Article: 745 of sgi.talk.ratical From: (dave "who can do? ratmandu!" ratcliffe) Subject: Havasupai Fight To Save Grand Canyon From Uranium Mining Keywords: we are "living" in a culture that promotes death over life Organization: Silicon Graphics, Inc. Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1992 19:48:34 GMT Lines: 240 On March 30, [1992,] they lost an important legal battle when the Supreme Court refused to hear their appeal of a 1900 court decision that will allow Energy Fuels Nuclear to open Canyon Mines, located 8 miles south of the canyon's south entrance. "There are only 678 Havasupai people left," said Carletta Tolusi, a young activist working to save the religious traditions, health and future of her tribe. "If the mine poisons our water, it will be the end of my people." . . . Since 1986, the Havasupai have struggled in Washington, D.C. and in federal court for recognition of their freedom of religion. In court, they were required to expose sacred beliefs and practices to lawyers and "amused" corporate officials, although tribal members insisted their religious practices were not meant to be shared by non-Indians. EFN produced an anthropologist who said the Havasupai claims were false because their religion was not "organized." Adding insult to injury, at a House subcommittee hearing on the Grand Canyon Enlargement Act, Wyoming Congressman Teno Roncalio said that because the Havasupai had not fully demonstrated their religion to the committee, there was "insufficient proof that the religion existed." intellectual mindgaming encourages the ability in people to separate more and more from the natural world. this article painfully demonstrates this behavior in its most degenerative and obscene form. --ratitor . . . We don't really know how to assess new or existing technologies. It is apparent that we need a new, more holistic language for examining technology, one that would ignore the advertised claims, best-case visions, and glamorous imagery that inundate us and systematically judge technology from alternative perspectives: social, political, economic, spiritual, ecological, biological, military. Who gains? Who loses? Do the new technologies serve planetary destruction or stability? What are their health effects? Psychological effects? How do they affect our interaction with and appreciation of nature? How do they interlock with existing technologies? What do they make possible that could not exist before? What is being lost? Where is it all going? Do we want that? -- from "In the Absence of the Sacred, The Failure of Technology and the Survival of the Indian Nations," by Jerry Mander from NativeNet: Date: Fri, 17 Jul 1992 22:16:00 MDT Reply-To: nn.general@gnosys.svle.ma.us Sender: "NATIVE-L Issues Pertaining to Aboriginal Peoples" Subject: Havasupai Fight To Save Grand Canyon To: Multiple recipients of NATIVE-L Original-Sender: milo@scicom.alphacdc.com (Michele Lord) News From Indian Country, Rt.2 Box 2900-A, Hayward, WI 54843. Ph: 715-634-5226. Havasupai Fight To Save Grand Canyon by Valerie Taliman News From Indian Country Correspondent Grand Canyon, CO--The Havasupai Nation has been fighting to save the Grand Canyon from uranium mining that will desecrate sacred lands and contaminate the creek that runs through Supai, the village on the canyon floor known for its serenity and its beautiful blue- green waters. On March 30, [1992,] they lost an important legal battle when the Supreme Court refused to hear their appeal of a 1900 court decision that will allow Energy Fuels Nuclear to open Canyon Mines, located 8 miles south of the canyon's south entrance. "There are only 678 Havasupai people left," said Carletta Tolusi, a young activist working to save the religious traditions, health and future of her tribe. "If the mine poisons our water, it will be the end of my people." Tolusi said her people found out about plans for the Canyon Uranium Mine only after a permit had been granted by the U.S. Forest Service to Denver-based Energy Fuels Nuclear in 1986. The mine site not only threatens their watershed, it is near Red Butte, an important religious site that figures prominently in the Havasupai creation story. "Havasupai religion teaches that we are the guardians of Grandmother Canyon, the place where the world is reborn and renewed each year," Tolusi said. "Uranium mining threatens the existence of all creation." Her uncle, Rex Tolusi, former Havasupai Vice Chairman and member of the Tribal Council, echoed her concerns. "To the Indian people, the Canyon itself is very sacred. It is a place of emergence for us and for other tribes," he said. "We were to be the protectors of the Grand Canyon and we are not supposed to allow any destruction, including uranium mining." EFN's Canyon Mine shaft will be built over the natural springs that feed Havasu Creek, the only source of water for the Havasu'uw Baa'ja (People of the Blue Green Water). The fenced mine site is within the boundaries of the Kaibab National Forest. The Havasupai wrestled with the federal government and the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality over the issuance of a water quality permit for the mine. They challenged the Environmental Impact Statement prepared by the Forest Service fearing that surface, ground water and a major aquifer would be contaminated. Although EFN plans to install a monitoring wall, the Havasupai contend that detecting contamination after it has reached the water will be too late. Since 1986, the Havasupai have struggled in Washington, D.C. and in federal court for recognition of their freedom of religion. In court, they were required to expose sacred beliefs and practices to lawyers and "amused" corporate officials, although tribal members insisted their religious practices were not meant to be shared by non-Indians. EFN produced an anthropologist who said the Havasupai claims were false because their religion was not "organized." Adding insult to injury, at a House subcommittee hearing on the Grand Canyon Enlargement Act, Wyoming Congressman Teno Roncalio said that because the Havasupai had not fully demonstrated their religion to the committee, there was "insufficient proof that the religion existed." