Show Notes
"Mean, bad man"
The third in our series on the environmental and humanitarian legacy of US uranium mines in The Navajo Nation. In this episode, we cover the years 1868-1960. The Navajo return home after being ethnically cleansed by the American military to Bosque Redondo. After losing nearly everything, they rebuild their lives, herds, and communities. The United States continues to attempt to forcibly assimilate the Navajo into the “American way” through through cruel boarding schools and draconian regulations on livestock. World War II, the Code Talkers, and the birth of the toxic uranium mining industry on Navajo lands.
Content warning for violence, upsetting content, and reference to SA.
Learn more, donate, help out:
The Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment
“MASE is rooted in the experiences of uranium-impacted communities of the southwestern U.S. We are communities working to restore and protect the natural and cultural environment through respectfully promoting intercultural engagement among communities and institutions for the benefit of all life and future generations.”
Southwest Research and Information Center (SRIC, @SRICorg on twitter)
Noel Lyn Smith at Inside Climate News (@nsmithdt and @insideclimate on twitter)
Noel Smith has written a ton of really informative pieces on the modern state of uranium mine cleanup in The Navajo Nation- highly recommend giving them a read.
Red Nation Podcast. Uranium Stories: the largest nuclear disaster in US history, 43 years later. Episode link on patreon here.
“The Red Nation Podcast features discussions on Indigenous history, politics, and culture from a left perspective. Hosted by Nick Estes and Jen Marley with help from our friend and comrade Sina. The Red Nation Podcast is also the home of Red Power Hour, hosted by Melanie Yazzie and Elena Ortiz. Our show is entirely supported by our patrons on Patreon, support the show and get access to bonus content and other patron-exclusive benefits here: Patreon.com/redmediapr”
Sources:
Unspoken: America's Native American Boarding Schools, PBS Utah, 2023.
Timestamps and names of speakers quoted in this episode:
Notation given as: speaker name; timestamp in podcast; timestamp in documentary
Forrest S. Cuch, Ute ; 7:40 ; 9:48
Harry Walters, Navajo Diné; 8:09 ; 10:19
Joseph Abeyta, Santa Clara Pueblo; 8:41 ; 10:50
Forrest S. Cuch, Ute; 9:07 ;14:43
Amanda Blackhorse, Navajo Diné; 9:27; 15:01
Forrest S. Cuch, Ute; 10:09 ; 15:43
Dr. Jennifer Nez Denetdale, Navajo Diné; 10:49 ; 16:24
Roy Smith, Navajo Diné ; 11:26 ; 19:41
Harry Walters, Navajo Diné; 11:54; 28:00
Carl Begay, Navajo Diné; 12:22 ; 28:23
Boissoneault, Lorraine. "A spoonful of sugar helps the radioactive oatmeal go down." Smithsonian Magazine (2017).
Denetdale, Jennifer Nez. Reclaiming Diné History: The Legacies of Navajo Chief Manuelito and Juanita. University of Arizona Press, 2015.
Nez, Chester, and Judith Schiess Avila. Code talker: the first and only memoir by one of the original Navajo code talkers of WWII. Penguin, 2011.
Pasternak, Judy. Yellow dirt: A poisoned land and the betrayal of the Navajos. New York: Free Press, 2011.
Welsome, Eileen. The plutonium files: America's secret medical experiments in the Cold War. Delta, 2010.
Voyles, Traci Brynne. Wastelanding: Legacies of uranium mining in Navajo country. U of Minnesota Press, 2015.
Art and Music:
Country music by Alex Black (science_party on instagram)
Ambient music by CALIFORNIA DEATH WORM (@grouchyjerk on twitter)
Cover art by Emily, check out her Etsy page at cicadaxxseason!
If you want to support the show and help pay for books and coffee, you can toss us a couple bucks at patreon.com/sludgefest. If not, no worries- all the eps are free :)
We’ll see you next time. Remember that despair is useless and I love you!
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The first in our series on the environmental and humanitarian legacy of US uranium mines in The Navajo Nation and abroad. Before we get there, we will need to bring along some history. In this episode, we outline the broader historical context, in which the Navajo find themselves beset by a succession of ruthless settler-colonial empires: first Spain, then Mexico, and finally the United States.
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