The incident resulted in the contamination of the whole river as well as the groundwater. A National Public Radio report shows that the Navajo community is still reeling from the largest release of radioactive material in US history. In 1979, a tailings disposal pond breached its dam, pouring almost 100 million gallons of nuclear waste into the Puerco River and onto the Navajo Nation. According to Vox News' investigation, though lacking in comprehensive analysis of adverse health effects, various studies have linked mining areas in Navajo Nation to higher rates of cancer, kidney and cardiovascular diseases and birth defects.
Starting from the 1950s, thousands of Navajo people worked in local uranium mines, but were poorly paid, uninformed about and unprotected from the dangers of uranium dust inhalation and chronic radiation exposure. To date, the US government still turns a blind eye to the adverse health consequences of the testing program with the affected tribal residents receiving no official compensation.īesides Shoshone, the Navajo Nation also falls victim to the toxic repercussions of US nuclear aspiration.
#Tribal wars 2 nuke series
The US government intended to "commit genocide because these things were developed without our consent," and "there are test series with specific goals to expose humans to radiation," said Ian Zabarte. Since then, the once peaceful land has been plagued by nuclear bombing tests for decades. However, for the US government, the land was regarded as a prime site for nuclear tests, which also perfectly served its purpose of "racial cleansing." In 1951, in violation of the treaty, the US government established the Nevada Test Site on Shoshone territory. According to the treaty, the Shoshone, who had been living on the land for at least 10,000 years, would continue to own it but allow the US government to establish military posts and mineral mines there in exchange for economic gains.
The tragic destiny started with the Treaty of Ruby Valley in 1863, when the Western Shoshone agreed to hand certain rights to the US government as a gesture to maintain peace and friendship. The only official document reporting the health and safety information regarding the nuclear testing comes from the US Department of Energy (DOE), which still remains classified. According to the tribe's record, the testing program killed thousands of local residents and left many with nuclear-related cancers and other illnesses. In a recent interview with Russia Today, Ian Zabarte, head of the Western Shoshone native American tribe revealed that there were 928 tests conducted on the land of the Shoshone tribe from 1951 to 1992, producing nuclear fallout of around 620 kilotons, approximately 48 times the amount of the Hiroshima bombing in 1945. Today, the devastating effects of US ambition in the nuclear arms race with the Soviet Union during the Cold War continue to victimize generations of native American tribes. The Shoshone native American tribe has long been considered "the most bombed nation on earth" as their sacred land was turned into a US nuclear weapons testing site. My grandfather always told me, 'stop kicking up dust.' Now I understand that it was because of the radioactive fallout." Illustration: Liu Rui/GT"As a Shoshone, we always had horses.
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