Settler colonial identity manifests in the government defense industry, government treatment of indigenous lands, health, and recognition of importance post WW2 prove.

What sounds absurd at first glance is quite plausible. From 1944 onward, the U.S. government mined uranium on the Navajo reservation in the state of Nevada as part of the military's Manhattan Project. The sole purpose: the development and construction of the atomic bomb. Mining continued during the Cold War. Nearly 30 million tons of uranium ore were extracted from 500 mines. The workers were majority Navajo, and there wasn’t even the slightest protection against radioactivity. The nuclear bomb tests took place at the Nevada National Security Site. From 1951 to 1992, over a thousand nuclear weapons were detonated here. The wind carried the fallout primarily into the Navajo settlement area. On July 16, 1979, a serious accident occurred at a uranium mill near Church Rock on the Navajo reservation in New Mexico. As a result of a dam failure, more than a thousand tons of solid radioactive material and 360 million liters of highly toxic wastewater spilled into the Puerco River, spreading over a vast area and entering the groundwater. Residents of the reservation were not informed about the life-threatening contamination of their drinking water for days. The incident is considered the most serious civilian nuclear accident in U.S. history because of the amount of radioactivity released – significantly worse than the meltdown at the Three Mile Island reactor four months earlier, which drew much more public attention. The encryption codes did in fact originate on the reservation as well. The Americans used Navajo as a secret language during the Pacific War against the Japanese beginning in 1942. It is considered one of the most difficult languages of all. Navajo is not related to any European language, and follows completely different rules. For an outsider, even for other Native Americans, it can be learned only with great effort. Military research in 1942 revealed that there were only 28 non-Navajo who spoke the language (mostly missionaries and ethnologists), and that there were no Japanese nor Germans among this small population. The so-called code talkers – all Navajo – translated the military radio messages from English to Navajo, and on the other end of the line they translated the information back. The Japanese were never able to crack the code. Thus, Neztsosie is quite correct in emphasizing the central role of the Navajo reservation in World War II. However, this role has brought nothing to the people there. The Navajo were not thanked for their encryption services until 2001, when they received a Congressional Gold Medal. Worse than this belated recognition, however, were the consequences of three decades of radioactive exposure – due to uranium mining, nuclear bomb testing and the Church Rock accident. Water on the Navajo reservation contained an average of 90 micrograms of uranium per liter when last measured in 2012. In some areas, the value rises to 700 micrograms. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers anything more than 30 micrograms to be harmful to health. This is why an above-average number of Navajo suffer from radiation sickness. For example, the rate of end-stage renal disease among Navajo is 0.63%, while the national average is 0.19%. Similarly excessive levels of various types of cancer and respiratory diseases have also been observed. Neztsosie, a former farrier, is a living example. He is suffering from advanced gastric cancer. When he began radiation and chemotherapy last year, doctors estimated he had three months to live. In the past, he and his family used the water from the nearby stream. Since they now know how contaminated the water still is, they today have to buy water in Cameron and transport it home by car. One-third of Navajo lack access to running water, 67 times the U.S. average. Therefore, they often turn to open, contaminated waters. Neztsosie’s father worked in the mines, but without a contract. As a result, he was never entitled to a pension or compensation. His mother suffered five miscarriages. Most of his siblings and other relatives died early. His wife also died 15 years ago. «Probably the only reason I got this old is because I went to boarding school in Tuba City when I was a kid,» Neztsosie says. He remembers that during the rainy season, the uranium pits would fill with water and children would bathe in it. At least he only did that when he was at home on vacation. His sister Lula’s wooden house is full of cracks, with water dripping through the roof. Years ago, Neztsosie and she built a new stone house nearby. But later it turned out that the sand they had used for the wall was radioactively contaminated. The beautiful house is uninhabitable. The siblings used to keep livestock, but they were told it was dangerous to consume the animals’ milk and meat. Now they just have a small garden and an old horse. «When we pointed out all the illnesses and deaths to a doctor many years ago, he said it was because of ‹inbreeding among the Indians,›» Netzsosie says. In the early 1990s, he met his wife, a lawyer, who alerted him to the radioactive contamination. «Until then, neither the U.S. government nor the Navajo administration had told us about the dangers,» he says. He then informed his relatives and they took precautions. The day after our interview, an assembly is held at Cameron’s school. