During the 2014 fall break between Oct 11 and 18, the three members of Nuclear Princeton, Jessica Lambert, Sam Lee Regan, and Ella Weber, traveled across the Four Corners region (New Mexico, Utah, and Arizona) to connect with fellow anti-nuclear activists, show up in solidarity with the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe in their protests against a uranium mill in their community, and learn more about the broad and far-reaching nuclear assaults against Native communities in the Southwest. This research trip is a follow-up to the two-day workshop “Indian Country in the American Nuclear Age” in May 2024 NP co-organized with the Program on Science and Global Security at Princeton. At the workshop, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe delegates (Yolanda Badback, Anferny Cly, and Antonio Cly) invited us to join the Spiritual Walk. Since Princeton’s fall break coincided with the Walk & Protest, we took the opportunity to further our relationship with the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and others and learn from the communities fighting for their lands, rights, and justice in the Uranium-rich west. 

After driving through the nuclear landscape of New Mexico (we will mention our stops later), on Oct 12th, we attended the Spiritual Walk and Protest with members of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe against the White Mesa Uranium Mill, just outside the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation. Members of this community are downwind of the mill and are experiencing adverse health impacts and elevated rates of cancer, likely as a result of this mill. 

We first gathered at the White Mesa Community Center and made posters for the walk. Here, we ran into Princeton Alum from the ‘70s, Larry Nez (Navajo)! Then, we all circled up to listen to the speakers. We heard prayer songs to help protect and bless our day. Then, we heard from community members involved in advocacy against the uranium mill and other anti-nuclear activism. They spoke about the disproportionate health impacts and cancers that members of their community face, which they attribute to the mill. It was inspiring to be surrounded by so many people who care deeply about protecting the land and people of White Mesa.

We began our journey of five miles from the White Mesa Community Center to the White Mesa Uranium Mill with Halluci Nation’s song “Electric Pow Wow Drum” blaring from the speaker strapped to the top of the car, leading us north. An American Indian Movement Flag flanked by two rainbow two-spirit flags waved in the breeze. 

Soon, we realized the Walk was not just about protest but about building and nurturing relations. As we marched, we had the chance to have conversations with an inspiring group of concerned community members. We talked with Bradley Angel, a lifelong activist against environmental injustice and author of one of the only reports comprehensively maps out the scope of environmental assaults against American Indian Lands, “The Toxic Threat to Indian Lands” (1991). In this article, Angel shows that industries and the U.S. Government together have coerced tribal nations into agreeing to waste dumps by promising “huge amounts of money, mak[ing] vague promises about jobs, and mak[ing] exaggerated and often false claims about the alleged safety of their dangerous proposals” (Angel 1991, 1). Industries have intimidated Tribal nations into trading adverse effects on environmental sustainability and public health for immediate, short-term economic benefits.

We also ran into Teresa Montoya (Navajo), an assistant professor at the University of Chicago. She is currently on sabbatical working on her first book, tentatively titled Permeable: Diné Politics of Extraction and Exposure. This work will explore “territorial dispossession and environmental toxicity as pervasive features of contemporary Indigenous life.” Her other work - much of which is through photography - has explored these concepts through the toxic reach of the Gold King Uranium Mine spill and the scars of railroads used to transport uranium through the land. Scholars like Dr. Montoya inspire Native and Indigenous students who are getting an education and imagine themselves using it to serve their communities.

We also had the chance to catch up with an anti-nuclear activist, Leona Morgan, co-founder of the nonprofits Haul No!, Nuclear Issues Study Group, and Diné No Nukes. She is a community organizer and has been fighting nuclear colonialism since 2007. Leona has been an important community partner of Nuclear Princeton since its conception in 2020. She most recently attended “Indian Country in the American Nuclear Age” this past May. We learned that Leona is currently a graduate student at the University of New Mexico, pursuing a Master of Community and Regional Planning, focusing on Indigenous Planning. We look forward to learning how she will use her degree to continue supporting Native and Indigenous communities. 

