White Mesa Ute March Against International Radioactive Waste Dumping on Homeland
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| Photo by Tim Peterson, Grand Canyon Trust |
By Brenda Norrell, Censored News
WHITE MESA, Utah -- Ute Mountain Ute Yolanda Badback welcomed all to the spiritual walk and rally to halt the uranium mill now poisoning the land, water and air in southeastern Utah, in the Four Corners region.
The White Mesa Mill, operated by Energy Fuels, is now bringing in radioactive waste from other countries, after already storing nuclear waste that was too dangerous to remain at the Nevada Test Site.
Ute Mountain Ute Chairman Manuel Heart said the uranium mill is not just a Ute problem and the resources must be protected for the future.
"Welcome for supporting us. Welcome for being a part of us as a family. Because what we have, our initiative is common; we want to have healthy lives. We want to have access to clean water. We want to have resources for the future of our children and grandchildren that are not here yet."
"The mountains are our homeland. We're put there by our Creator as stewards to take care of the mountains all the way down to this area," Chairman Heart said.
The rally and spiritual walk on Saturday to protect the White Mesa Ute community’s health, water, air, land, culture, and sacred sites from the nearby White Mesa uranium mill and show community opposition to the mill operating as an international dumping ground for radioactive waste from around the world. The protest and walk are sponsored by the White Mesa Concerned Community and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe.
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| Photo by Ofelia Rivas, Tohono O'odham https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2023/10/white-mesa-ute-revolution-of-heart.html |
Michael Badback, Ute, said, it's for our kids off the Mesa and all the kids that are commuted on the bus every day and every afternoon going home. These trucks come by. We're afraid that if they wreck, then who's going to be liable for that, when the kids go through and they get sick?"
"This is a big thing for us and we don't want them to expand, because we can smell that smell when winter comes. It settles in the mesa and we can smell that sulfur smell. During the winter or sometimes during the summer when we go by, you can smell it. It's not a good smell. And a lot of our people got sick and we don't know if it's due to that," Badback said.
Ute Mountain Ute Councilman Conrad Jacket said the mill isn't just a local Ute problem.
"It's everybody's problem. You see that wind when it blows? It blows the powder across state lines into Colorado. And it's the same thing I said to the representatives and to the senator and to the governor, it's going to be our problem. It's going to go into our reservoir and go into our water."
"It's going to affect us the cattle. They're eating the hay, and we're eating those processed beef, too. So it's going to affect us, all of us, in the long run. The state of Utah does not give a care. I'm going to say that again. They do not give a care. They do not give a care. This is the place where they want to dump their waste. And not only the waste in America, but we take waste from China, from Japan, from Europe.
"All of the countries who helped us during World War II, they dumped their waste here, and that's not right. And like I said, it's not just our problem. It's everybody's. It's White Mesa, Blanding, Bluff, Montrose, Monticello, Cortez, Durango, Colorado, this whole area."
"All of the countries who helped us during World War II, they dumped their waste here, and that's not right. And like I said, it's not just our problem. It's everybody's. It's White Mesa, Blanding, Bluff, Montrose, Monticello, Cortez, Durango, Colorado, this whole area."
White Mesa Mill accepted an alternate feed from Estonia in Europe last summer. It is leftover uranium-bearing materials.
Councilman Jacket told the walkers, "And all of you guys, even us standing right here, we think we're safe. You're not. There is a thing called downwind with radioactive waste, and I know that because my grandpa, he was a uranium worker and my grandma and my uncles, they all passed away from rare cancer."
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| Photo courtesy Greenaction |
Councilman Jacket said, "That's what's potential for everybody to have here. But first and foremost, it's going to affect White Mesa because they're so close, but not only white Mesa, but Blanding. And they want to look away from this problem. Yeah, you can look away for right now, but I guarantee you within the next 20 years, they're going to see it's going to be a disaster.
"And this area is going to be a condemned area. And it's true. The water's bad. The land's bad. Give it a couple more decades and that's it. That's it for White Mesa, the community that was, that never... Just disappeared."
