The Navajo Nation produces most of the energy for the southwest, but many Navajo homes lack sanitation and piped water. In 1966 the US government imposed a 43-year Bennett Freeze on more than 1.6 million acres denying all infrastructure repairs or construction. Only 3 percent of the families in these communities have electricity and only 10 percent have running water (HR5168, 2004). During the “freeze,” more than 100 million tons of mill tailings accumulated in the Four Corners area of the southwest. These mill tailings contain radium and thorium with a half-life of 80,000 years. Superfund reports 520 abandoned uranium mines on the Navajo Nation with 25% of the unregulated sources in the western Navajo reservation exceeding drinking water standards for kidney toxicants, including uranium.
Forgotten People believes the lack of remedial action is discrimination and policy makers need to be educated about health implications in order to make informed choices thereby avoiding unintended harm and costs. The United Nations is currently holding consultations on private sector participation under provisions of water and sanitation services. Forgotten People believes directly affected need a seat at the Navajo Nation’s and the Federal government’s table with participatory involvement and access to information to ensure the U.S. government meets its commitment to protect public health, the environment, and reduce Indigenous households lacking sanitation and safe drinking water.
In the Black Falls water project, the Grassroots Driven Development (GDD) methods and strategies were used to guide the community involvement in a partnership with the EPA. In order to work effectively with its partners, the Black Falls community had to evolve from a needs-based or dependency approach to the agencies into an assumption of full responsibility for their own development. At the conclusion of the project, both community members and partners in the government agencies stated that the project had been successful not just in achieving its tangible goals, but also in introducing an effective approach for bottom-up development. The GDD participatory approach resonates with the people because it is how Dine’ society traditionally functioned.
Click here for Forgotten People’s Organizational Structure.
