Remembering the “Yellow Sand”
Farmington Hosts Navajo Rights Movement
by Brenda Norrell
FARMINGTON, New Mexico, U.S.
Lyrics flowed like water, beneath the Turquoise Sky, as the once-most racist town in America opened its arms to the Navajo rights movement, ushered in with the electro-beat of Irene Bedard and folk-rogue Keith Secola.
Centerstage at the Farmington Civic Center, Navajo Vincent Craig sang of the “yellow sand” which took the lives of Dine’ grandfathers, uncles and brothers; sheepherders and miners never told of the dangers of uranium mining during the Cold War.
“Daddy who was a miner,” Craig sang, “All his life he worked so hard to be a family man, but the government never told him about working in the yellow sand.”
With activist Winona LaDuke and Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich slated for Saturday, the Dine Bidziil (Navajo Strength) Convention hosted by grassroots organizations began with an eclectic Native music show destined for the road.
Norman Brown, Navajo organizer, said the Mayor of Farmington signed a proclamation of support and would welcome those arriving Saturday morning in the struggle for the protection of water, land, sacred sites and human rights.
Navajo grandmothers came in their traditional cotton skirts and flowered scarves to listen to the sounds of country, rap and hip-hop Friday night. There was the reggae of Native Roots’ and hard rock Ethnic DeGeneration. “Paintings” offered a tribute to those in the struggles of Big Mountain, Wounded Knee and the bordertown of Gallup.
Welcoming other artists and poets to join him onstage, Keith Secola said it was stone-soup style. In these times, he said, the best we can do is to be kind and loving to one another.
Bedard, long known as an actress, remembered Indian people in Alaska dying from buried uranium and radiation.
An unexpected musical hit, she performed her funky underground sound with husband Deni on guitar. Focused on love and kindness, Irene and Deni call themselves “ID” and their first release was nominated for a Native American Music Award.
“This concert is to bring the people together,” Brown said as he opened the show. “Sixty-five years is long enough to live with uranium and radiation.”
With this movement stemming form the lives of Navajo miners long dead, Brown said Navajo children are the victims today. Now Navajos are concerned that their gene pool has been affected by decades of radiation.
With new uranium development targeting the Navajo Nation in the federal energy bill, Brown said it is time to put an end to the legacy of death.
The modern-day Navajo environmental movement is rooted in the Four Corners, as is the longstanding legacy of death from uranium mines where Navajos worked without protective clothing.
In 1992, Leroy Jackson came to Farmington with his wife, Adella Begaye of Tsaile, Ariz., and a handful of friends. Crowded in a small room, they announced the birth of a new Navajo environmental movement to protect the old-growth yellow pines of the Navajos’ Chuska Mountains.
Jackson, found dead in 1993 in Chama, N.M, never doubted that someday Navajos would emerge in the forefront and protect the water and land; that their voices would be heard throughout the nation and the world.
As sunset fell on Farmington, the town once described as the most racist town in America after Navajos were repeatedly tortured to death over three decades, Dine Bidziil offered a flash of hope.
“They used to call it the Selma, Alabama, of the West,” said Robert Tohe, here to urge protection of the San Francisco Peaks in Flagstaff, Ariz., one of the Navajos’ Four Sacred Mountains, from recycled sewer water for snowmaking for ski tourism.
Dedicating a song to Brown for carrying on the struggle, Navajo singer Tasha Terry said, “Thank you for letting us do this in the Beauty Way.”
The convention, “Healing the Uranium Legacy,” continues Saturday at the Farmington Civic Center, with sessions on water, land and treaty rights. An awards ceremony will be held Saturday night.
Brenda Norell
About the author
Brenda Norrell reports in indigenous issues throughout North and Latin America. She can be reached at brendanorrell@yahoo.com
http://bsnorrell.tripod.com
http://www.brendanorrell.blogspot.com
Please continue for more information ...
Farmington Hosts Navajo Rights Movement
by Brenda Norrell
FARMINGTON, New Mexico, U.S.
Lyrics flowed like water, beneath the Turquoise Sky, as the once-most racist town in America opened its arms to the Navajo rights movement, ushered in with the electro-beat of Irene Bedard and folk-rogue Keith Secola.
Centerstage at the Farmington Civic Center, Navajo Vincent Craig sang of the “yellow sand” which took the lives of Dine’ grandfathers, uncles and brothers; sheepherders and miners never told of the dangers of uranium mining during the Cold War.
“Daddy who was a miner,” Craig sang, “All his life he worked so hard to be a family man, but the government never told him about working in the yellow sand.”
With activist Winona LaDuke and Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich slated for Saturday, the Dine Bidziil (Navajo Strength) Convention hosted by grassroots organizations began with an eclectic Native music show destined for the road.
Norman Brown, Navajo organizer, said the Mayor of Farmington signed a proclamation of support and would welcome those arriving Saturday morning in the struggle for the protection of water, land, sacred sites and human rights.
Navajo grandmothers came in their traditional cotton skirts and flowered scarves to listen to the sounds of country, rap and hip-hop Friday night. There was the reggae of Native Roots’ and hard rock Ethnic DeGeneration. “Paintings” offered a tribute to those in the struggles of Big Mountain, Wounded Knee and the bordertown of Gallup.
Welcoming other artists and poets to join him onstage, Keith Secola said it was stone-soup style. In these times, he said, the best we can do is to be kind and loving to one another.
Bedard, long known as an actress, remembered Indian people in Alaska dying from buried uranium and radiation.
An unexpected musical hit, she performed her funky underground sound with husband Deni on guitar. Focused on love and kindness, Irene and Deni call themselves “ID” and their first release was nominated for a Native American Music Award.
“This concert is to bring the people together,” Brown said as he opened the show. “Sixty-five years is long enough to live with uranium and radiation.”
With this movement stemming form the lives of Navajo miners long dead, Brown said Navajo children are the victims today. Now Navajos are concerned that their gene pool has been affected by decades of radiation.
With new uranium development targeting the Navajo Nation in the federal energy bill, Brown said it is time to put an end to the legacy of death.
The modern-day Navajo environmental movement is rooted in the Four Corners, as is the longstanding legacy of death from uranium mines where Navajos worked without protective clothing.
In 1992, Leroy Jackson came to Farmington with his wife, Adella Begaye of Tsaile, Ariz., and a handful of friends. Crowded in a small room, they announced the birth of a new Navajo environmental movement to protect the old-growth yellow pines of the Navajos’ Chuska Mountains.
Jackson, found dead in 1993 in Chama, N.M, never doubted that someday Navajos would emerge in the forefront and protect the water and land; that their voices would be heard throughout the nation and the world.
As sunset fell on Farmington, the town once described as the most racist town in America after Navajos were repeatedly tortured to death over three decades, Dine Bidziil offered a flash of hope.
“They used to call it the Selma, Alabama, of the West,” said Robert Tohe, here to urge protection of the San Francisco Peaks in Flagstaff, Ariz., one of the Navajos’ Four Sacred Mountains, from recycled sewer water for snowmaking for ski tourism.
Dedicating a song to Brown for carrying on the struggle, Navajo singer Tasha Terry said, “Thank you for letting us do this in the Beauty Way.”
The convention, “Healing the Uranium Legacy,” continues Saturday at the Farmington Civic Center, with sessions on water, land and treaty rights. An awards ceremony will be held Saturday night.
Brenda Norell
About the author
Brenda Norrell reports in indigenous issues throughout North and Latin America. She can be reached at brendanorrell@yahoo.com
http://bsnorrell.tripod.com
http://www.brendanorrell.blogspot.com
Please continue for more information ...