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Yahoo
29-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Navajo activists recall risks of coal and uranium mining, ask council to protect people
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. — When Evie Tsosie walks, her limp is noticeable, something that wasn't always the case. She recalls the day it all changed. She was working at the Peabody coal mine on the northern part of the Navajo Nation when a front-end loader collided with her truck, injuring her and damaging her back. Tsosie became disabled while working at the coal mine and is now fighting cancer for the third time — a battle that may be linked to her years of working in the uranium mines operated by Kerr-McGee in Churchrock, N.M., and in the Ambrosia Lake mining district near Grants. 'It's probably because my dad used to work in the uranium mine for the war but he entered World War II from there,' said Tsosie, talking about why she decided to work in the uranium mines. She told her story on a day when she and others pleaded for more accountability from the Navajo Nation Council. She said she took the job at the coal mine to be closer to her parents, who lived between the Navajo communities of Kayenta and Dennehotso. Over the years, she's endured the physical toll of working in both uranium and coal mines, both on and off the Navajo Nation. But beyond the physical impact, she also faced another burden — harassment from male coworkers. In the male-dominated mining industry, she and the few other women at the uranium sites were often targets of inappropriate behavior. 'It was rough working in mines with nothing but men,' said Tsosie. 'There was a lot of harassment … even from supervisors.' Tsosie attended the second day of Navajo Nation Council with other former uranium miners and family members of uranium miners, who traveled to Washington, D.C., on a 38-hour bus ride last fall to advocate for the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA). Some of those, like Tsosie, who traveled on the bus were also battling stage four cancer. Council Delegate Amber Kanazbah Crotty recognized the miners and the families of those who have died from illnesses linked to uranium mining. 'The federal government has an obligation to our miners — not only to provide medical care, but also to compensate them for their pain and suffering,' she said. In Congress: Navajo uranium miners, many with cancer, just lost new compensation in defense bill These acknowledgments took place on April 22 — Earth Day — a time dedicated to honoring Mother Earth. This year marked its 55th anniversary, yet in the weeks leading up to it, many have viewed recent executive orders from President Donald Trump as a direct attack on the Earth, particularly on the Navajo Nation and other tribal communities. Some of the orders aim to revive uranium and coal mining on tribal lands — extractive practices that communities have spent decades working to shut down. Outside the council chamber were demonstrators from various community organizations who came together, concerned about Navajo President Buu Nygren and the Navajo Nation Council, and what they see as a neglect to prioritize Navajo water and failure to protect it from continued waste and pollution by industry. 'Our Navajo Nation does not have an energy plan,' said Leona Morgan, co-founder of the group Haul No! 'Our Navajo Nation does not have a plan to clean up all the more than 500 abandoned uranium mines. Our Navajo Nation does not have a plan for us, for our future, so we need to work together to figure these things out.' Unlike past uranium mining practices, Morgan said new concerns are emerging with potentially harmful impacts. As a community organizer, she emphasized that her focus is on nuclear issues, with uranium mining just the starting point. She pointed to other critical concerns, including extraction, mining, in-situ mining and ablation — practices the Navajo Environmental Protection Agency plans to use in efforts to clean up uranium mines. Ablation is a mining process that uses high-pressure water or air to separate uranium from surrounding rock, a practice that raises concerns about groundwater contamination and radioactive dust exposure. Morgan argued that these practices are not about environmental protection, but rather about profiting from uranium waste. 'We have uranium all over the place and the Navajo Nation made a law that said 'no uranium mining, no uranium transport,' but unfortunately they changed the ban on uranium transport to regulating,' said Morgan. 'So we need to make sure they don't get rid of the no-mining law. We need to make sure the Navajo Nation always stays a nation that does not allow uranium mining.' With just a handful of the 24 Navajo Nation Council delegates showing up to meet and hear the group, and President Nygren absent, Wendsler Nosie, Sr., of the group Apache Stronghold, addressed the crowd. Apache Stronghold has been fighting Resolution Copper over plans to develop a copper mine on the sacred site Oak Flat near Superior. 