16 votes

Rio Grande Valley organizations suing Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to protect sacred tribal land from Elon Musk's SpaceX

Posted by boxer_dogs_dance
Tags: usa.tx, spacex, elon musk, legal, lawsuits, rights.indigenous, rights.land, indigenous peoples, native americans, texas parks and wildlife department, author.pooja salhotra, source.abc13
https://abc13.com/environmental-organization-texas-parks-and-wildlife-department-elon-musk-spacex-earth/14665585/

Link information

This data is scraped automatically and may be incorrect.

Published
Apr 15 2024
Word count
523 words

4 comments

  1. [4]
    unkz
    Link
    I do not really understand the intersection of “sacredness” and the legality of land use.

    I do not really understand the intersection of “sacredness” and the legality of land use.

    1 vote
    1. cfabbro
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      I totally understand the genuine issues with sacred land being destroyed in the name of "progress", why that's problematic and should ideally be avoided at all costs. But this story gets a bit...

      I totally understand the genuine issues with sacred land being destroyed in the name of "progress", why that's problematic and should ideally be avoided at all costs. But this story gets a bit weird the more you look into it.

      Rio Grande Valley residents opposed the exchange, arguing that Boca Chica is sacred to the Carrizo Comecrudo Tribe of Texas and that the public park has long been a favorite recreational outpost for the majority Hispanic community in the Rio Grande Valley.

      And according to Wikipedia, despite the incredibly misleading name, the Carrizo Comecrudo Tribe of Texas is just a nonprofit cultural heritage foundation formed in 1999, not an actually recognized indigenous tribe:

      it is not a federally recognized tribe, nor a state-recognized tribe, nor recognized by any other Tribal Nation

      So TBH, this kinda feels like it might be a frivolous lawsuit from an activist organization with potentially no real credibility, standing, or provable claims.

      8 votes
    2. boxer_dogs_dance
      Link Parent
      There is tension between the amount of land the tribes legally control and the historic cultural value of the land to these people and their ancestors.

      There is tension between the amount of land the tribes legally control and the historic cultural value of the land to these people and their ancestors.

      6 votes
    3. vord
      Link Parent
      Ancestral tribal land. "My great great great grandfather was born, lived, and died here" kinda thing. The same way Jerusalem is considered holy land for all Abrahamic religions. The USA has a...

      Ancestral tribal land. "My great great great grandfather was born, lived, and died here" kinda thing. The same way Jerusalem is considered holy land for all Abrahamic religions.

      The USA has a pretty sordid history with ignoring every single treaty they ever signed with the native populations regarding land use, so they have a pretty reasonable case to say 'no, no more.'

      6 votes