Western Mining Action Network – 2022 Biennial Conference

Description

Western Mining Action Network – 2022 Biennial Conference

Standing Together: Mining Affected Communities for a Just Transition
(Protecting Sacred Places and the Next Seven Generations)

With our host Reno Sparks Indian Colony
October 12-16, 2022
Reno, Nevada, US | at the Grand Sierra

CONFERENCE APPLICATION HERE

Western Mining Action Network is excited to announce that the 2022 Biennial Conference will be held in person this year in Reno, Nevada. The Conference will convene 150-200 people from mining-affected communities and allies working in legal aid, scientific support, and environmental NGO’s for cross-cultural knowledge sharing; elevating Indigenous voices; leadership development; and training in environmental advocacy and democratic organizing.

Co-hosted with the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, the Biennial Conference will increase awareness of mining in the Great Basin area that is threatening local communities, while addressing the social and environmental impacts of mining across the US and Canada. Conference highlights include: Efforts to save Peehee Mu’huh sacred site / Thacker Pass from proposed lithium mining; mining for energy transition technologies; uranium; mitigating climate change, Indigenous Rights, and gendered issues.

2022 Preliminary Program (subject to change)

• October 12 – Indigenous Caucus meeting/Reno Sparks Indian Colony
• October 13 – Conference Field trip to Anaconda mine/Opening plenaries
• October 14 – Conference: plenaries/workshops/panels
• October 15 – Conference: plenaries/workshops/panels
• October 16 – Thacker Pass field trip (optional)

For more information, download this document or contact:

Marvel Karch, WMAN Conference Lead Logistics, marvel@worc.org
Sayokla Williams, WMAN Indigenous Caucus Coordinator, sayokla@wman-info.org
Laura Pitkanen, WMAN Network Coordinator, laura@wman-info.org

Resource extraction impacts Indigenous communities disproportionately. Indigenous and Non-indigenous allies seek to stand together in solidarity to tackle mining issues.

Resource extraction contributes 53%, more than half of the world’s carbon emissions, and also causes 80% of biodiversity loss, from both mining and oil/gas development (United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report by the International Resource Panel, Global Resources Outlook 2019: Natural Resources for the Future We Want).

New mining claims, exploration, and extractive development projects spring up all over Turtle Island from the Ring of Fire in Ontario to Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, as well as the demand for rare-earth minerals. These projects affect indigenous communities in disproportionate ways — social, environmental, cultural and spiritual.