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Senator Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada has introduced legislation to create a new national monument in eastern Nevada at a sacred Indigenous site called “Swamp Cedars" or Bahsahwahbee.
Bahsahwahbee was once a ceremonial and pilgrimage site where thousands of Indigenous Newe Peoples gathered every year. But during the 19th century, it became the site of three large massacres, one of which is the largest known Indian massacre in U.S. history. That massacre resulted in the death of 525 to 700 men, women, and children.
The name "Swamp Cedars" refers to the juniper trees in the valley. The bill would protect an ecologically-unique grove of these trees where Tribes still gather to honor their culture and history. The bill directs the Interior secretary to partner with the Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation, the Ely Shoshone Tribe, and the Duckwater Shoshone Tribe to facilitate management and public education related to the monument.
Cortez Masto has also called on the Biden administration to designate the site as a national monument using the Antiquities Act. That sentiment is echoed in a press release on Cortez Masto's website regarding the legislation.
Comittee to hear permitting reform bill today
Today, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will consider the Energy Permitting Reform Act, introduced by Senators John Barrasso of Wyoming and Joe Manchin of West Virginia.
While the bill contains important and needed provisions that would help accelerate renewable energy development, such as facilitating planning and permitting for transmission lines to bring renewable energy from where it is captured to where it is needed, it is primarily a vehicle for a number of problematic and damaging extractive industry wish list items, including giveaways to the oil and gas and mining industries.
“The more we learn about the Energy Permitting Reform Act, the more it becomes clear that this bill is the first step toward implementing the suite of anti-public lands and pro-extractive industry measures proposed by The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025," Center for Western Priorities Policy Director Rachael Hamby said in a statement.
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The people that were killed here were left here... Their spirits, their bodies are in those trees. And so we darn sure are going to protect those people.”
