Corbin Harney
Encyclopedia
Corbin Harney was an elder and spiritual leader
of the Newe (Western Shoshone
) people. Harney reportedly inspired the creation in 1994 of the Shundahai Network, which works for environmental justice
and the abolition of nuclear weapon
s. The Shundahai Network plays a key role in organizing non-violent civil disobedience
aimed at bringing about the closure of the Nevada Test Site
, which is located on Western Shoshone land.
has exploded more than 1,000 nuclear weapon
s at the Nevada Test Site
, which is located on Western Shoshone land. The government has dumped highly radioactive nuclear waste there.
"The food that my people survived on is not here no more on account of this nuclear weapon
that we have developed," Harney explains. "The pine nuts aren't here no more, the chokecherries aren't here, the antelope
aren't here, the deer
aren't here, the groundhog
aren't here, the sagehen aren't here."
Sometimes called "The hardest working man in shamanism", Harney, for many years, spent most of his time travelling around the world spreading a message about the dangers of nuclear energy
and the problems facing our Mother Earth. "The Mother Earth provides us with food
, provides us with air, provides us with water
. We, the people, are going to have to put our thoughts together, to save our planet here. We've only got one water, one air, one Mother Earth." Among other excursions, he visited mutated children in Kazakhstan hospitals who lived close to the Russian nuclear test
site. He received the 2003 International Nuclear Free Future Solutions award.
Harney's formal education ended when he ran away from Indian boarding school at the age of nine because of his feelings of how his schoolmates were mistreated by their teachers. However, he was able to talk to students, government officials, and members of the public about toxins of all kinds: chemicals from mining
and industry
, and, worst of all, nuclear fallout
and radiation poisoning
from nuclear testing
, nuclear waste storage, and nuclear waste transportation that takes place over regular railroads
and highways.
He spoke out about the contamination
of our water and shared with people a vision that he experienced several years ago. "I was praying to the water and the spirit of the water told me, 'Pretty soon, I'm going to look like clean water, but no one is going to use me'. I didn't really understand what I was told until I went to Kazakhstan
in Russia
. Kazakhstan is where Russia tested nuclear bombs for many years. Over there I saw water that looks like clean water, but people can't drink it because it is contaminated with radiation ... [t]he nature
put all the living things here for us to take care of, not to destroy them, but to work with them so that we may live with them for many more years."
Harney stated a firm belief in communication with the natural elements
and all living things and numeroues other people have witnessed the results of his work, including rain in drought
areas, dry springs
which started flowing once more, plants flourishing where they were sparse before and the return of animals that had not been seen in their native habitats for many years .
"We have to come back to the Native
way of life. The Native way is to pray
for everything. Our Mother Earth is very important. Everything survives on our Mother, the only Mother we've got. We can't just mis-use her and think she's going to continue. Let's not destroy the Mother Earth. Let's take care of her and she will take care of us."
Shortly before his passing, Harney completed arrangements for the publication of his second book, “The Nature Way”, in which he shares the traditional knowledge that his people, the Newe, have followed since time immemorial. In 1994 he founded the Shundahai Network ("shundahai" translates to "peace and harmony with all creation") where he remained as board chair until his passing. He was also the founder and director of Poo Ha Bah , a traditional healing center in Tecopa, California
.
"I have established Poo-Ha-Bah for all the people. Poo-Ha-Bah in my language is a very important word--it’s talking about Doctor Water. It’s really important to have healing water here, not only as a human--a lot of animal life have used healing water, a lot of different ways. My people have always traveled for many miles to get into different kinds of healing waters. This is something that we all need, and this is one reason I have looked for healing water and I finally found one in Tecopa, California. I am pretty sure that we all will enjoy the healing water if we ask the healing water to help us with our illness of all different kinds. This is something that our people have talked about for many, many years."
Harney was a proponent of universal inclusion and individual spiritual empowerment, “We need your help. Who ever you are, whatever color you are, wherever you come from on this Mother Earth of ours. We’ve only got this one Earth and we all have to take care of it. So I am asking all of you people through out the world to unite your selves together. Give us a helping hand so we can take care of all the living things.”
Harney's experiences with victims of the nuclear industry throughout the world, and particularly the "Downwinders
" of the Western United States, along with the powerful message he carried of peace and respect for our planet, lent unique credibility to his words. Typical of his international work was acting as keynote speaker at the Atomic and Hydrogen Bomb Conference, in 2001, in Nagasaki, Japan, where he was able to speak with other still-recovering survivors of nuclear war
.
