Toxic and Nuclear Waste, Mining

Aboriginal Communities and Mining in Northern Canada
Special issue of this on-line magazine. (Northern Perspectives 23(3-4). Canadian Arctic Resources Committee, 1996).

Akwesasne Task Force on the Environment
"The Akwesasne Task Force on the Environment (ATFE), a community based, grass-roots organization, was formed in 1987 to address the environmental problems facing the Mohawk Nation community of Akwesasne. It is composed of members of the Mohawk community and staff of environmental agencies, Mohawk governments, and organizations within Akwesasne who share a common concern for the environment and the effects of various toxic substances on human and ecosystem health." (1997).

Basket Weavers Refuse to Cooperate in Pesticide Risk Assessment Study
Basketweavers object to the use of risk assessment procedures to determine their exposure to forestry pesticides as a result of their basket-making. Contr. Joanne Bigcrane. (Louis Martin, Coast News Service, January 17, 1996).

Environmental Review of Nuclear Dump Flawed
Reports on a resolution by the Lower Colorado River Indian Tribes in opposition to a proposed nuclear dump site at Ward Valley, California (Fort Mojave, Colorado River, Chemeheuvi, Fort Yuma-Quechan, and Cocopah Indian Tribes). (Marsha Shaiman, On Indian Land. Seattle: Support for Native Sovereignty. Archive: NAE, 1996).

Food Pollution Threatens Lives of Inuits in Arctic
(Leyla Alyanak, Earth Times News Service. Archive: World History Archive, 1997).

Hanford Department of Energy, Indian Nations Program
The DOE is responsible for the cleanup of the Hanford nuclear site in southeastern Washington state. Four tribes have cultural or treaty rights to the lands of Hanford, including the Nez Perce, the Umatilla, Yakima and Wanapum. This site describes the working relationships between Native Americans and the DOE. Some information about the environmental offices of these nations. (1997).

Havasupai Fight To Save Grand Canyon From Uranium Mining
Various posts about this campaign. (Native-L mailing list, 1992).

Indian Burial Grounds for Nuclear Waste
A very good article on the recent history of attempts to bury nuclear waste on reservations. (Randel D. Hanson, Multinational Monitor 16(9). Archive: Fourth World Documentation Project, 1995).

Indigenous Environmental Network: Ward Valley
Reports on the efforts of the Colorado River Native Nations Alliance to stop a nuclear dump in Ward Valley.

Indigenous Women's Environmental Network
An ad-hoc organization in Saskatchewan, which has focused its concern on the Meadow Lake Tribal Council's proposal to build a permanent high level nuclear waste repository in northern Saskatchewan. This reference dates from around 1995. (Archive: NAE).

Leavitt's Anti-Nuke Policy Will Strangle Tribe, Say Goshutes
Mike Leavitt is Utah's Governor. (William Claiborne, Salt Lake Tribune, March 11, 1999).

Memories Come to Us In the Rain and the Wind: Oral Histories and Photographs of Navajo Uranium Miners and Their Families
Excerpts from the book are available on-line. (Doug Brugge, Timothy Benally, Phil Harrison, Martha Austin-Garrison and Lydia Fasthorse-Begay, Boston, MA: Tufts University School of Medicine, 1997).

Menominee Nation Mining Impacts
Good and timely information on mining in Menominee country. (1997).

More Than Half of Goshutes Sue Tribe Over Waste Plan
(Jim Woolf, Salt Lake Tribune, March 13, 1999).

National Environmental Coalition of Native Americans
This organization works to prevent nuclear waste dumps on native lands.

Native Americans Bear the Nuclear Burden
About the Shoshone and the Paiute-Shoshone. Provides an overview of the Monitored Retrievable Storage (MRS) project of the Department of Energy. (Andreas Knudsen, Indigenous Affairs. International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs. Archive: NAE, 1996).

Navajo Dryland Environment Laboratory
(1997).

Navajo Tribe Embarks on a Long-Term Cleanup
"The Navajo Nation tries to come to terms with a growing garbage problem that has led to numerous illegal dumps on the reservation." (Paul Natonobah, High Country News 29(15). August 18, 1997).

Navajo Uranium Miners Fight for Compensation
(Timothy Sr. Benally, Nic Paget-Clarke, interviewer. In Motion Magazine, 1998?).

Navajo Uranium Radiation Victims: The 4th Indigenous Uranium Forum
A report (with photographs) of a 1990 meeting organized by the Southwest Indigenous Uranium Forum in cooperation with the Navajo Uranium Radiation Victims Committee. (Kerry Richardson, 1991).

