Ian Zabarte

About

Ian Zabarte is a long-term political activist by necessity of being a member of the Western Shoshone Nation.  From Duckwater in Northern Nevada Ian has spent decades working with Western Shoshone elders to preserve the Western Shoshone territory – Newe Segobia.  Through organisations such as the Native Community Action Council, the heart of Ian’s work is to maintain the Western Shoshones’ Treaty Rights from the agreement made with the US government at Ruby Valley in 1863.  This work encompasses fulfilling the treaty agreements, environmental and social justice demands of the Shoshone Nation, as well as their rights to conserve and use the land to support the traditional Shoshone lifestyle and to protect Western Shoshone cultural heritage.

Ian has carried on the struggle to stop nuclear waste dumping at Yucca Mountain in the heart of Newe Segobia. He was part of the campaign to successfully end nuclear bomb tests in North America, above and below ground.  Today he stands alongside Chief Raymond Yowell (ret’d) as Principal Man of the Western Bands of the Shoshone Nation of Indians in the fight for true sovereignty and justice.