Native American radioactivity exposure
-For many years the Native American people on the USA (Sioux, Cherokee, Navajo, Spokane ,etc), have been exposed to radiation from Uranium mining in territories close to their reservations. They have been affected for decades by the serious health consequences from uranium mining. Their lands have been used to dispose toxic waste as well.
In 1951 when USA started to do their tests with nuclear bombs, they targeted a place in the state of Nevada and their called it "Nevada test site ", but what they didn´t told to the public was that this area was the Western Shonshone Nation. This territory has had more nuclear bombs dropped than any other place in the world. Even when this territories has been given to the Native American nation by the government, his land has been sacrificed looking towards the "progress", and these people who has been abused for many many years had have to pay the price for something that they never ask for.
The government of the USA has been lying to these people for a long time, they hired Native American Indians to do the mining work, as cheap labour force and they never told them about the risks and dangers that this kind of job could be for their health. Many of these workers have died of cancer related to radioactivity exposure.
How much it cost a life?
On Dec. 22, 1987, a law called "The screw Nevada bill" was passed. This law aimed to designate the Yucca Mountain in Nevada as a place for further study as a possible toxic waste dump. This decision was taken behind close doors (rumors said that a lot of lobby was made by the Nuclear industry and The USA department of Energy). But Native American people couldn´t stand this anymore, a great activist movement was formed. Led by Western Shoshone spiritual leader Corbin Harney, the Western Shoshone National Council maintained tireless opposition to the dump, joined, over time, by more than a thousand environmental groups. Then, in 2009, President Obama and his Energy Secretary, Steven Chu, wisely cancelled the dangerous, controversial proposal.
Clearly, the USA government is in debt with the Native American Nation, they has been not only displaced from the land of their forefathers, they also has been forced to deal with the radioactivity problem, as in many others countries worldwide (like in Chile), natives are not treated with enough respect, in many cases they are segregated and suffer a lot of discrimination. In my opinion, this kind of abuse must end, once for all.
I didn't know nothing about this.. is terrible, but yeah! all natives people around the world are segregated almost always. It's amazing and
ReplyDeleteunfair how those native peoples are teatred, is like you are being taken from your own place, your own homeland just because other people want to take a piece of land. Well, the only thing that we can do is change our mind and be polite with our own culture and our native people like 'Mapuches', but yeah! this situation is particular is horrible.
In Chile is happening almost the same thing. In the north of Chile there are a lot of native people that lives all along the range which is full of mines that pollute and poison the rivers from which the native people drink water, shower and water the plants that they eat.
Deleteis outrageous to see how our society slowly kill every evidence of ancient culture by not caring and not minding what is happenning to our natives all over the world
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