New Front In The Waste Wars—Part 2: The Poisoners Invade Indian Country
(Peter Montague, RACHEL's Environment and Health Weekly 239. Annapolis: Environmental Research Foundation, 1991).

Poison Fire, Sacred Earth: Testimonies, Lectures Conclusions
Extensive excerpts from the testimony given in 1992 at the World Uranium Hearing in Salzburg, Austria. Many Native Americans spokespersons participated and this is an excellent on-line resource. (World Uranium Hearing, World Uranium Hearing, Salzburg, 1992., 1992).

Project Chariot: The Nuclear Legacy of Cape Thompson, Alaska
In 1957, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission selected a site approximately 30 miles southeast of the Inupiat Eskimo village of Point Hope to perform a number of "experiments," including the release of radioactive materials from a Nevada test site to analyze how such material would disperse through the area. The AEC's project involved the projected relocation of the Point Hope Inupiat.the relocation of the Katovik Inupiat. This article tells the history of these events. (Norman Chance, Artic Circle).

Residues of Forestry Herbicides in Plants of Interest to Native Americans: Phase One—Development of Methodologies and Pilot Sampling
This project is the first phase of a two-phase study to assess exposure of basketweavers to forestry herbicides. Full report of study available on-line. Contr. Joanne Bigcrane. (R. Segawa, A. Bradley, P. Lee, D. Tran, J. White, J. Hsu, and K. Goh, April. California Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental Hazards Assessment Program, 1997).

Resolution on a Nuclear Free Zone in the Arctic
The nuclear free zone was re-declared, partly because of MX and cruise missile testing or concerns about it in the arctic region. No date. (Inuit Circumpolar Conference, Archive: Fourth World Documentation Project).

Save Ward Valley Coalition
One of the political coalitions fighting to stop a nuclear dump in Ward Valley; others include the Colorado River Native Nations Alliance. (1998).

Save Ward Valley Newsletter
The Colorado River Native Nations Alliance opposes a proposed nuclear dump in Ward Valley. (Earthrunnner, 1996-).

Save Ward Valley Signs Off in Victory
"With the desert tortoise and American Indian sacred running trails now protected from the threat of a nuclear waste dump, the Save Ward Valley office announced it is closing its doors in triumph." (Indian Country Today, May 8, 2000).

Skull Valley Goshutes
Devoted exclusively to the issue of storing spent nuclear fuel on the Skull Valley Reservation (this is one continuing development of the MRS program on Native American lands that was widely reported several years ago in environmental publications). The state of Uah and over half the tribe are suing to stop the plan.

Uranium Industry and Indigenous Peoples of North America
(Four Directions Council, Submission to the United Nations, Economic and Social Council, Commission on Human Rights, Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities. Archive: Fourth World Documentation Project, 1987).

Uranium Mining and the Church Rock Disaster
In 1979, a dam burst and released tons of radioactive mill wastes into the Rio Puerco River, a water source for Navajo families and their livestock. The long-term health disaster that has resulted is now one of the most well-known examples of the dangers that uranium mining poses to the Navajo and others in the Southwest. This is a very useful chapter-length history of these events. (Harvey Wasserman and Norman Solomon, Excerpt from Killing Our Own: The Disaster of America's Experience with Atomic Radiation, 1945-1982. New York: Delacorte Press, 1982).

Violence in Indian Country over Waste
An article about violent conflicts over toxic waste dumping on native lands. (Peter Montague, RACHEL's Environment and Health Weekly 404. Annapolis: Environmental Research Foundation, 1994).

Ward Valley
A proposed nuclear dump in Ward Valley, California, is opposed by the Mojave/Mohave and the Chemehuevi peoples. (Bay Area Nuclear Waste Coalition, 1997-).

Waste Programs Environmental Justice Accomplishments Report
For anyone with a desire to oversee bureaucratic justification, the EPA explains its progress on environmental justice for Native Americans. (Environmental Protection Agency, 1996).

White Mesa Utes Beat Back Superfund Tailings
"White Mesa Utes defeat DOE's plans to dump hazardous waste on land surround their reservation." (Carol Sisco, High Country News 27(1), January 23, 1995).

Yankton Sioux Oppose Reservation Waste Dump
The Yankton Sioux are going to receive a waste dump on their reservation, despite irregularities in the environmental review process and even though they are not members of the landfill district siting the dump. Article from Support for Native Sovereignty. (On Indian Land. Seattle: Support for Native Sovereignty. Archive: NAE, 1996).