Fall 2007 Food and Supply Run Report Back
Despite some major setbacks at the outset, our fundraising
efforts and
musical adventures exceeded expectations once again. Together we
raised $14.000.00 and with that we bought and delivered 100 sacks
of flour, 20 plus cords of firewood, 110 boxes of a variety of special
foods from New Frontiers Natural Foods store in Flagstaff. We also
delivered the donations we carried out there in the form of clothes,
blankets, corn, herbs, shovels, and 100 bags of dog food (thanks to
Maureen). We also purchased some geiger counters from ebay in order
to check levels of radiation and try to locate some of the many uranium
mines near Tuba City. On the level of delivering this stuff I would say
the trip was a great success. The people that came together to accomplish
this were an amazing group by any standards. It was an honor and a
pleasure to be involved with them. There are so many people to thank.
So let's just say it this way: while making the delivery to his family, I
looked into the eyes of John Yazzi. He is critically ill and has been
bedridden for sometime. Tears were spilling down his cheeks as he
laboriously spoke the only two words of english i've ever heard out of
him, "Thank You." That thank you belongs to all of us. It's the efforts
of the organizers, poster makers, promoters, people who come to the
shows, artists who donate to the silent auctions and raffles, cooks, sound and
light techs, clean up crews, musicians, magicians, gardeners, and the web
of community that lines up hearts and backs it up with dollars that keep
this beautiful happening happening. A thundering thanks and a hearty
huzzah to each and every one of you! A special word of thanks goes out
to Mark Dyken, who miraculously survived a 50 mph head on car crash,
and still drummed at all but one of the shows and made the trip to and
fro the res. Bro's got some tough hide on him to be sure.
On one level this is a family to family
endeavor and the ties that bind
are strengthened by the exchange of art, music, philosophies, histories...
the hopes of the youth, the concerns of the elders. This year saw the
passing of Huck Greyeyes. The house Huck built for his family was
made largely out of rocks he had collected from the places he had been.
A few of those were pieces of uranium ore from the mine he worked in
Utah in his younger days. I don't know how many years of exposure went
by until the radio active rocks were discovered and removed. Huc Greyeyes
died of cancer, he ws a leader and beloved in his community. He will be sorely
missed. Slim Biakeddy also passed over while we were there. Some who were
with us last year might remember that Slim was barely hanging on at that time.
We spent a half day with Woody Yazzi of Sandsprings, trying to locate an
old abandoned uranium mine in the area. We never found it. We did find where
the road ends It was very beautiful there. We also found out that some folks
have received or are applying to receive compensation for sickness due to
fallout from the above ground nuclear weapons tests at the Nevada
Nuclear Test Site on Shoshone land in the early days of the U.S. weapons
of mass destruction programs. That's right the Navajo and Hopi are counted
among the "downwinders". It was good to see our old friend John Benally
recovering well from his accident last summer. He was looking hale and hearty
in the care of Tracy Short and his sister Marlene. He had a couple of
uranium rocks from a nearby mine so we got a reading and
confirmed that the meters were working. The night before that we had a
great time dancing and singing with Marlene and Louise
Benally in the hogan at Anna Mae Camp.
Morning circles led by Tim Johnson, our
host at dove Springs, really
helped to focus everyone for the task and frame it all in
the perspective of traditional Dineh philosophy. Tim and his wife,
Belinda, have opened their home to this event for five years in
a rownow. They are also active throughout the year in the service of the
elders and the community. We owe them our gratitude.
Really good people. Plus Belinda makes a traditional dish out of corn
called Blue Marbles, which I love. They both love to tease
and tell stories which is lots' of fun.
There are just too many stories to tell
and I've got other things to do
than sit around and write all day, besides I'm hoping some other people
will write about their experiences too. Still I want to tell one more story
because it ties a lot of this stuff together for me.
