Projects
American Indian Community Data Profile, 2002
Namadji Youth and Elders Project Report, 2001
Forum Reports
1997 Fall: Tribal Sovereignty and
American Indian Leadership
1996 Fall: Tribal Governments: What will they look like in the year 2010?
1996 Spring: The Threatened State of Tribal Sovereignty
Environmental justice
Does the nuclear chain start and end with environmental racism?
The environmental justice session was designed to discuss environmental issues that affect Indian lands. The discussion focused on nuclear waste at the Prairie Island Reservation in Minnesota, and tribal health codes and regulations. Two 20-minute presentation on nuclear waste storage, atomic bomb testing, uranium mining on Indian lands and research on tribal governments and tribal codes were given by Dr. Carol Lujan, Arizona State University professor, and Lea Foushee from the Prairie Island Coalition.
Foushee spoke specifically about Northern State Power Company (NSP), their effort to store nuclear waste at Prairie Island and the Mescalero Apache Reservation in New Mexico, and the nuclear chain NSP is involved in. The nuclear chain states and ends with environmental racism, Foushee said.
The nuclear chain begins with the process of buying uranium. Most, if not all, uranium is found on aboriginal land in the United States, Canada and in the poorest black sections of South Africa. Uranium is transported to an impoverished African American community in Louisiana for fabrication into pellets.
Two cemeteries were destroyed in the process of building the nuclear plant at Prairie Island. Foushee said they researched historical data to prove this fact because NSP denies it. Foushee stated from the beginning the Prairie Island community was lied to. They were told that it would be a steam-fired plant. NSP and the legislators had to go behind closed doors to get what they wanted.
In planning nuclear waste storage sites, NSP has been using tribal sovereignty to its own advantage. To build the plant at Prairie Island, they ignored it. To store nuclear waste at the Mescalero reservation, they are advocating tribal sovereignty to circumvent the state of New Mexico, who wants to prevent NSP from building storage sites in New Mexico.
There is responsibility that comes with sovereignty, Lujan said. The state of New Mexico does not want the nuclear waste and is attempting to set up stricter regulations for the transport to nuclear waste into the state.
In working with the activists at Mescalero, Foushee said they have heard that NSP is trying to find sites in certain provinces. They will be taking waste from all around the country and from other countries.
Nuclear waste storage sites are primarily being located in communities of color. There is a low level nuclear waste dump near the Navaho reservation and another dump in Texas that will affect Chicanos and Mexican Americans.
Society's desire for modern conveniences drives increased energy consumption. However, energy could be provided through renewable sources, but regulation stands in the way.
Lujan talked about tribal health codes and regulations. She has researched AIDS and HIV, alcohol abuse, domestic violence and the environment. In one of her studies, Lujan looked at the detrimental health effects on Navahos who have been working in the uranium mines.
In examining tribal codes, Lujan interviewed an intertribal association in Arizona and in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The intertribal council in Arizona testified that tribes need resources to conduct environmental protection and enforcement on tribal lands. The National Tribal Environmental Council states that the lack of funding is one reason for the lack of enforcement. Only one-third of one percent of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) budget is spent on Indian trust land.
Lujan asked tribal governments, leaders and councils to describe the types of resources they use to develop tribal codes and the barriers to putting together tribal codes. Lujan hopes this information will provide suggestions or alternatives that could be shared with other tribes.
One tribe in San Diego, California, examined the environmental codes of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania and also used resources from the EPA. However, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and Indian health organizations just didn't have the resources for this type of assistance. The state of California was usually helpful, but would often create barriers around the issue of tribal sovereignty. For instance, the state passed a law that saying the state of California would help enforce the environmental regulations on tribal lands. Many tribes challenged this because it violated tribal sovereignty.
Another barrier to establishing tribal codes was stereotyping. State agencies didn't believe that Indians were capable of providing environmental protections.
Many of the environmental protection issues become issues of jurisdiction. Tribes have jurisdiction over all tribal lands, even if these lands are not contiguous. The city of Albuquerque took a Pueblo tribe to court challenging its tribal codes because it set higher standards that the city did. The city was concerned that it didn't have the resources to meet the standards. However, tribal jurisdiction on tribal lands has been upheld in the courts.
Many tribal governments said that they needed to be careful in setting regulations and litigating cases. These cases would have an effect on sovereignty and other tribes.
Lujan gave the following recommendations from her work.
- Protect tribal sovereignty against state encroachment.
- Learn tribal and environmental laws; use these to an Indian advantage.
- Draft laws to protect Indians.
- Use tribal laws to protect health and safety.
- Share tribal experiences with other tribal governments.
- Bring cultural and tribal experiences into the process.
- Elect American Indian people into office--or people who support tribal sovereignty.
Q and A
Question from the audience: Tribes have the right to go to the United Nations for the doctrine on providing health and safety in the environment. Has anyone thought about bringing things to the international forum?
Foushee: The nuclear industry has captured most of the debate. They have captured the media as well. The Star Tribune has accused our organization of utilizing a scientist that is less than credible. NSP continues to deny radiation effects, thus, we have an uphill battle in the media. It is the Indian tribe's responsibility to forward this to the UN. As far as I know, they have not done this.
Lujan: The tribes are so concerned internally that they haven't gone to the UN.
Pat Bellenger (from the audience): There is a tribe that is going to the human rights commission of the UN. Another tribe that has been involved is the Arctic Village in Alaska. The villagers ingested a high level of radiation for an experiment. They are taking that to the UN under a provision against genocide. The whole village was affected. That case is coming up in June. One of the problems in going to the world court is that you have to be a nation. The national council has been trying to debate this issue. The UN has been trying to determine if we are a people or a population. If we are a people, then we have aboriginal rights. The United States defines us as an indigenous population.
Question from the audience: Wasn't nuclear energy supposed to be temporary? Aren't the plants built for 20 years?
Foushee: I know that licensing is for 20 years. Both Monticello and Prairie Island plants are coming up for re-licensing. Monticello is first. As far as I know, NSP has not gone forward with that. For Prairie Island, the re-licensing is more imminent.
Question from the audience: What is the role of the state health department in this discussion?
Foushee: The Prairie Island government has documented cases and cancer rates that are higher than the state health department's count. I believe that NSP has leaned on the health department. (The Prairie Island documentation is six times higher than the health department.) The data is from the Nation Cancer Institute. The differences are in the interpretation of the data. We have not interpreted it, and we have been accused of interpreting it in our favor.
Nancy Merill (from the audience): We are taking short cuts in problem solving which are not a part of our culture. We look to the parts of the problem, but we're not looking for the long run. Everything is getting twisted around. Our thinking isn't tribal. I don't know what it is. In this case, people are going to die because we are not discussing this thing in a tribal way. People may laugh at Roger Jourdain, but he is speaking in the most basic way. Elders are not invited to the table, and they seldom come to these forums. We brought students to this conference, and I'm getting a lot of ideas about what we can do on the reservation.
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