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Commentary by Valerie Taliman Uranium is on my mind a lot these days Actually, it's what mankind has done with uranium that bothers me. The legacy left behind from uranium mining, milling and enrichment is one of widespread death, disease and destruction, especially in the West and on Indian lands. In October 1990, Congress passed the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to provide "compassionate payments" for injuries to US citizens exposed to radiation from nuclear testing. The legislation contains an apology to individuals and families for "the hardships they have endured." Unfortunately, many of those family members are not alive to appreciate the apology nor the compensation. People injured by weapons testing or uranium mining in six western states (Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and Wyoming) are eligible for compensation. Many of them lived "downwind" from the tests. According to a new documentary called "Bound by the Wind," we are all "downwinders" - people exposed to high levels of radioactivity from nuclear weapons tests - because the wind carries radiation to every corner of the earth, thereby increasing our risks to contract cancers and thyroid diseases. To date, six countries have conducted more that 1,900 nuclear tests, 518 of which were in the atmosphere, under water or in space, according to a 1991 report issued by the International Commission to Investigate Health and Environmental Effects of Nuclear Weapons Production. About 837 nuclear tests for Great Britain and the US have been conducted at the Nevada Test Site on lands belonging to the Western Shoshone, according to the Treaty of Ruby Valley. The Environmental Protection Agency documented cumulative deposits of plutonium in soil samples more than 100 miles north of the test site said an EPA document. EPA also noted that no surveys have been conducted to determine health effects from radioactive releases on the region's residents. So let's not assume we are "safe from underground explosions." More than half of all underground tests have leaked radiation into the atmosphere, according to the Department of Energy's 1988 Report on Radioactive Effluents. The US Congressional Office of Technology Assessment said underground testing has often resulted in prompt releases of radioactivity to the atmosphere. From 1970 to 1988, there were 120 releases - 18 accidents and 102 "operational" (intentional) releases, according OTA's 1989 report. Those numbers do not include the 17 nuclear blasts that have occurred since 1990 or seven others scheduled for the near future. New evidence suggests that the impact of nuclear weapons testing has contaminated and injured millions more than original estimates would have us believe as illnesses are appearing in second and third generations. Until 1963, 105 above-ground tests at the Nevada Test Site exposed more than 250,000 US soldiers to radiation. Some were marched directly toward "ground zero" to see what health effects would occur from radiation. The survivors of these military experiments formed "Atomic Veterans" and documented that almost 98 percent of their medical claims from radiation exposure were denied by the Veterans Administration. They say their government used them as "human guinea pigs." For the last two years, the Atomic Veterans have stood shoulder- to-shoulder with Western Shoshone leaders whose treaty with the US was violated when the military took the land that now comprises the Nevada Test Site. Like thousands of others, both groups are calling on the US to honor its promise to stop nuclear testing, and to cancel plans for Yucca Mountain. "We are the most bombed nation in the world," said William Rosse, Sr., a Western Shoshone elder. "We've had more than our share of radiation, and now they want to dump more nuclear waste on our land at Yucca Mountain." That is one other disturbing reality of nuclear testing. Without exception, tests have been conducted globally in areas where indigenous people live, as their lives were judged to be expendable. When the US tested in the Marshall Islands, an Atomic Energy Commission official noted that the Rongelap islanders presented "a unique research opportunity" to see how people absorbed radiation. "While it is true that these people do not live the way Westerners do, civilized people, it is neverless true that they are more like us than the mice.," said Merrill Eisenbud of the AEC. And that brings us back around to why I think so much about the destructive uranium cycle that continually threatens us. Native people and our neighbors cannot afford the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump that will eventually poison us all. Forget the promises of jobs and money. The bottom line is that historically, the US government has decided to sacrifice some of us in the interest of "national defense." And unless we speak out to defend ourselves, we'll be the next set of victims getting an apology and "compassionate payments" from Congress. [Just a note, the main building at Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site sustained a million dollars in damage during last month's earthquakes. This area was said to be earthquake-proof by the US government. -Michele] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Michele Lord + If you have come here to help me, + you are wasting your time..... Alpha Institute + But if you have come because + your liberation is bound up with mine, milo@scicom.alphacdc.com + then let us work together. Aboriginal Woman ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -- daveus rattus yer friendly neighborhood ratman KOYAANISQATSI ko.yaa.nis.qatsi (from the Hopi Language) n. 1. crazy life. 2. life in turmoil. 3. life out of balance. 4. life disintegrating. 5. a state of life that calls for another way of living.