Read more below:
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Speeches at the Community Center, before the walk
Yolanda Badback:
Hello. I would like to welcome all of you guys out for our spiritual walk this year. My name is Yolanda Badback. I reside here in White Mesa. I've been doing the spiritual walk for... This is my fifth annual now here doing the spiritual walk. I usually have my mom here beside me, but this year my mom's not going to be with me this year. She's up attending my son right now. And I'd like to thank all of you guys for coming out yesterday with our fall mini-conference that we had. I gave you guys more information about the mill.
I wasn't going to attend this year due to a family emergency that I had. I had my kids and my nephews and my brother here that were going to be able to take over this year to go forward with this walk. As I was sitting up there in the hospital, my son told me, looked at me, "Mom, I'll be fine. Go ahead and go. I will still be here when you get here." So I got in my ride and I drove down. That's when I was coming down between Soldier Summit and Helper. There was a big old accident that happened. Two semis had collided against each other.
I sat there in traffic for a while and I thought, "I think this is a sign for me to turn around to go back." But there's a little canyon, it's called Emma Canyon. I went through that route and I made it down here just in time. Everybody was surprised because I told my boys that I wasn't going to show up. But I'm here to continue the walk that I do every year.
This is a good turnout to see a lot of you guys coming out this year again, and especially seeing some of the councilmen and our chairman to come out to support us this year. And I would like to call upon the chairman to come up and give a speech. Then I would like to call Conrad of the council to come up, give a speech, and I would like to call upon Malcolm Lehi to come up and give a speech as well. And I would like to call... Let's see, I don't know if they're here to give a prayer before we start a walk, so I'll give the time over to the chairman right now.
Chairman Manuel Heart:
Thank you, Yolanda. Our prayers are with your son, your mom, that things will be good for us. I'd like to say good morning to all of you. Thank you for coming today for this very important event. It's our fifth annual and really trying to get the word out there that life matters, especially the community of White Mesa. Ute Mountain Ute Tribe has two communities, one in Colorado called Towaoc, one in Utah which is called White Mesa. We do expand into three states: Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. And the government, the Ute Mountain Ute tribal government is in full support of protecting the community of White Mesa. We've been working with senators on a national level, with congressmen, with the state. We have some support from the state of Utah, representatives from the state of Utah to really look at it. We've even had the Lieutenant Governor, Lieutenant Governor Henderson come out last year during the bear dance, before the bear dance, and they came over to Towaoc, the headquarters.
Then I got on a plane with her and we did a flyover over the mill, and she actually saw what 4B, cell 4B was like and what our concerns were with the nuclear regulatory commission, that it didn't have a full cover, a water cover. We do have air monitors that are going, we do have water quality testing all the time. I'd like to thank our environmental department, Scott Clow, for really taking the lead on that, working with the community of White Mesa here. This mill was only short-term. The three legacy cells that were there, the liners have been leaking. The life of them was only 25 years. We're way past the 25 years. They're starting to bring in other ore that are coming in. Two weeks ago, or last Monday, I had a meeting with the governor of Colorado. Some of that stuff is coming out of Colorado, but there are other states that are also bringing ore that are cleaning up uranium mines and they're bringing it here because it's the only place in the United States.
And we need to support the White Mesa community, not only because the air quality and water quality, but because of the community and the health of each one of our tribal members that are here and community members. I've asked the IHS Health clinic through our representatives to do an epidemiology study, not only through IHS, but I also ask from the state of Utah, as they're the regulatory, to do an epidemiology study. We're facing health disparities in Indian country, huge health disparities, not only diabetes, but cancer. And if this water is affecting this community of White Mesa, then it is a big concern. Energy Fuels is looking at it from a profit margin, and so is Utah. I do not think money should be put before the lives of tribal members.
So, we need to do this walk today together in solidarity with our partners from the environmental departments, from the communities, with our community here in White Mesa, our tribal government and other governments so that we may bring to forth... That the equity in healthcare, that's what we strive for, is equity. If the state of Utah is looking at it from a regulatory side and only looking at the funding and the profits, then they need to re-look at and reevaluate. Even if this community is a small community, it has to have same equity of healthcare and healthcare services and take care of and protect the Utah citizens as White Mesa community are Utah citizens, also Ute Mount Ute citizens. So with that, I thank each and every one of you for coming today.
