| OCR Text |
Show 257 THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH The uranium contamination of Navajo tribal lands was an entirely preventable, if accidental, man-made disaster resulting from faulty decision-making processes originating at the inter-and intra-bureaucracy level of government. In the Navajo Nation the United States govern-ment failed to carry out their obligation to protect the health of the Navajo people. This was done not of malice but official neglect. Numerous opportunities presented themselves when the AEC, the EPA, the BIA, and even the US Congress could have inserted their authority and perhaps prevented a tragedy of this type occurring. Lack of funds, lack of representation, lack of interest in either the people or the land cer tainly played a par t yet the most striking is the utter lack of regard of human life. Considering the position of the Navajo people in contemporary America along with the role of Navajo culture in the disaster, it is clear that they were a people uniquely suited/positioned to be abused under the circumstances. Official callousness, inadequate and underappreciated science, and traditional Native American culture, along with a host of other factors, came together to create the nuclear disaster in the Navajo territory. MONUMENTAL FAILURE: THE NAVAJO TRIBE AND RADIOTOXIC WASTES Devin Thomas Kenney (Dan Craig McCool) Department of Political Science University of Utah honors college Devin Thomas Kenney Dan Craig McCool |
