Toward Common Cause - Relational Futures Symposium - Panel II

Bringing together Indigenous scholars, activists, and policymakers from the Indigenous Southwest to the Indigenous Midwest, Relational Futures offers a platform for dialogue around Indigenous environmental advocacy and research in the context of enduring legacies of toxic exposure, resource extraction, and global public health crisis. Panel II Nuclear Legacies from UChicago to Diné Bikéyah On December 2, 1942, scientists at the University of Chicago achieved the first self-sustained nuclear chain reaction—the legacy of this event continues to have lasting impacts in the Indigenous Southwest. From 1944 to 1986, an estimated 30 million tons of uranium ore were extracted from Navajo homelands. As a result, there are currently over 500 abandoned uranium mines (AUMs), not to mention the countless homes, grazing lands, and water sources that are contaminated with elevated levels of radiation. Although the Navajo Nation has since banned the mining and processing of uranium with the passage of the Diné Natural Resources Protection Act of 2005, the toxic legacy of these extractive industries remains. This roundtable panel brings together Diné scholars and environmental advocates to consider the broader impacts of resource extraction and its implications for green energy initiatives on the Navajo Nation and beyond. Andrew Curley (Diné), Assistant Professor, School of Geography, Development & Environment, The University of Arizona Tommy Rock, (Diné), Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Geosciences, Princeton University Talia Boyd (Diné), Cultural Landscapes Manager, Grand Canyon Trust Moderator: Teresa Montoya (Diné), Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellow and incoming Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of Chicago