Councilman Conrad Jacket:
Good morning, everybody. I'm Councilman Jacket. So this mill isn't just our problem. It's everybody's problem. You see that wind when it blows? It blows the powder across state lines into Colorado. And it's the same thing I said to the representatives and to the senator and to the governor, it's going to be our problem. It's going to go into our reservoir and go into our water. It's going to affect us the cattle. They're eating the hay, and we're eating those processed beef, too. So it's going to affect us, all of us, in the long run. The state of Utah does not give a care. I'm going to say that again. They do not give a care. They do not give a care. This is the place where they want to dump their waste. And not only the waste in America, but we take waste from China, from Japan, from Europe.
All of the countries who helped us during World War II, they dumped their waste here, and that's not right. And like I said, it's not just our problem. It's everybody's. It's White Mesa, Blanding, Bluff, Montrose, Monticello, Cortez, Durango, Colorado, this whole area. And all of you guys, even us standing right here, we think we're safe. You're not. There is a thing called downwind with radioactive waste, and I know that because my grandpa, he was a uranium worker and my grandma and my uncles, they all passed away from rare cancer. That's what's potential for everybody to have here. But first and foremost, it's going to affect White Mesa because they're so close, but not only white Mesa, but Blanding. And they want to look away from this problem. Yeah, you can look away for right now, but I guarantee you within the next 20 years, they're going to see it's going to be a disaster.
And this area is going to be a condemned area. And it's true. The water's bad. The land's bad. Give it a couple more decades and that's it. That's it for White Mesa, the community that was, that never... Just disappeared.
And not only that, Blanding, too. They look away and they say, "It's not our problem. It's not our problem. It's not our problem." It is your problem. They dump it, it flies, it's downwind. They are all potential to have cancer. And it's sad to see that. And I'm hoping that these studies that we have going on, that they show results. But if the government decides to look away and they're getting paid underneath the table for this waste to be dumped here, that's wrong. That is very much wrong. And I truly believe that's what's going on. People are being paid underneath the table just to have their waste dumped right here. I'm going to say again, it's not just our problem, it's Navajo Nation's problem. Navajo Nation should be out here, too. We should be quadruple this size. We should have thousands of people upset about this, but they're not. But I'd like to thank Yolanda and her family, Thelma... They're making us an awareness, and thank you for coming. We could all be someplace else. We can be all in Shiprock fair, but we're not. We're here. And I'm very thankful that you guys all here to show your support. So with that being said, Towaoc, thank you.
Speeches at mill entrance, after walk
Yolanda Badback:
My name is Yolanda Badback, and I am glad, I'm very thankful that you guys came to support us in our spiritual walk here. This is as far as we can go to because... But majority, we go further up, they'll call the cops on us. So I noted that every year when we do our spiritual walk, they shut the gates up there, so nobody won't go in, enter into their area there.
But I'm very thankful that all of you guys had came out and supported us. And I'm going to give the mic over to my brother Michael, and he's going to say a few words and we're going to sing some songs here. And then we'll all carpool back to the community center and we'll have lunch there, because lunch is waiting for us there now. So I'll give the mic over to him and let him say what he wants to say and we'll go from there.
Michael Badback:
Hello everybody. Nice to see you guys here again, especially my favorite people from the University of Utah for showing up for the first year. I'm glad you guys showed up this year to walk with us. And my other friend over there, they come back the second year and it's good to see him. It's good to see all of you guys here, especially my people from Towaoc that came first year, second year. Thank you guys for all showing up. I appreciate all of you guys showing up to this event and walk. We really need the help, and the drive to get this thing going and other circumstances. This is how life is; you have to keep going. It don't matter what kind of bumps you run into, you'll bypass those bumps and keep going and do what you're going for and set your goal. Especially my home girl back there, the one I rode with. She's a little firecracker, but she's got a fire in her. So thank all of you guys that showed up, and I really appreciate the help.