On the way home we have almost always stopped
at Poo Hah Bah, the healing
center and home of our old friend and mentor, Corbin Harney, the Shoshone
spiritual leader and anti-nuke activist who died in July of '07. Some of us
decided
to continue this tradition, not knowing what we would encounter when we got
there. Enroute we passed through the small Nevada town of Pahrump and one
of the crew picked up a local newspaper.. In it was an article about the town
hall style public comment hearings the D.O.E. was sponsoring concerning the
proposed "nuclear waste repository" at Yucca Mountain. The article
went on
to say that opposition to the nuke dump had dropped of since the death of
Corbin Harney. The hearings were not well attended, the statements were
mostly in favor of the plan to put all of the nuclear waste in the country in
this one place. The next hearing was to be in nearby Armagosa Valley the
following evening.
We got to the healing center as the sun
was about to go down and we were
welcomed and let in by Domique, the caretaker. In the morning we got up,
as Corbin always did, to welcome the sun. We did our best with the songs
and ceremony in his absence. Then we looked at each other and realized
that we were going to the hearing in Armagosa Valley that night, as Corbin
would have. He was very passionate about this issue. Yucca Mountain is
known in Shoshone language as Snake Mountain. Indeed it looks like a
snake. It is said that the snake was headed north when it froze where it
is. Further more it is said that it will move again and "flip around".
Geologists say that there are thirteen different fault lines running through
it.Yucca Mountain is sacred to the Shosone as an herb gathering site, for
rituals, and as a part of their stories.
So we went to the hearing. It looked like
a convention for the nuclear
industry. Slick, glossy, seductive images of clean, safe,(musta heard
that word two dozen time that night) nuke plants and submarines
were gleaming from displays where bright-eyed, palm rubbing reps
were handing out promo material like used car salesmen on steroids.
Of course nowhere in this material is there any mention of the ravages
of the nuclear industries past. A past which happens to include the
devastating effects of uranium mining on the Navajo Nation where
we just came from. ( please see the series of articles from the LA Times
entitled Blighted Homeland www.latimes.com/news/ntionworld/nation/
la-na-navajo-series,0,4515615.special). or the effects of the nuclear
weapons testing. curiously, Bechtel Corporation, makers of the
Three Mile Island Nuclear Disaster, the Chernobyl Melt Down, and
the Ill Conceived
Coal Slurry Pipe from Kayenta Coal Mine to
the Massively Polluting Mojave Generator, just to name a few, want
us to trust them to transport all the high level nuclear waste in the
country to and store it in Yucca Mountain. It is also clear from what
the promotional material says that a go-ahead for the nuke dump is
a go-ahead for more of the rest of the perilous antics of the nuke
community. It seems they would have us believe that trading zero
carbon emissions for more of the most toxic and enduring form of
pollution of all time ever is going to be our answer to global warming
which they are suddenly very concerned about. I could rant on and
on about this, back to the story: The list of people who signed up to
speak included one bought off and/or seriously deluded Nye County
commissioner, (Nye County Nevada is the home of the Nevada Nuclear Test
Site, the notorious area 51, and Yucca Mountain proposed nuke dump.
Three quarters of the county is occupied by the Federal Government
making it one of the only places in the country where local public outcry
won't get in the way.) three nuclear industry representatives, one
Inyo County California official (Inyo County is home to Death Valley,
which has one million visitors annually. The drinking water for this
national park comes from the same water that is under Yucca Mountain.
Inyo County is against the dump because it will adversely affect the
tourist economy they count on.) one stalwart resident of Teccpa, Jennifer
Vieric,( A long time anti-nuke activist who owns and operates a mobile
nuclear museum. Please see her website: www.H-O-M-E.org.) Four
scrappy travelers on their way back from Big Mountain (Us), and a pre-
verbal little girl perched on her dad's shoulders (Who did not have much
to say at this time). The public comment period is open until January 10th,
2008. Citizens can make an oral statement at the scheduled public hearings
or fill out a form and mail it in to EIS Office U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Mgmt, 1551 Hillshire dr. Las Vegas,
NV, 89195-7308 or by e-mail at EIS_Office@ymp.gov. I am told that
if we do not go on record with a statement, we will have no legal recourse
later on. The nuke people are confident to the point of acting like it's a
done deal. The eyes of the elders are on us. The fate of the unborn is
rolling toward the cliff, the voice of Corbin Harney is ringing in my
ears, "It's on your shoulders now...".
LOVE, bear