At the forum, Navajo, Pueblo and other
Native Americans remembered family members killed by uranium
and lamented that most have still not received any form of
compensation, even as many still live on contaminated land
that poses an ongoing health risk.
Government compensation is limited to
people working before 1971. The idea is that after that date
the risks were known and hence the government isn’t
responsible for poor working conditions that exposed miners
excessively to the radioactive heavy metal.
In September, a delegation of
grandmothers traveled to Washington D.C. to lobby
legislators for compensation for “post 71” miners and their
dependents.
“People said you grandmothers can’t make
it, it’s a really long walk,” said Elsie Begay, who grew up
in a canyon in Arizona downstream of a uranium mine. Her
father, a miner, died of cancer and she thinks all her
siblings’ health is affected by drinking and bathing in
contaminated water from the arroyo that ran by their home.
“But we did it. We talked to those politicians, and they
promised to do something so I think they will.”
For many of the women, it was their first
time on a plane, subway or escalator. They happily described
holding up impatient lobbyists and politicians at government
building security checkpoints as they removed all their
turquoise and silver jewelry.
Elsie Mae Begay, no relation to Elsie
Begay, has brought much attention to the issue by traveling
with the documentary Return of Navajo Boy, produced by
Chicago-based Groundswell Films. It tells the story of her
brother John Wayne Cly, who was taken off the reservation by
white missionaries after both parents died of lung cancer,
and his return to his family decades later.
It also chronicles the painstaking
struggle for miners’ compensation, and the tragic catch-22
families like Elsie Mae’s are put in knowing their homes are
contaminated but having nowhere else to go.
The uranium industry nearly stopped in
the late 1980s as prices plummeted, but now many companies
are seeking to again mine in the southwest, anticipating
rising prices in the near future. (Uranium hit record prices
in 2007 but then dropped when the recession hit.)
Uranium company officials say current
mining practices are much safer than in the past, and jobs
in the area are badly needed. Most Native Americans in the
uranium belt are intensely opposed to a resurgence in the
industry. (Uranium mining is also being proposed in Alaska,
where the environment and health versus jobs argument in
terms of resource extraction is a defining feature of the
state’s economy. Proposed mine sites are near Alaska Native
land, and the industry could impact their traditional
fishing and other practices.)
Larry King is a post-71 miner suffering
breathing and other health problems, but he says he can’t
get any assistance for expensive tests or treatment.
Meanwhile new mining is proposed near his home, an “in situ”
process where uranium is sucked out of an aquifer, which
industry officials say is much less environmentally
disruptive.
King doesn’t believe it, and he resents
that the company is trying to win support by promising jobs.
“They are dividing families,” he said.
“They’ll promise you big bucks, but they will destroy our
aquifer and then leave the community to deal with it.”
Posted by Kari Lydersen