'What is happening here is happening in Apache country as well,' said Nosie. 'What you do today and tomorrow is really critical for the children yet to be born and everything God created. One of the big fights we are fighting is about Mother Earth, at this point she doesn't have a voice in what we call America.' As tribal leaders continue to show support for their people who have endured ailments and loss due to harmful work conditions in uranium and coal mining, as well as showing concern for the land and water, it's seen as contradictory by citizens when the same leaders also continue to back extractive businesses on tribal lands. 'This history of my community is the same as many other communities in Dinétah,' said community organizer Joseph Hernandez. 'This government was created because of three communities and their oil … one of those communities was my community where we had the Rattle Snake oil field. It's from that part of dealing with outside people coming into our community, our homeland, telling us we can be rich quick, giving our people money, it was through that time that we are known through policy as a sacrifice zone.' Hernandez, from New Mexico, recalled how his grandfather worked as a uranium miner at Kerr-McGee, and how he personally witnessed the suffering his grandfather endured, often driving him to his treatments. "Coming back from World War II he worked in the uranium mines in Cove ... they took breaks in the uranium mines and the government, the people in power, told them 'you don't have to worry about nothing,'" said Hernandez. "This is helping your community with jobs. That's the same message that we are hearing today! Jobs!" Ore transport: 'I was terrified': Uranium shipments worry Navajo, Ute tribal members along truck route Between 1944 and 1986, an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 Navajo worked in uranium mines, and exposure to uranium dust led to a sharp rise in lung cancer cases. It was noted that Nygren conflated the numbers of how many jobs were lost due to closure of Navajo Generating Station and Kayenta mines. Alvin John had traveled with Tsosie on the bus to Washington hoping to meet House Speaker Mike Johnson and explain why RECA for post-1971 miners was vital, but Johnson wasn't there. 'I guess he knew we were coming.' A former uranium miner at Kerr-McGee mine in Churchrock from 1977 to 1982, he said his job was working inside the mine using pillar stope, a method of extracting ore while leaving pillars of ore intact to support the mine's roof, ceiling and surrounding rock. 'It was dangerous. At the time I started working there, I didn't know it was going to put my life in danger,' said John. 'I just started working. At the time, I was young and back then the money was good. Now I am past 65 and I am suffering.' It was in the mid-1990s when the impact of his job suddenly hit him. One morning, while making coffee at his mom's house, he said he was overcome by a sudden illness and a wave of intense pain throughout his body. After visiting medicine men with no improvement, he finally went to the hospital, where doctors couldn't find anything wrong. He spent a month there, and after being discharged, John said it took nearly a year before he was able to walk again. 'So now I can't stand too long,' said John. 'I've been living with this pain for 27 years. I went to the doctors, but they couldn't do anything. Since I lived with this pain for so many years, I just said 'oh well, guess I'll live with it until the day I die.'' Nygren's position: Navajo president endorses Trump's coal order, but activists cite climate, health risks Nygren and his administration have negotiated the terms of uranium transport from being banned to regulated and also brought support to coal development, but the Navajo Nation Council continues to publicly state they are not part of these negations or talks. Most notably, community organizers are strongly against Nygren's recent decision. The Diné Coalition of grassroots organizers have demanded transparency and accountability from Navajo tribal government on energy and uranium development. "We call on the Navajo Nation President to stop making deals that degrade our land, water, and future," stated a news release from the group. "We urge tribal leaders not to repeat historical mistakes with respect to uranium extraction. The cleanup and remediation of hundreds of abandoned mines must be completed, prioritizing public health safety and ecosystem health." The group made several points, including: The Navajo people retain their right to free, prior, and informed consent. The group claims the Navajo EPA, Eastern Land Commission, Diné Uranium Remediation Advisory Commission and the Resource and Development Committee are not providing uranium policy updates to the general public. Support is needed for Navajo farmers, ranchers, and businesses. The recent actions and statements by President Nygren do not reflect the will of the Navajo people. There should be no