{"id":2365,"date":"2011-11-09T15:22:26","date_gmt":"2011-11-09T19:22:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/doddcenter.wordpress.com\/?p=2365"},"modified":"2011-11-09T15:22:26","modified_gmt":"2011-11-09T19:22:26","slug":"sidestream-lost-in-the-smog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.uconn.edu\/archives\/2011\/11\/09\/sidestream-lost-in-the-smog\/","title":{"rendered":"SideStream: Lost in the Smog"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Rainbow People, Vol. 1. No. 2. 1970<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThis is Indian land, Indian water, Indian coal, Indian life that is going up in smoke\u201d <\/em>(Steiner \u201cBlack Mesa\u201d).<\/em><\/p>\n

Such were the words of Stan Steiner, author of various works (i.e. The New Indians<\/em>, 1968) pertaining to American minority groups including Indians and Mexican-Americans. In fact, Steiner\u2019s \u201cBlack Mesa Fact Sheet\u201d\u2014compiled in 1970 at the request of Navajo and Hopi tribal leaders\u2014 is included in Volume 1 No. 2 of Rainbow People<\/em>, a newspaper conveniently found right here in the Alternative Press Collections at the Dodd Center. True to Steiner\u2019s words, Indian life was literally going up in smoke\u2014pollution-related smoke, that is. In 1966, the Navajo Tribal Council granted the Peabody Coal Company the right to explore land in the Black Mesa region of Arizona in order to generate fuel for six large southwestern power plants and for giant polluting cities such as Los Angeles and Phoenix. In exchange, the Navajo received \u201ca mere $600,000 each year for their Nation\u201d (Steiner \u201cFact Sheet\u201d). However according to Calvin Estitty, a member of the Black Mesa Native Americans, the Navajo had not provided explicit consent to mine\u2014they had simply consented to have the land surveyed (Steiner \u201cFact Sheet\u201d).<\/p>\n

The pollution statistics mentioned in Steiner\u2019s fact sheet are jarring: \u201cSulfur dioxide emissions of 735 tons a day (267,275 tons a year). That is more than three times the health hazard [\u2026] that L.A. people suffer.\u201d Additionally, the fly ash particle emissions of 137 tons a day were well above the LA statistic (109 \/day) and almost as high as New York\u2019s 140 tons. Indeed, the Navajo plant alone was estimated to \u201cfill [the] sky [with] 465,125 tons of smog yearly\u201d (Steiner \u201cFact Sheet\u201d).<\/p>\n

The Hopis, too, signed a 99-year lease with the company to strip-mine coal in Black Mesa (Committee of Concern). However the concerns amongst both native groups were not limited to air-pollution. Steiner goes so far as to criticize the New York Times<\/em>\u2019 coverage of Black Mesa as insufficient, seeing its failure to address the religious implications of strip-mining. Indeed, Black Mesa (the \u201cFemale Mountain\u201d) has traditionally been considered a symbol of beauty, harmony, and the Navajo way. Some Navajos saw this as an example of how the \u201cwhite man has unthinkingly defiled the religious belief of the Indians. He has disrupted the sacred and holy mountains\u201d (Steiner \u201cFact Sheet\u201d). The economic concerns were also significant. As one Navajo Tribal leader put it: \u201cWhat will be left of our way of life? No pastures for our sheep! No jobs when the Mesa is gone! They force us into colonial economy (qtd. in Steiner \u201cFact Sheet\u201d).<\/p>\n

Although there are still groups like Black Mesa Indigenous Support that aid \u201cthe indigenous peoples of Black Mesa in their resistance to massive coal mining operations\u201d (\u201cMission Statement\u201d), Peabody Energy currently maintains the Kayenta Mine in the region. The company asserts that its \u201cenvironmental and community practices on Black Mesa were recognized as a world model for sustainability\u201d (\u201cSouthwest Operations\u201d).<\/p>\n

Although Steiner argues that the concerns of these \u201cinvisible\u201d indigenous peoples are \u201clost in the smog\u201d (\u201cBlack Mesa\u201d) when being addressed in major newspapers, they can still be found<\/em> right here\u2014preserved and waiting to be read in the APC.<\/p>\n

Krisela Karaja, Student Intern<\/p>\n

Resources:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Committee of Concern for the Traditional Indian. \u201cHopi: Black Mesa.\u201d Rainbow People <\/em>[John Day, Oregon] Vol. 1. No. 2. 1970: p. 6. Print. Alternative Press Collections. Archives and Special Collections at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, University of Connecticut Libraries.<\/p>\n

Hill, Gladwin. \u201cArizona Strip-Mining Project Leaving Navajo Land Unscarred.\u201d \u00a0New York Times <\/em>24 Jan. 1971:\u00a0 p. 55. Proquest
\nHistorical Newspapers<\/em>. Web. 26 Oct 2011.<\/p>\n

\u201cMission Statement.\u201d Black Mesa Indigenous Support<\/em>. BMIS. Web. 21 Oct. 2011. http:\/\/blackmesais.org\/about\/mission\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cSouthwest Operations.\u201d Peabody Energy<\/em>. Peabody Energy, Inc. Web. 26 Oct. 2011.<\/p>\n

< http:\/\/www.peabodyenergy.com\/content\/247\/US-Mining\/Powder-River-Basin-and-Southwest>.<\/p>\n

Steiner, Stan. \u201cBlack Mesa\u201d (letter to the editor of the New York Times<\/em>). Rainbow People<\/em> [John Day, Oregon] Vol. 1. No. 2. 1971: p. 14. Print. Alternative Press Collections. Archives and Special Collections at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, University of Connecticut Libraries.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Steiner, Stan. \u201cBlack Mesa Fact Sheet.\u201d Rainbow People<\/em> [John Day, Oregon] Vol. 1. No. 2. 1970: p. 8. Print. Alternative Press Collections. Archives and Special Collections at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, University of Connecticut Libraries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThis is Indian land, Indian water, Indian coal, Indian life that is going up in smoke\u201d (Steiner \u201cBlack Mesa\u201d). Such were the words of Stan Steiner, author of various works (i.e. The New Indians, 1968) pertaining to American minority groups … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,9],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9NKyO-C9","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.uconn.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2365"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.uconn.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.uconn.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.uconn.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.uconn.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.uconn.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2365\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.uconn.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.uconn.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.uconn.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}