker Pass Lithium Mine Project and would like to support the cause, please visit the Ox Sam Camp website at www.oxsam.org, and please consider donating using the “Donate” link in the top menu. Your donation to Ox Sam Camp helps fund legal costs, outreach, food, gas, supplies, and other vital expenses as community, elders, and peaceful protectors continue their work to defend the sacred.

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Nic Sanford Belgard

Indigenous Peoples Power Project