new mining in or around the sacred mountain Mount Taylor, near the Roca Honda Mine. There should be no testing of "emerging technologies" on the people. "We oppose the recent initiative to the Navajo Nation President to unilaterally open the door to more coal development in the Navajo Nation," the group said. "With the Trump administration's announced intent to ramp up production of 'mission-critical' uranium the private energy offenders are again targeting Diné lands with no intention of ensuring public health, safety, or environmental concern." Arlyssa D. Becenti covers Indigenous affairs for The Arizona Republic and Send ideas and tips to This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: On Earth Day, Navajo activists ask council to oppose coal, uranium mining
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
‘DataBack': The fight for genomic data sovereignty
Daniel Herrera CarbajalICT TEMPE, Arizona — For Krystal Tsosie, tribal sovereignty is in her DNA. A geneticist, epidemiologist and advocate, Tsosie, Diné, is an accomplished scientist who has made it her mission to bring sovereignty to Native peoples' genomic data. She calls it a 'DataBack' movement, working to return control of Indigenous DNA information to individuals and their tribes. SUPPORT INDIGENOUS JOURNALISM. 'Too often, researchers believe that they should have access to all data, that they should be able to download the totality of data sets onto local machines.' said Tsosie, an assistant professor at Arizona State University's School of Life Sciences. 'And what's happened unfortunately, time and time again, is the researchers will share that data with other colleagues or even their doctoral students, to conduct research that the Indigenous community members just didn't consent to.' Genomic data is used for a variety of studies from disease research to population genetics. Essentially, it is DNA that can be used to study genetic variations across different populations. Tsosie's DataBack movement is focused on genomic health equity, part of which means informing people if and how their data is being used. For Indigenous peoples, one person's genomic data can identify a large portion of relatives due to smaller population sizes and large families, according to Tsosie. Because of the impact one person can have on their nation, Tsosie believes it also should also be a right afforded to tribal nations. 'If a data point is collected from Indigenous peoples or Indigenous individuals, that person in that community should have the right to understand or to dictate what happens with that data, or at least consent to the use of that data in other contexts,' Tsosie told ICT. 'But also Indigenous nations as peoples and communities have a communal right to also understand who's using their data, to specifically consent to different types of data usages,' she said. 'That's inherent for Indigenous nations. That's their sovereign right, whether or not colonial powers — for instance, the federal government and really, any colonial government — understand. It is up to all people, including governments, to understand that that's implicit to being a member of an Indigenous nation and that Indigenous nations have the right and authority to steward the data from their own people.' Tsosie grew up playing in the streams near her maternal grandmother's home on the Navajo Nation, where there was no electricity. 'My mom's side of the family is from Shonto, Arizona, and that's where I spent a huge portion of my upbringing,' she said. 'And in summers on the weekends I would spend this time at my maternal grandmother's house.' She remembers looking up and seeing the sky full of stars when her grandmother and the elders would be outside conversing with only the light of a kerosene lamp illuminating their faces. 'I loved it,' she said. 'I remember having to chop firewood and run a bath with water that was siphoned from a well that was several miles away, and just herding sheep. And also playing with horses all day.' In her adolescence, Tsosie grew up wanting to be a doctor and along the way became interested in what causes diseases, specifically in Indigenous peoples. Tsosie had many internships, including at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona, and at the virology department at the Arizona Department of Health. By the age of 24, Tsosie had published works and obtained two patents for devices that would help with early detection of cancer and with delivering drugs at a lower toxicity level. She was on her way to becoming a full-fledged doctor, and had been admitted into one of the nation's top molecular doctoral programs. That's when her plans changed. 'I got there on the East Coast, and I hated it,' she said. 