As we walked, there was laughter, tears, and community building. While many protestors were from the White Mesa community, even more were not Ute and were there in solidarity. Native people from all across the country - and non-Native allies - came together in this space to provide support to the White Mesa community as they continue to fight for their lives and lands.

Once we arrived at the mill, there was an incredibly heartfelt and emotional ceremony. It started with speeches from Yolanda Badback and her family. A man and a young boy played the drums and sang medicinal songs while the crowd sat in silence. After the ceremony, the attendees carpooled back to the community center to eat lunch together. 

Radiation levels observed on our Geiger counter were consistently elevated throughout the walk, with the highest levels detected in the dirt surrounding the road at the entrance to the mill, reaching levels of 0.400 μSv.

On our way up to the Spiritual Walk and Protest from Albuquerque, NM, we stopped in Shiprock, NM, located in the Navajo Nation, to visit a Uranium Waste site run by the Navajo Nation. We drove up to the fence surrounding the waste pile, decorated with signs warning of “the nuclear danger.” We observed elevated background radiation levels at the site. A whole neighborhood of families live 200 feet from the tailings pile. Radioactive waste from this site is leaching into the San Juan River. When Keely and Jessica visited this site last year with Kathleen Tsosie (Navajo), a cancer survivor and anti-nuclear activist, she spoke about the extremely elevated rates of cancers that families surrounding the tailings pile experience.

In Bernalillo, NM, we met up with Yolandra Toya-Gomez ‘88 (Jicarilla Apache) and her husband for lunch. Yolandra is the first Native American woman trustee of Princeton, and her husband, Anthony Gomez, works at Los Alamos as a contractor. He described the immense secrecy required to work there, especially as the US ramps up plutonium pit production.

After the Spiritual Walk, we drove further up north to Moab, Utah. There is a large uranium tailings pile just outside of town, and the US plans to build a uranium mill here as well. In 1952, geologist Charles Steen - who would later become known as the “King of Uranium” - discovered a huge uranium deposit in Moab. Moab became the “Uranium Capital of the  World,” a center point for uranium mining as the US sought uranium for the creation of the nuclear bomb.

Per the recommendation of Dr. Montoya, we ate dinner at Steen’s old house, which has been renovated into a restaurant - the Sunset Grill. The restaurant was filled with mining memorabilia and uranium glass. The restaurant celebrated Charlie Steen and his contributions to the community. It was a weird contradiction between the Spiritual Walk we attended earlier in the day. The menu gave a history of Steen, glorifying his contributions to Moab and the uranium boom he brought, even featuring a uranium-themed cocktail, the “U-92.” Named after the atomic number 92, this drink glows with atomic green. Made with Vodka, Midori, Simple Syrup, and Fresh Citrus.

The next day, we drove south to meet up with Dr. Tommy Rock (Navajo), an assistant professor at Northern Arizona University at the Monument Valley Tribal Park - a park owned and operated by the Navajo Nation. We hopped in Tommy’s lifted pickup truck and drove deep into the heart of the park. Our first stop was to visit Effie Yazzie (Navajo), one of the 20 or so people who still live in the park. Tommy chatted with her about her newly installed solar panels. Until the last few years, Effie has had no power or running water in her home. Tommy has worked with families in Monument Valley to install solar panels and water collection systems. 

We then drove deeper into the park and up to a water tank Tommy had installed two years ago. This tank feeds from a spring in the side of the mesa, collecting water so the families living in Monument Valley can have more easy and reliable access to water. Effie and Tommy are working to start up a garden in this area of the park, and using water from the tank for irrigation. Here, we checked the water level in the tank and collected a water sample to ensure the water was safe for drinking. Tommy will ship this water sample to Princeton Professor John Higgins’s lab to be tested for heavy metals, particularly arsenic and uranium. There are at least two abandoned uranium mines in Monument Valley Tribal Park.