Trained from childhood in the traditional Newe ways of medicine
and spirituality
(the two are not viewed separately), Harney noted the extinction
of medicinal plants due to the toxins of mining, and the disappearance of many birds and other animals that once roamed the Newe homelands. Beginning in 1957, he worked with medicine women of Battle Mountain, Nevada
, running the Sundance Ceremony
and sweat lodges as well as helping sick people. As a medicine person
, he also worked steadily to preserve and protect the sacred sites and burial grounds of his people. He was raised to view all life as sacred
. "Everything is alive and has a spirit to it. The rocks, the mountains, streams, animals, plants, birds, oceans, and so forth," he says.
Harney warned of a quickly approaching time when the Earth is so contaminated by the results of human activity that all the water on the planet will be toxic to all forms of life. His vision, however, was not fatalistic. He remained convinced that humans have the power to turn things around, saying "The water has a life, and we have to pray for it. All the water that comes from the Mother Earth, that's her blood.".
Harney affirmed that healing and well-being are everyone's business, and that no one is powerless. "Yes, you can. All of us are gifted. We just need to open up the gifts by praying in our own way, singing our own songs and talking to everything out there with love and respect. Don't feel foolish. This is how everything has been sustained for millions of years. This will open up a totally new world for you. Amazing things will happen if you are patient. This is how we will heal ourselves and our Mother Earth."
He died of cancer
which had metastasized
into his bones.
(Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma)
Medicine man
"Medicine man" or "Medicine woman" are English terms used to describe traditional healers and spiritual leaders among Native American and other indigenous or aboriginal peoples...
of the Newe (Western Shoshone
Western Shoshone
Western Shoshone comprises several Shoshone tribes that are indigenous to the Great Basin and have lands identified in the Treaty of Ruby Valley 1863. They resided in Idaho, Nevada, California, and Utah. The tribes are very closely related culturally to the Paiute, Goshute, Bannock, Ute, and...
) people. Harney reportedly inspired the creation in 1994 of the Shundahai Network, which works for environmental justice
Environmental justice
Environmental justice is "the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, sex, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies." In the words of Bunyan Bryant,...
and the abolition of nuclear weapon
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
s. The Shundahai Network plays a key role in organizing non-violent civil disobedience
Civil disobedience
Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government, or of an occupying international power. Civil disobedience is commonly, though not always, defined as being nonviolent resistance. It is one form of civil resistance...
aimed at bringing about the closure of the Nevada Test Site
Nevada Test Site
The Nevada National Security Site , previously the Nevada Test Site , is a United States Department of Energy reservation located in southeastern Nye County, Nevada, about northwest of the city of Las Vegas...
, which is located on Western Shoshone land.
Life and work
Harney devoted his life to working to save the land on which his people have survived for thousands of years. The Newe people and Newe Sogobia have been referred to as "the most bombed people on Earth" and "the most bombed place on Earth" as the United States GovernmentFederal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
has exploded more than 1,000 nuclear weapon
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
s at the Nevada Test Site
Nevada Test Site
The Nevada National Security Site , previously the Nevada Test Site , is a United States Department of Energy reservation located in southeastern Nye County, Nevada, about northwest of the city of Las Vegas...
, which is located on Western Shoshone land. The government has dumped highly radioactive nuclear waste there.
"The food that my people survived on is not here no more on account of this nuclear weapon
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
that we have developed," Harney explains. "The pine nuts aren't here no more, the chokecherries aren't here, the antelope
Antelope
Antelope is a term referring to many even-toed ungulate species indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelopes comprise a miscellaneous group within the family Bovidae, encompassing those old-world species that are neither cattle, sheep, buffalo, bison, nor goats...
aren't here, the deer
Deer
Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...
aren't here, the groundhog
Groundhog
The groundhog , also known as a woodchuck, whistle-pig, or in some areas as a land-beaver, is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots. Other marmots, such as the yellow-bellied and hoary marmots, live in rocky and mountainous areas, but...
aren't here, the sagehen aren't here."
Sometimes called "The hardest working man in shamanism", Harney, for many years, spent most of his time travelling around the world spreading a message about the dangers of nuclear energy
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
and the problems facing our Mother Earth. "The Mother Earth provides us with food
Food
Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals...
