Please join the University Libraries' Special Collections and University Archives department for a talk by Baligh Ben Taleb, Ph.D. on Carrie and Mary Dann and Native Resistance. 

Taleb is the inaugural winner of the Bruce and Nora James Visiting Scholar Award for the Study of Nevada Politics and Public Service which endeavors to increase exposure and utilization of the University Libraries’ archives and its collections, while supporting scholarly research. Taleb is an Assistant Professor in American Indian Studies at San Francisco State University. He spent an extended period of time in the summer of 2024 delving into the Western Shoshone Defense Project Records held by Special Collections. This talk is informed by that research.

About the talk

Title: The Dann Sisters and the Multifaceted Battles for Shoshone Homeland

Abstract: Mary and Carrie Dann are two Western Shoshone sisters who rejected the United States’ payment for Shoshone land and treaty rights in Nevada, and mobilized Natives and non-Native peoples to support their historical case. Their stand against the U.S. “taking” of their land set in motion a social justice movement that sheds light on the dynamic roles that violence can play in American Indian land disputes and how they intersect with race, gender, and sexuality. In his talk, Dr. Ben Taleb will share some of this unique story of resistance, and explore how the Dann sisters rejected the drastic underpayment for land they believed that they never ceded, deeded, or lost.

How to participate

The talk will take place over Zoom on Friday, December 13th, at 3 pm PST.

There will be time for questions after the talk.

Follow this link to register for the talk. Once registered, Zoom information will be sent out to participants closer to the time of the talk.