Navajo Nation Does Sovereignty: No Illegal Uranium Transports

Cameron, Navajo Nation, AZ

“Does life really matter? That is the ultimate question.” – Navajo Nation Delegate Casey Allen Johnson

Around 50 community members, activists, officials, elders, and children prayerfully marched half a mile from the Navajo Arts and Crafts Center to the Cameron Chapter House while carrying banners saying “Respect Tribal Sovereignty. No More Cancer. No More Uranium” “Shut Down Uranium Mines Now” and “Łeetso Dooda”. Three days prior, on July 30, 2024, Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren deployed Navajo police to stop the illegal transport of uranium across the reservation. Navajo Nation Office of the First Lady, Jasmine Blackwater-Nygren called on the community and local grassroots Diné activists to join in a walk against uranium transport through Navajo Nation. An assertion of sovereignty that many are hopeful will lead to halt to uranium mining and transport in Navajo Nation.

For decades, local grassroots activists have advocated against the repercussions of uranium in Navajo communities. Many face the loss of relatives to cancer caused by radioactive contamination and many live in areas where land, water, and livestock are contaminated. 

Arizona Governor Hobbs has paused uranium transport, supporting the move by President Nygren. The historic move has bigger aspirations to be realized; it is a disruption to the entire nuclear process. While the U.S. induces hyper-imperialism, a last ditch effort to maintain global hegemony through its military force, those within the belly of the beast suffer and are often overlooked in the process of U.S. imperialism. 

Although not a prominent point in today’s event, the disruption of the nuclear process echos to those in the Global South. While the U.S. arms Israel and Ukraine, and as other initiatives to stop them have failed, Navajo Nation shows us that tribal sovereignty can be used to disrupt the flow of nuclear arms. The move to protect the tribes along the uranium transport route should be seen as protection to those whom the U.S. targets. From within the belly of the beast, Indigenous nations frontline the struggles of imperialism.

Watch the livestream of the event here.

@therednationpodcast Navajo Nation Does Sovereignty: No Illegal Uranium Transports Link to article and livestream by @NDN Collective in our bio! #navajonation #navajotiktok #uranium ♬ original sound – The Red Nation Podcast