[4] He felt that his schoolmates were mistreated by their teachers[5] 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.

[6] The United States Government has exploded more than 1,000 nuclear weapons at the Nevada Test Site, which is located on Western Shoshone[7][8] land from the Treaty of Ruby Valley (1863).

[12] He reported that he saw victims of the radiation in hospitals that he visited, people who lived close to the Russian nuclear test site.

[15] Harney's experiences with victims of the nuclear weapons testing, particularly the "Downwinders" of the Western United States, gave credibility to his words.

(Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma)[citation needed] Broken Treaty at Battle Mountain,[21][22] released in 1975, Joel Freedman a MacArthur Foundation Film selection narrated by Robert Redford 60 minutes.

This film documents The Western Shoshone of Nevadas fight to preserve 24,000 acres to save their pinon trees needed for food and traditional practices.

[25] American Outrage (2008) produced by Gage films; Mary and Carrie Dann, sisters, are two women of the Western Shoshone[26] tribe in Nevada who challenged the US government for land rights and the case goes to the US Supreme Court.