, provides us with air, provides us with water
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
. We, the people, are going to have to put our thoughts together, to save our planet here. We've only got one water, one air, one Mother Earth." Among other excursions, he visited mutated children in Kazakhstan hospitals who lived close to the Russian nuclear test
site. He received the 2003 International Nuclear Free Future Solutions award.
Harney's formal education ended when he ran away from Indian boarding school at the age of nine because of his feelings of how his schoolmates were mistreated by their teachers. However, he was able to talk to students, government officials, and members of the public about toxins of all kinds: chemicals from mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
and industry
Industry
Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...
, and, worst of all, nuclear fallout
Nuclear fallout
Fallout is the residual radioactive material propelled into the upper atmosphere following a nuclear blast, so called because it "falls out" of the sky after the explosion and shock wave have passed. It commonly refers to the radioactive dust and ash created when a nuclear weapon explodes...
and radiation poisoning
Radiation poisoning
Acute radiation syndrome also known as radiation poisoning, radiation sickness or radiation toxicity, is a constellation of health effects which occur within several months of exposure to high amounts of ionizing radiation...
from nuclear testing
Nuclear testing
Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine the effectiveness, yield and explosive capability of nuclear weapons. Throughout the twentieth century, most nations that have developed nuclear weapons have tested them...
, nuclear waste storage, and nuclear waste transportation that takes place over regular railroads
Rail transport
Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on...
and highways.
He spoke out about the contamination
Contamination
Contamination is the presence of a minor and unwanted constituent in material, physical body, natural environment, at a workplace, etc.-Specifics:"Contamination" also has more specific meanings in science:...
of our water and shared with people a vision that he experienced several years ago. "I was praying to the water and the spirit of the water told me, 'Pretty soon, I'm going to look like clean water, but no one is going to use me'. I didn't really understand what I was told until I went to Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. Kazakhstan is where Russia tested nuclear bombs for many years. Over there I saw water that looks like clean water, but people can't drink it because it is contaminated with radiation ... [t]he nature
Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical world, or material world. "Nature" refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general...
put all the living things here for us to take care of, not to destroy them, but to work with them so that we may live with them for many more years."
Harney stated a firm belief in communication with the natural elements
Natural Elements
Natural Elements was the second major label release by Acoustic Alchemy from 1988.The shortest of all of the band's albums, only comprising eight tracks, Natural Elements set out to show what the title suggests: the organic side to Acoustic Alchemy's music.Points to note from this album include the...
and all living things and numeroues other people have witnessed the results of his work, including rain in drought
Drought
A drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region...
areas, dry springs
Spring (hydrosphere)
A spring—also known as a rising or resurgence—is a component of the hydrosphere. Specifically, it is any natural situation where water flows to the surface of the earth from underground...
which started flowing once more, plants flourishing where they were sparse before and the return of animals that had not been seen in their native habitats for many years .
"We have to come back to the Native
Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
way of life. The Native way is to pray
Prayer
Prayer is a form of religious practice that seeks to activate a volitional rapport to a deity through deliberate practice. Prayer may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of...
for everything. Our Mother Earth is very important. Everything survives on our Mother, the only Mother we've got. We can't just mis-use her and think she's going to continue. Let's not destroy the Mother Earth. Let's take care of her and she will take care of us."
Shortly before his passing, Harney completed arrangements for the publication of his second book, “The Nature Way”, in which he shares the traditional knowledge that his people, the Newe, have followed since time immemorial. In 1994 he founded the Shundahai Network ("shundahai" translates to "peace and harmony with all creation") where he remained as board chair until his passing. He was also the founder and director of Poo Ha Bah , a traditional healing center in Tecopa, California
Tecopa, California
Tecopa is a census-designated place in the Mojave Desert, in Inyo County, California, United States. Tecopa is located south-southeast of Shoshone, at an elevation of . The population was 150 at the 2010 census, up from 99 at the 2000 census.One of Tecopa's popular features is its natural hot...
.
"I have established Poo-Ha-Bah for all the people. Poo-Ha-Bah in my language is a very important word--it’s talking about Doctor Water. It’s really important to have healing water here, not only as a human--a lot of animal life have used healing water, a lot of different ways. My people have always traveled for many miles to get into different kinds of healing waters. This is something that we all need, and this is one reason I have looked for healing water and I finally found one in Tecopa, California. I am pretty sure that we all will enjoy the healing water if we ask the healing water to help us with our illness of all different kinds. This is something that our people have talked about for many, many years."
