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Indigenous People and the
Nuclear Age
United States of America
US Nuclear Testing, 1945-1992
Total Tests: 1054
| Test Sites |
Affected Groups |
(White Sands) Alamogordo, New Mexico
(proposed) Mescalero Waste Facility
|
Mescalero Apache |
Carlsbad, New Mexico
Carlsbad Waste Facility |
Mescalero Apache |
Farmington, New Mexico
|
near Jicarilla Apache |
| Grand Valley, Colorado
|
non-indigenous land |
| Rifle, Colorado |
non-indigenous land |
| Nevada:
Fallon
Central Nevada
Nevada Test Site
Bombing Range
Nellis Airforce Range
(proposed) Yucca Mountain Waste Facility |
Western Shoshone Tribal Lands
(Ruby Valley Treaty of 1863) |
| Amchitka, Alaska |
Ancestral home of the Aleut people, though
had no permanent populations since 1832 |
Hattiesburg, Mississippi
|
no indigenous people |
| Enewetak Atoll |
Marshallese relocated but still exposed |
| Bikini Atoll |
Bikinians – relocated, but still exposed |
| Johnston Island (1962) |
Marshallese |
| Marshall Islands |
Marshallese (includes Bikinians) |
Christmas Island (1957-1958, 1962)
|
Kiribati |
| Central Pacific Ocean |
|
| South Atlantic Ocean |
|
Indigenous groups affected
by nuclear testing, disasters, and waste
Marshallese (Rongelap and surrounding Atolls)
and Bikinian (Bikini Atoll)
Bikini Atoll and Enewetak Atoll 1946-1958, 67 tests conducted
– fallout affected surrounding Atolls of the Marshall Islands
In 1946, the Bikinian inhabitants of Bikini Atoll, 167 people,
were requested by the Navy Commodore Wyatt, a representative of
the US government to leave their island, so that the atoll could
be used "for the good of mankind and to end all world wars."
On July 1, 1946, an atomic bomb code-named Able was dropped on Bikini,
followed on July 25 by Baker. Baker was far more devastating and
radioactive fallout was everywhere. Between 1946 and 1958, 67 tests
were conducted at Bikini and Enewetak Atolls. Another test Bravo
had far reaching effects for the Marshallese people. “Four
atolls—Bikini, Enewetak, Utirik, and Rongelap—were soaked
in Bravo's snow-like fallout. Although the military had learned
many hours before the blast that the winds were heading toward inhabited
islands, they chose not to evacuate the residents or delay the test.”
Thyroid diseases, cancers, stillbirths increased in the Marshallese
population, after exposure to the radioactive fallout of the tests.
These symptoms were most pronounced in relation to the inhabitants
proximity to the testing sites, with those closest suffering the
most severe consequences. Since many Marshallese depend on fishing
and coconut cultivation, the contamination of the environment exposed
them to extremely high quantities of heavy metals and radionuclides
ingested by the fish and coconut trees and then by the Marshallese
through their diet. It is assumed,
however, that the current populations of Marshallese people would
not be as significantly at risk because their diets include a large
portion of imported products that would not have radioactive contamination.
Sources:
Kiribati (formerly Gilbertese)
Christmas (Kiritimati) Island Nuclear Tests 1957-1958 (UK)
1962 (US)
The Kiribati are considered a Micronesian people. Although they
now have independence, while their islands were a protectorate of
the United Kingdom (1892-1979), they would have qualified as an
indigenous people. The Kiribati have inhabited the string of islands
and atolls for hundreds
of years.
Both the United States and the United Kingdom conducted nuclear
tests on Christmas Island, one of the islands of the Kiribati people.
The British tests occurred between 1957 and 1958, and the US tests
took place in 1962. The effects of these tests included a temporary
forced evacuation of the island, and radioactive exposure of some
residents of Kiribati. However,
“recent tests have shown that there are no high radiation
levels on the island.”
As
recently as 2006, 300 islanders, including Suitupe Kirotomi
were petitioning the European Parliament to grant them justice from
the United Kingdom for effects suffered due to radioactive exposure
on Christmas Island. After having been evacuated from her home because
of the nuclear tests, Suitupe Kirotomi was on the deck of a ship
not far from Christmas Island when radioactive rain fell on her.
Her face is scarred and at the time of the exposure, she also suffered
hairloss. The government of the UK has strongly objected to the
islanders’ claims, and continues to fight their petitions.
Unangen (Aleut)
Amitchka Island Nuclear Tests 1965-1971, Aleutian Archipelago
The
Unangen are an indigenous group of Arctic inhabitants who have
lived in the Bering region between northern North America and northern
Asia for over 4,000 years. Russians called them Aleut, the name
by which the Unangen are commonly known. The Aleutian Archipelago,
including the island of Amchitka form the ancestral lands and current
home of this Arctic people. The Unangen are related to the Inuit
people, and have two distinct languages: Unalaskan and Autan. The
Unangen (Aleut) had already experienced devastating contact with
outsiders before the nuclear testing on their lands. Russian and
European explorers, fisherman and hunters had abused, enslaved them
and thus decimated their population, reducing their numbers by 80%
between the beginning and close of the 18th century. Government
policies of the US and Russia, also had devastating effects on the
Unangen population and communities.