'I absolutely hated it, because mentors didn't know what to do with me. They thought that it shouldn't matter that I'm Native American because that type of ethnic descriptor really shouldn't have any bearing on my research, whereas I felt like it was absolutely important to understand the cultural context and upbringing of the people that I want to service with my research. And there was just a fundamental disconnect between those conducting the research and those on which research has been perpetuated on.' Tsosie decided to go back to Arizona State University, intending to never step foot into a lab again. Back in Arizona, she learned the importance of genomics and genomic data approaches. At Arizona State University, Tsosie has a team of postgraduate and doctoral students, all dedicated to the autonomy of Indigenous peoples' data. The Tsosie lab began last year and is made up of 12 members, nine of whom are Indigenous. Each researcher under Tsosie's guidance is conducting their own unique research, from building a framework for exercising and operationalizing Indigenous data sovereignty for neurological data to looking into the ethical and cultural considerations related to ordinary research for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, known as CRISPR. How the data is controlled has been an ongoing issue, she said. 'This has been problematic in the past,' she said. 'For instance, the Havasupai nation sued the Arizona Board of Regents because they brokered a trust relationship with a researcher to conduct studies related to Type 2 diabetes, and the research team ended up studying other things like schizophrenia, which especially then, had a stigma attached. And population migration narratives that were culturally incongruent with their own origin narratives.' The fight for the sovereignty of Indigenous peoples' data means the need for more Indigenous scientists and leaders, Tsosie said. 'We need more Indigenous scientists and Indigenous leaders who understand the importance of these decisions and wrest control back into Indigenous hands, to hold Indigenous DNA on our lands,' Tsosie said. 'We also need a global recognition of scholars and researchers and even public policy makers in different spheres to understand that Indigenous data sovereignty is a thing. It's a right of our people to exercise authority, agency and autonomy related to our people's DNA and our data.' For Tsosie, the DataBack movement is just the tip of the iceberg for what she wants for Indigenous people. 'I envision an Indigenous data future in which Indigenous peoples have the authority over their own data and are thinking about writing policies that become codified by tribal law,' Tsosie said. 'That we start thinking about Indigenous digital sovereignties so we start thinking about translating the ethics and the policy and governance into data infrastructures that benefit Indigenous peoples.' 'I'm talking about Indigenous-led and -managed and -stewarded biobanks and data repositories,' she continued. 'I'm talking about Indigenous apps that are being developed for Indigenous nations. 'We owe it to ourselves and our next generations to ensure that our data benefits us.' Our stories are worth telling. Our stories are worth sharing. Our stories are worth your support. Contribute today to help ICT carry out its critical mission. Sign up for ICT's free newsletter.
Yahoo
27-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Navajo people push for RECA reauthorization, US senators reintroduce bill
A group of Navajo people gathered outside the Navajo Nation Council Chambers on January 27, 2024, during the opening of the winter legislative session, calling on Navajo leaders to advocate for the extension and expansion of the Radiation Compensation Act. (Photo courtesy Noel Smith) Holding signs that read, 'Honor the Treaty of 1868. Reauthorize RECA. Funding for Health Care' and 'Speaker Johnson, pass RECA before we die,' a group of Diné people marched to the Navajo Nation Council Chambers in Window Rock on Monday to commemorate the National Day of Remembrance for Downwinders and to urge their tribal leaders to push the U.S. Congress to reauthorize the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, or RECA, provides a program that compensates individuals who become ill because of exposure to radiation from the United States' development and testing of nuclear weapons. But because of congressional inaction, the program expired last summer. That means no new claims can be filed, and only claims postmarked before June 10, 2024, will be considered. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 'We're still fighting for RECA up in Washington,' Kathleen Tsosie said on an Instagram Live video of the group's march. Tsosie's father, grandfather, and uncles all worked as uranium miners on the Navajo Nation near Cove, Arizona, from the 1940s to the 1960s. From 1944 to 1986, nearly 30 million tons of uranium ore were extracted from Navajo lands, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and hundreds of Navajo people worked in the mines, often living and raising families in close proximity to the mines and mills. Tsosie is also a two-time cancer survivor, has advocated for RECA for decades, and serves on the Navajo Uranium Radiation Victims Committee. In front of the Navajo Nation Council Chambers, Tsosie discussed the importance of working with the Republican-held U.S. House and Senate to pass RECA. 