Description
In 1994, Hearney, an elder, gave evidence into an enquiry against a £50 million super quarry at Roineabhal on the Isle of Harris. Hearney was involved in a similar protest against a corporate proposal to mine Kluskap’s Mountain, a sacred site for Mi’kmaq people in Nova Scotia. While the main public inquiry into the planning application was taking place at Stornoway, there was a 2-day hearing at Leverburgh. In his statement, Hearney said, “The destruction of any mountain, river or forest is horrifying to all of us whether it be the Hebrides in Scotland, the Shetland Islands or an oil spill in Alaska or the destruction of the Sacred Mountain in Nova Scotia. It is no longer tolerable to pretend or ignore these assaults. Your mountain, your shorelines your rivers and your air are just as much mine and my grandchildrens as ours is yours. To say that I am concerned about the proposed destruction in your territory, is to say that I am concerned about the destruction here in North America.”
Bibliographic sources
“Witness has Great Spirit on his side,” Aberdeen Press and Journal, 31 October 1994, 10; Hearney’s statement: http://www.alastairmcintosh.com/articles/1995_law&relgion.htm#Statement%20of%20Supplementary%20Witness%20-%20Sulian%20Stone%20Eagle%20Herney; Leverburgh School Hall location: “Island’s quarry inquiry,” Dundee Courier, 10 October 1994, 11.