Thacker Pass: The Lithium Rush & Its Impact on Indigenous Communities

In this episode, host Lyla June interviews Dean Barlese, an elder and spiritual leader from the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe and Max Wilbert, writer and community organizer whose been part of grassroots political work for 20 years, and is the founder of Protect Thacker Pass.

Their discussion focuses around the status of the lithium mining project to be built on Thacker Pass, a physical feature located in Humboldt County Nevada, traditional and unceded territory of the Paiute and Shoshone people, currently designated as United States Bureau of Land Management (BLM) public land. The traditional Paiute name of Thacker Pass is Peehee Mu’huh. Now it is also the site of a massive lithium mine under construction, that is destroying the area and valuable habitat for the creatures who live there.

Throughout the episode, our guests touch on how they are fighting against this project and why everything we do counts, and matters.

To learn more or get involved, visit ProtectThackerPass.org
To donate, visit GiveButter.com
To read the autobiography of Billy Haywood, visit Archive.org