'We're running out of time': Program for Arizonans exposed to radiation set to expire in June 'We don't know what lies ahead,' she said, adding their most recent efforts included sending several groups to Washington, D.C., in September to advocate for the reauthorization of RECA. One of those groups included the Sawmill Diné Warriors, a group of Navajo people mainly from the small community located approximately 20 miles north of Window Rock, Arizona. Maggie Billiman, a founder of Sawmill Diné Warriors, spoke in front of the Navajo Nation Council Chambers on Monday, calling for continued support for RECA and families across the country. She said she fights for justice for RECA on behalf of her children and will continue to fight for her tribe and others throughout the country until the act passes. 'The White House needs to know we're human as much as they are,' Billiman added. A bipartisan group of senators hopes to restart RECA after last year's legislation failed to pass the U.S. House of Representatives. U.S. Sens. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) and Eric Schmitt (R-MO)have reintroduced the bill to compensate people who were exposed to radiation by government weapons programs. Between the 1940s and 1990s, thousands of uranium mines operated in the United States, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Most operated in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, New Mexico and Arizona, typically on federal and tribal lands. The number of mining locations associated with uranium is around 15,000, according to the EPA, and of those, more than 4,000 have documented uranium production. 'For decades, Arizonans living near uranium mining sites and nuclear testing zones have been exposed to dangerous levels of radiation, causing people to suffer from serious health conditions,' Kelly said in a press release. 'We owe it to them, and to all those impacted across the country, to right this wrong and get them the support they deserve.' The RECA expansion bill would include more communities downwind of nuclear test sites in the United States and Guam. It would extend eligibility for uranium workers, including those who worked after 1971. Communities harmed by radioactive waste from the tests could apply for the program, and expansion would also boost compensation payments to account for inflation. 'The time to reauthorize RECA is now,' Hawley said in a press release. 'For far too long, Missourians and others across America have suffered without compensation from their government,' he added. 'It is vital that we unite to pass this legislation now and that the President sign it into law.' From 1945 to 1992, the U.S. conducted a total of 1,030 nuclear tests, according to the Arms Control Association. Many were conducted at the Nevada Test Site, with 928 nuclear tests conducted at the site between 1951 and 1992, according to the Nevada National Security Site. About 100 were atmospheric tests, and the rest were underground detonations. According to the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, atmospheric tests involved unrestrained releases of radioactive materials directly into the environment, causing the largest collective dose of radiation from human-made sources thus far. 'In New Mexico and across the country, thousands sacrificed to contribute to our national security,' Luján said in a press release, adding that many of the individuals impacted by nuclear weapons testing, downwind radiation exposure, and uranium mining are still waiting for justice. 'It is unacceptable that so many who have gotten sick from radiation exposure have been denied compensation by Congress,' he said, adding that RECA is a bipartisan priority. He expressed hope that the legislation will clear the U.S. Senate again. During the RECA advocates march to the Navajo Nation capitol on Monday, Navajo Nation Council Delegate Amber Kanazbah Crotty said the Navajo Nation has to continuously remind their congressional and federal leaders in charge of making decisions regarding compensation that their people and communities have suffered at the hands of radioactive materials for generations. 'The federal government knew how that material would impact the lives of our fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers,' she said, and it continues to impact the lives of their children and grandchildren. Crotty said uranium left a legacy of contamination, pain and health disparities throughout the Navajo Nation, and it is time for Congress and the federal government to fully compensate those who have been impacted. 'The time is now,' she added, noting that this is a bipartisan issue and should be supported by both parties. 'The United States needs to restore what they have taken from our communities,' Crotty said, and one of those first steps is expanding and fully funding RECA. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