Like the Russian test site, Novaya Zemlya, Amchitka Island was
chosen by the US Department of Energy for its remote location in
the Arctic. Tests were conducted between 1965 and 1971. These tests
included MILROW and CANNIKIN, the latter which inspired the creation
of Greenpeace. Both tests were conducted underground, with the Cannikin
test being the largest underground nuclear weapons test in the US.
The assumed remoteness of Amchitka Island is somewhat overstated
by popular map projections. The nearest large city is Russian, not
North American, and Amchitka lies within a region of importance
to the international seafood industry, Asian-North American commerce,
and Aleutian native populations. “What is remote to some people
is home to other, though fewer, people… They are Native people
living nearby in the Aleutians who derive most of their diet directly
from the land and sea.”3
Although Amchitka island had not had a permanent population since
the mid 19th century, as Eichelberger and his colleagues who have
done independent risk analysis on Amchitka for the Department of
Energy point out “the current dearth of a local population
on Amchitka is an anomaly… reflecting catastrophic decline
in the Aleut population as a result of Western contact.”4
Aleuts continue to live in the archipelago of which Amchitka is
a part, and any contamination from the radioactive materials deposited
at the test site, and exacerbated by volatile tectonic (earthquake)
activity affects the ecosystem of the entire Aleutian region. The
Aleut traditional and contemporary lifestyle is heavily dependent
on that environment for food and livelihood – through fishing
and hunting. Contamination of water, marine systems, and wildlife
spells disaster for the Aleuts’ continued survival and health.
Recent studies have shown that radionuclides and heavy metals are
being leaked from the test site into the environment. Furthermore,
the seismic activity of the region is cause for concern that new
faults and fissures adjacent to the test site might release larger
amounts of radioactive contaminants into the environment. There
is no remedy for the damage done to the Aleutian island of Amchitka.
The Department of Energy and environmental watch-dog groups monitor
the island, but no technology exists to remove or fully secure the
nuclear waste buried on Amchitka.5
Sources:
Mescalero Apache, “Ndé”
White Sands nuclear testing site near Alamogordo, NM; Carlsbad,
NM, nuclear waste facility; (proposed) Mescalero nuclear waste facility
The
Mescalero Apache were called “mescalero” by Spanish
explorers because the mescal (agave) cactus was a principal part
of their diet. The word Apache seems to have been used by other
tribes in the area to refer to this group that referred to themselves
as “Ndé” meaning people. The Apache were forcibly
removed from their tribal lands in the 19th century by the US government.
In 1873, President Ulysses S Grant established the Mescalero Indian
Reservation by executive order. Members of the Lipan, Chiricahuah
and Mescalero Apache groups were relocated to the designated area,
from other regions and internment camps.
The first nuclear weapons test, the Trinity Test was conducted
on July 15, 1945, at the White Sands testing facility near Alamogordo,
NM. The testing grounds directly
affect the reservation of the Mescaleros, and much of the fallout
from that and subsequent tests fell on the Mescaleros and their
lands because of their proximity.
The nuclear
testing site and waste dump in Carlsbad, New Mexico lies on
the former lands of the Mescalero Apache, and about 100 miles from
the current Reservation boundaries. An underground nuclear test
was performed in Carlsbad on December 10, 1961. The Waste Isolation
Pilot Plant located 26 miles east of Carlsbad, just south of the
reservation. The waste to
be deposited there will travel through portions of the reservation,
and of 5 other tribal reservations. A nuclear waste facility on
Mescalero land was being considered by tribal leaders because of
the economic benefit that such a facility will bring to alleviate
the severe poverty of many Mescaleros, but that proposal was eventually
defeated.
Western Shoshone Nation
Nevada Testing Sites and (proposed) Yucca Mountain Waste Disposal
Site
The
Western Shoshone Nation is an indigenous group of people who
have lived in the western regions of the United States for hundreds
of years. The claims they currently have to lands, especially vast
portions of Nevada, date back to a treaty with the Unitede States
recognizing their claims. The Ruby Valley Treaty of Peace and Friendship
was signed between the Western Shoshone tribal leaders and the United
States government in 1863. Thus, the treaty is the “supreme
law of the land” as guaranteed by the US Constitution, and
thus superior to state law.
The treaty recognizes
the Shoshone claims to the land, and allows for their continued
occupation and use of the land. It also requires the Shoshone’s
acceptance of US military establishments along travel routes (referring
to settler migrants) as well as the establishment of mining facilities,
if the opportunities presented themselves for such mineral exploitation.
The extent of military operations on the Shoshone lands far exceeds
the parameters of the treaty according to many Shoshone, who never
ceded their land to the US government but only contracted to allow
the US limited usage of those lands. The US government has asserted
that the Ruby Valley Treaty is null because the lands of the Shoshone
have been lost because of encroachment, but the Shoshone by and
large reject this assertion, and the moneys
offered by the US government as restitution for the stolen lands
have not been distributed. These moneys instead reside in a trust
fund where they have been garnering interest, but have remained
untouched by the Shoshone. Many Shoshone support the distribution
of the funds, while others oppose such a move.
In 2006, panel of UN experts from the Committee on the Elimination
of Racial Discrimination expressed
concern over evidence that the US government was denying indigenous
land rights to the Western Shoshone, and that the government’s
position is based on propositions “which did not comply with
contemporary human rights norms, principles and standards that govern
determination of indigenous property rights.”
777 UN Plaza - 6th Floor - New York, NY - 10017 - Ph: 212.682.1265 - Fax: 212.286.8211 - info@reachingcriticalwill.org
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