Cave Rock author to speak

Metropolitan State College Denver professor Matt Makley will speak in Reno on March 30 about the book he coauthored, Cave Rock/Climbers, Courts, and a Washoe Indian Sacred Place.

The book, on the dispute between Washo tribal members who value the Lake Tahoe landmark as a spiritual site and rock climbers who grew accustomed to using it during the years when white practices overrode native sensibilities, is published by the University of Nevada Press ($25) and is for sale at Sundance Bookstore.

After a David-and-Goliath court battle in which climbers were well funded by lobbyists and corporations, the tribe won a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco that upheld their primacy.

Makley’s speech will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Meyers Auditorium in the Raggio Educational Building at UNR.