Red Water Pond Road - Building Bridges: Pt. 3

The day before was long, after visiting Beata in Espanola and seeing Tsankawi it also felt intense. I slept well that night back in Albuquerque. Rest was short as I rose before the sun to say some good words and greet the day which I knew would be a long haul as well. As if you wouldn't believe that the first day was all serious and kinda wild, this next one would move with similar energy, Ha, minus any run in with the laws!

That morning while Leona was in class, Jenn and I traveled to the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center Museum. It was either go see that or go see the Atomic energy Museum, both in Albuquerque. We were pretty sure what the pro-nuke museum was gonna be like but we had no idea what the Pueblo Culture museum would be like so we did that and it was so worth the time! We then went and seen the Albuquerque Center for peace and Justice and then met Leona after class. It was in the parking lot of Southwest Research Information Center(SRIC). After checking out the place and meeting Don the director we would travel to the Church Rock Red Water Pond Road Community, home of Edith Hood and Bertha Nez. Two elders that I instantly felt at home with. By the way we all ended up laughing around before the visit was over, I like to think they felt similar.

They lived near the site of the 1979 Church Rock uranium Tailings Spill. The largest uranium spill/accident to ever happen on this continent's soil! Theirs and surrounding communities are still experiencing the residual effects. After the Church Rock spill, the levels of radiation were so bad that people were no longer safely able to harvest materials for hogans, clothes and medicines. For most Indigenous people in that area at the time, and fairly often today, not having plants, water, air and sheep available has led to dependence on materials supplied by outside sources and western medicines to address sickness from the impacts. It takes us out of the natural setting and assimilates us to modern western society in a twisted way. This process is known as Nuclear Colonialism, a system of domination where governments and corporations seek out, target and devastate indigenous peoples and lands to maintain the nuclear process.

On the way we drove through Acoma Pueblo lands to see Petuuche Gilbert, who we would meet the next day. While traveling through Acoma, Leona wanted to point out “Sky City”. An ancient Ceremonial city still in use but closed off to the public. There’s a pull off where you can look into a massive valley and see the ancient city on top of a Mesa. As we pulled off the road to look at it we noticed a few white trucks with government tags and we got kinda nervous, mainly because we were alone and had also had the run in with the ranger the day before that left a sticky feeling that carried into this moment. But, when we begin to notice the people that were gathered around the lookout we begin to notice it was all natives and their vibe was kinda light as they looked out at the city on the plateau in the valley with laughter and smiles. As Leona gave us a history of the place, a woman from their group approached us, lol we got nervous here too as there was a sign that clearly stated the rez was closed to the public(though we had permission by a resident to visit their community and were also just passing through). The woman introduced herself, humble but firm, and asked if we would take a picture of the group. They ended up being from the Acoma and White Mountain Apache food distribution program and were meeting to share intertribal programming. This site was a part of their tour. After exchanging pleasantries, laughing around and telling them our purpose here, we learned that the woman who approached us was the Acoma Pueblo Governor's wife, she had been a leader in the traditional and political community of the tribe for a long time. We were more than surprised, especially when she invited us down into the valley to the foot of the ancient ceremonial city and “maybe up to see it” if things went right. We were honored, big time, those areas are closed off to the public generally and an invitation from one of the high Matriarchs was big. Leona said that that doesn't happen, lol, like even to most people. We had to pass, already running behind, we had two elders waiting on us and we were still 30 minutes from them at Red Water Pond Road, and we couldn't keep them waiting.

Pulling up to the Red Water Pond Road Community we could see the building we were meeting at and their vehicles. I mentioned this before but Edith and Bertha had a familiar type of energy that reminded me of home. This is their home area and they use this center as not only an educational place for folks to learn about the uranium issues but also a space to see where Dine culture also lives. This is the story of the People and the land. These folks were living their indigenous existence, already interrupted by violent colonialism, when the uranium boom happened that led to this community literally being surrounded by abandoned uranium mines and left over sediment from the spill and accident. United Nuclear and Kerr-McGee were the major companies that left a horrible legacy of contamination in the water and on the land .

“That there are a lot of places they did those mines never telling people what they were doing, how that it is dangerous and bad for your health, and now they are finding that out.” -Edith Hood, Dine’, Red Water Pond Community Association

Edith shared about the 1979 spill, the cleanup/lack of, organizing to go to Washington DC about it, and her family's history in the area. She was a strong woman with a fierce eye. Bertha told us of her childhood, the uranium prospecting, working in the mines and the health impacts people faced as they faced uranium mining. She was soft spoken and her eyes carried wisdom. Edith also had a story about how the people were treated after the accident and how the cleanups were shady and dangerous because stirring the sediment back up made the air and land unsafe again. She finished with a story of her aunt wondering why the uranium companies left all those piles of waste, why didn’t they take those with them. We would learn later that those piles are right up against a Mesa directly behind the center and many more within a mile radius.

Another story was about how they had to go to Washington DC before they were heard and the talks have remained slow but at least the NRC people are coming there now to talk. Berthas’ stories had to do with the uranium mining experiences mainly. She told a story of the prospectors going up on top of a mesa and coming back down with skeletons, not like an archaeological dig but just like, the prospectors from the companies went up there prospecting, found a burial site and decided to do what they wanted with it. She said she always wondered what happened to that person and if it was an ancestor. That was the story that made me the most upset because I felt it the deepest. Bertha gave accounts of things as a child up to her current age that had to do with the mining issues and uranium spill. As a child she didn't know, as an adult when she worked in the mines she didn't know. No one ever said that the uranium was harmful, no one ever told them that it was dangerous.

At the same time while hearing all this there was a good energy in the air for us as we found plenty of moments of laughter and general understanding about lots of things. We had to wrap up because it was starting to get dark but we exchanged info and said our “until we meet again”, which was cool because the dine folks have a saying similar to the cherokee saying “donadagohvi” which expresses that we will cross paths again.

*Remember to please take the time and read the links that are included in this, they tell important stories as well and give good context and insight.

Jesse Deer in Water at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center Museum

Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice

Red Water Pond Road Community Building with mesa in the background

Waste from uranium mining left beside the mesa

The waterway contaminated by 94 million gallons of toxic wastewater in Church Rock

The four sacred directional mountains illustrated at the Red Water Pond Road Community Building

CRAFTMarch 17, 2023