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and El Paso Natural Gas, the company responsible for uranium mining, are inviting local residents to discuss the future of the abandoned CH12 mine. Uranium was mined here between 1953 and 1961. In the 1990s, the open pit was filled with the contaminated debris from the surrounding area, the whole thing was covered with earth, and the zone was fenced. Nevertheless, radioactivity is still escaping. The meeting is about how to deal with the area in the future: Should the pit be sealed according to modern standards, and the radioactive material transported to a repository outside the reservation? Or should it be left as it is. Only seven interested people come. Priscilla Tom, a Navajo who works for the EPA, is disappointed. «You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink,» she says. However, she also expresses understanding for the lack of interest: «These issues have been discussed for half a century,» she says. The organizers have prepared a detailed presentation. However, the attendees only rarely refer to the future of CH12 in their questions. Rather, they express their deep frustration. «Why has no one been interested in our fate for decades?» one woman asks. Indeed, the political process has been slow. As early as 1951, the U. S. Public Health Service examined Navajo miners without their knowledge, and found serious health problems. Nevertheless, the working conditions hardly changed at all. Only after many lawsuits, newspaper articles and unsuccessful political efforts did Congress pass the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) in 1990, which provided compensation for former miners. However, the bureaucratic hurdles were high, and again led to protests. In 2000, the formal requirements were changed as a result, but the reform didn’t come into force until 2018. Efforts to make the former mines safe also remain ongoing. According to the EPA, evaluations and cleanups at 219 out of a total of 523 mines began only in 2019. In October 2021, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights agreed to hear a lawsuit filed by the Eastern Navajo Diné Against Uranium Mining, a nongovernmental organization that alleges the U.S. government has violated Navajo human rights. The fence can’t stop contamination At the former CH12 mine, a sign on the chain-link fence warns of radioactive contamination. A hundred meters away is a sweat lodge (a kind of ritual sauna), with a courtyard a little further on. Old rusted cars, scrap metal and tires are scattered around the property, and dogs are barking. This is where 51-year-old Samuel Spencer lives. He also grew up in this house. «As kids, we played in the open pit,» he says. «Today, everyone here suffers from asthma.» In the past, his animals would have grazed here, but now almost nothing grows. He still uses the sweat lodge, though. His mother, 75-year-old Fayt Spencer, lives nearby, along with two grandchildren. «Mother Earth is badly wounded,» she says. «Why did they build a fence? The poison has long been everywhere, and the fence can’t stop the wind either.» Because there isn’t any electricity, she has to start the generator in the evening. But fuel is expensive, she says. «They mined uranium here for the atomic bomb, but we don’t even have enough energy left to turn on a light,» she says. Why didn’t she go to the meeting? «There’s so much pain here. I don’t feel like those meetings anymore,» she says. «What’s the point?» Has she never thought about moving away? «There’s no point, it’s the same everywhere,» she says. However, some residents acknowledge that the Navajo administration also imposes high hurdles for relocation. May Franklin, 64, who also lives in the area, says: «My father died when I was young. He shoveled uranium ore onto a truck and hauled it with his bare hands – no mouth guard, no gloves.» She and her husband couldn’t have children. «We live in an empty nest,» she says. Franklin notes that many young people, especially well-educated ones, are moving off the reservation. «There is too little work and too few houses. Often, three generations live under one roof.» She says people can be in touch with the world via the internet from here. However, the Navajo traditionally didn't live in villages, but on farms that were far apart, she says. That is too boring for many young people, she adds. The wounds won’t heal In truth, some help is available. In Tuba City, the largest city on the Navajo reservation, there is a hospital with a cancer unit and two oncologists. Chemotherapy is also done there. «But many, especially in the countryside, don’t even know about the hospital or don’t dare go,» says one nurse. After a puzzled follow-up question, she adds: «The level of education is often very low.» Associated with the hospital is the Radiation Exposure Screening and Education Program (RESEP), based on the Compensation Act (RECA). Affected persons or relatives of radiation victims can claim damages of $50,000 to $100,000 here. To date, approximately 39,000 applications have been approved and a total of more than $2.5 billion has been disbursed. But maybe it just took too long for something to finally happen. «Action should have been taken much sooner,» says Fayt Spencer. «The wounds will never heal.»