Native American Women in Agriculture-           The Dann Sisters of Nevada

The sisters live with their family on an 800-acre ranch near Crescent Valley. But their animals roam on federal property.  Since I started research on the Dann Sisters, There have been many changes…  We are unfortunate to lose one of the Sisters- Mary.. Mary went to be with the Creator…  The Dann Sisters raised their cattle on their ranch in the Western Shoshone lands; lovers of Wild Horses and their Domestic livestock, have been inspirational for many Native American Women Ranchers.  Besides the daily struggle of operating a huge land based ranch, these ladies were in a dispute over grazing rights…  This topic they were in dispute over reflects on ALL Native American ranchers across Indian Country.

Mary Dann, who grew up with her sister on the 800-acre ranch once run by their father (Dewy Dann) usually sat quietly alongside more vocal Carrie in scores of public appearances and court hearings.

``Mary was quite a strong person -Carrie Dann said her sister would not want her death to interrupt the continuing court challenges over their land.

``This was Mary's life work,'' she said. ``All these years we've been fighting and the courts still haven't done anything. As far as we're concerned we will live up to our spiritual beliefs and nothing will change that. Mary believed that and lived by it and so do I.

'Mary Dann apparently had an accident on an all-terrain vehicle while she was repairing fence on the Crescent Valley ranch -Dann was in her early 80s but had never disclosed her exact age.

 

“Died as she would have wanted - with her boots on and hay in her pocket.''

Carrie Dann say the U.S. government is trying to steal their land. And they are taking the government to court.  The Dann sisters are Western Shoshones who have waged a twenty-five-year battle with the federal government. They say the government is disregarding a treaty it made with the Shoshone nation, giving the tribe ownership of rugged terrain in northern Nevada's Humboldt River Basin.

The Danns also claim ancestral rights. "This goes back to the time of our creation," says Carrie Dann. "We believe we were created and put here to take care of the land."

In 1863, the treaty of Ruby Valley acknowledged the Nevada Territory as the property of the Western Shoshones but allowed the building of small U.S. settlements in the area.

The Bureau of Land Management claims that the Dann family is trespassing and has failed to pay the government rent for grazing privileges. It has imposed hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines on the Danns. In 1992, the bureau confiscated 430 of their horses.

"What is at stake is full and equal rights for indigenous people and their lands,"

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* Carmela~ Indian Rodeo News