Harney was a proponent of universal inclusion and individual spiritual empowerment, “We need your help. Who ever you are, whatever color you are, wherever you come from on this Mother Earth of ours. We’ve only got this one Earth and we all have to take care of it. So I am asking all of you people through out the world to unite your selves together. Give us a helping hand so we can take care of all the living things.”
Harney's experiences with victims of the nuclear industry throughout the world, and particularly the "Downwinders
Downwinders
Downwinders refers to individuals and communities who are exposed to radioactive contamination or nuclear fallout from atmospheric or underground nuclear weapons testing, and nuclear accidents...
" of the Western United States, along with the powerful message he carried of peace and respect for our planet, lent unique credibility to his words. Typical of his international work was acting as keynote speaker at the Atomic and Hydrogen Bomb Conference, in 2001, in Nagasaki, Japan, where he was able to speak with other still-recovering survivors of nuclear war
Nuclear warfare
Nuclear warfare, or atomic warfare, is a military conflict or political strategy in which nuclear weaponry is detonated on an opponent. Compared to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare can be vastly more destructive in range and extent of damage...
.
Trained from childhood in the traditional Newe ways of medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
and spirituality
Spirituality
Spirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop...
(the two are not viewed separately), Harney noted the extinction
Extinction
In biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms , normally a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point...
of medicinal plants due to the toxins of mining, and the disappearance of many birds and other animals that once roamed the Newe homelands. Beginning in 1957, he worked with medicine women of Battle Mountain, Nevada
Battle Mountain, Nevada
Battle Mountain is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Lander County, Nevada, United States. The population was 2,871 at the 2000 census. Though it has no legal status as a municipality, it still functions as the county seat of Lander County...
, running the Sundance Ceremony
Sun Dance
The Sun Dance is a religious ceremony practiced by a number of Native American and First Nations peoples, primarily those of the Plains Nations. Each tribe has its own distinct practices and ceremonial protocols...
and sweat lodges as well as helping sick people. As a medicine person
Medicine man
"Medicine man" or "Medicine woman" are English terms used to describe traditional healers and spiritual leaders among Native American and other indigenous or aboriginal peoples...
, he also worked steadily to preserve and protect the sacred sites and burial grounds of his people. He was raised to view all life as sacred
Sacred
Holiness, or sanctity, is in general the state of being holy or sacred...
. "Everything is alive and has a spirit to it. The rocks, the mountains, streams, animals, plants, birds, oceans, and so forth," he says.
Harney warned of a quickly approaching time when the Earth is so contaminated by the results of human activity that all the water on the planet will be toxic to all forms of life. His vision, however, was not fatalistic. He remained convinced that humans have the power to turn things around, saying "The water has a life, and we have to pray for it. All the water that comes from the Mother Earth, that's her blood.".
Harney affirmed that healing and well-being are everyone's business, and that no one is powerless. "Yes, you can. All of us are gifted. We just need to open up the gifts by praying in our own way, singing our own songs and talking to everything out there with love and respect. Don't feel foolish. This is how everything has been sustained for millions of years. This will open up a totally new world for you. Amazing things will happen if you are patient. This is how we will heal ourselves and our Mother Earth."
He died of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
which had metastasized
Metastasis
Metastasis, or metastatic disease , is the spread of a disease from one organ or part to another non-adjacent organ or part. It was previously thought that only malignant tumor cells and infections have the capacity to metastasize; however, this is being reconsidered due to new research...
into his bones.
(Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma)
External links
- Corbin Harney featured on PBS's "Circle of Stories"
- Shundahai Network website
- Poo-Ha-Bah website
- Corbin Harney sings "The Water Song" in Newe (Shoshone), his native tongue
- Recordings of the songs Corbin Harney sings each day at sunrise ceremony
- Profile of Corbin Harney on Shoshone-specific culture/language site
- "The Way It Is: One Water...One Air...One Mother Earth" Corbin Harney's book on amazon.com
- 2007 Mothers Day Gathering for Corbin Harney
- Reminiscence of Corbin Harney by David RovicsDavid RovicsDavid Rovics is an American indie singer/songwriter. His music concerns topical subjects such as the 2003 Iraq war, anti-globalization and social justice issues. Rovics has been an outspoken critic of former President George W...