The next day, after spending the night in Flagstaff, AZ, we drove up to see the Pinyon Plain mine. This mine is on public lands in the Kaibab National Forest, seven miles south of the Grand Canyon. The Pinyon Plain mine began operations in December 2023 for the first time after being approved nearly 40 years ago. We drove down the long and winding road through the National Forest, flanked by orange “Uranium Haul Road” signs. At a few points, we got out of the car and used our Geiger counter to test the dirt. The levels we observed were much higher than anywhere we had seen before, reaching a peak at 0.580 μSv, more than five times the reading we would normally get in Princeton. Hundreds of free-range cattle wandered these roads, consuming vegetation just off the road alongside several camping sites within a mile of the mine.

When we finally arrived at the mine, it started immediately downpouring. It made the experience a bit ominous. The mine was inside of a barbed wire fence with an open gate. Inside, there’s a large headframe that runs an “elevator” that accesses the underground mine, an evaporation pond, a couple of tanks, an ore stockpile, a maintenance building, and an office. There were loud construction sounds coming from inside. We did not enter the gates, but we measured elevated background radiation right outside. Pinyon Plain mine has received significant backlash from environmental organizations and Tribal Nations, as it threatens the Grand Canyon, putting it at risk for groundwater contamination, harm to wildlife, releasing radioactive dust, and more. 

The Pinyon Plain mine is operated by Energy Fuels, the same company that operates the White Mesa Uranium Mill. In August 2024, Energy Fuels illegally transported uranium ore from the Pinyon Plain Mine to the White Mesa Uranium Mill through the Navajo Nation, which bans uranium transport over their lands. Energy Fuels says they comply with approximately 3/4th of the new regulations. Still, they say they do not plan to follow all of the regulations because they are negotiating with the tribe.

After visiting the Pinyon Plain Uranium Mine, we visited the Grand Canyon National Park to see the beautiful landscapes that are threatened by the impacts of uranium mining, from Pinyon Plain and other proposed uranium mining sites. These vast landscapes have been home to numerous Tribal Nations for millennia.

After the Grand Canyon, we drove north and visited Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument. This National Monument was established by President Biden in 2023 in large part to defend against uranium mining in and around the Grand Canyon. This monument was designated after advocacy from the Grand Canyon Tribal Coalition and other organizations, coalitions, and individuals. Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni “spans 917,618 acres of forests and grasslands to the north of and south of Grand Canyon National Park, including cultural and religious sites, plants, animals, and important water sources that flow into the Colorado River.” We also visited Zion National Park, another public land unit that protects lands from uranium mining. Uranium ore Southwest is present in and around Zion National Park, but the National Park designation protects the boundaries of the park from mine development. There are numerous abandoned uranium mines around the edges of the park.  

This trip was incredibly meaningful and important for the Nuclear Princeton team for several reasons. First, to be in and experience these beautiful landscapes that are so significant and meaningful for Tribes – and to see first-hand how the landscapes and Indigenous peoples have been negatively impacted by nuclear development – was extremely illuminating and helped us better understand the experience of communities on the ground. More importantly, to support the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and their march in protest of the uranium mill in their community was extremely meaningful. We got to reconnect with friends and colleagues in the fight against nuclear development on Tribal Lands and show up as true, dedicated partners in this advocacy. We are so grateful to have had the opportunity to visit the southwest and will use the knowledge we gained on this trip to advance the fight against nuclear colonialism.

During the duration of the trip, including the day of the Ute Mountain Ute spiritual walk, Sam documented different landscapes and individuals. With Ella and Jessica's assistance, we got quality videos of the spiritual walk and recorded songs and dialogues. Through the photography and film captured throughout the trip, Sam created a short film and printed a series of photographs, which will be displayed on the Nuclear Princeton website and at an in-person Princeton-Hiroshima exhibition scheduled for Fall 2025. The experimental short film Gadohi explores the relationship between land and people through visual and sonic elements. This work aims to express an Indigenous desire to cultivate and uphold affinity and respect for land, water, community, and health, all of which have been irreversibly affected by U.S. radioactive nation-building.