Host Pratap Chatterjee discusses environmental issues in Indian country with Carrie Dann of the Western Shoshone and Jeff Keohane, an Indian Law attorney.
Carrie Dann has, for over forty years, been at the forefront of the Western Shoshone Nation’s struggle for land rights and sovereignty. Together with her late sister, Mary, she led the political and legal battle to retain ancestral lands in Nevada, California, Idaho and Utah. Dann has squared off against international gold mining corporations, the nuclear industry and the U.S. government. For their courage and perseverance in asserting the rights of Indigenous peoples, the Dann Sisters have received numerous awards including the 1993 Alternative Nobel Prize, the International Right Livelihood Award. Dann, also the subject of countless film documentaries, articles and books, is a living legend in the struggles of Native Americans.
Jeff Keohane is an associate in Holland & Knight’s Indian Law Practice Group and Public Policy and Regulation Practice Group. He primarily represents Indian tribes and corporations in environmental and natural resources counseling and litigation. He has also represented Indian and Alaskan Native tribes, federal agencies, corporations, and individuals in matters ranging from the drafting and interpretation of tribal ordinances, Indian Child Welfare Act, negotiation of large-scale economic development transactions, regulatory compliance, management contracts, to environmental and commercial litigation.