This ain't just for us, it's for our kids off the Mesa and all the kids that are commuted on the bus every day and every afternoon going home. These trucks come by. We're afraid that if they wreck, then who's going to be liable for that, when the kids go through and they get sick? This is a big thing for us and we don't want them to expand, because we can smell that smell when winter comes. It settles in the mesa and we can smell that sulfur smell. During the winter or sometimes during the summer when we go by, you can smell it. It's not a good smell. And a lot of our people got sick and we don't know if it's due to that. I've been asking for a while, I've been asking the tribe to help us do community research on that, and I never had anybody come back and tell me anything.
Now, I guess finally they're stepping up or somewhat, but I never seen anything. They tell me they're working on it and I've never seen anything. And all this time we've been walking. I'm glad, this is the first time I've ever seen the representative, the counsel and the chairman here.
I have respect, but like I said, I'm very thankful for all you guys showing up, and I hope you guys show up again next year, and the year after that and hope you guys all had fun walking and meet new people, meet new friends, and take your friendships home and spread it with your family, with your people. I appreciate you guys. Thank you. Next.
Chairman Manuel Heart:
Good afternoon. Again, thank you all for coming on behalf of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. You look way over there in the distance, you see the Ute Mountain, when you were walking up, you seen Bears Ears over here. And as you look over here, Blue Mountain, and you look way off in the distance up there, it's Lizard Head. So all this is all old Ute Aboriginal lands. We roamed this. We're nomadic, so we traveled based on season and these canyons that are behind us, Allen Canyon, all the way down through, there's Aboriginal lands, they have allotments in there. So, this history of Native American, they've been here for 10,000 years recorded by archeologists, written in our archeologists in our archives in Utah, Colorado. So the mountains are our homeland. We're put there by our Creator as stewards to take care of the mountains all the way down to this area.
So as we roamed these areas, these are our homelands. So we gathered and moved around to these different areas based on the season. So as Ute people are Nuuchu, are proud, proud heritage, proud of who we are and where we come from. Just like each one of you, wherever you come from, whether it's from Hispanic, or it's from Anglo, or it's from African-American, whatever the case may be, you each feel it here in your heart and your mind about where you are and what you call home. We call this home. And today, welcome to our home. Welcome for supporting us. Welcome for being a part of us as family. Because what we have, our initiative is common; we want to have healthy lives. We want to have access to clean water. We want to have resources for the future of our children and grandchildren that are not here yet.
So that's what we advocate for today. This protest walk today started with Thelma, and her family and they're really looking out for the community of White Mesa. And they continue to lead that charge with the council, with the tribal members, community members, not only just here in Ute Mountain, but Navajo Tribe, Hopi Tribe, whatever tribe is local. And each one of you today show that same thing of respect of helping together, one another.
Yes, things take time and don't happen overnight, don't happen over a month, or a year, it takes time. It takes time. It takes time to educate people, people from the EPA, the Environmental Protection Agency, from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, to hold this mill accountable. It's not just about money, it's about the lives, each one of the lives that crossed this road and traveled this road and this mill here is not in the best interest of this community, and they need to move it, close it, put it someplace else where it has no effect to life, water, or the environment. That's what we ask.
We don't know if it's inevitable what the resources for energy development is in the future. Hydro projects are kind of going out based on water, drought. We don't have enough water coming off, so they're looking at new areas. United States government does support nuclear energy development, but we don't want it here. Not in this local area, not even in this country. Once it leaks, it contaminates, it affects a lot of lives, so we need to really protect the future and where we're going.
So today, on behalf of Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, our tribal members here, the community of White Mesa and our tribe as a whole, we honor you, each and every one of you for coming today to be a part of our family. Really thank Yolanda, her mom, her brother Michael, all of them. Tuvuuch Towaoc, that's how you say, "Thank you very much," in Ute, Tuvuuch Towaoc. And I say that on behalf of our tribal membership, thank our councilmen, Councilor Lehi, for helping advocate for things here that we may work together in the future, in partnership as we look toward the better in the future of tomorrow.
Partnership for the kids, your grandkids that are not here. So again, Tuvuuch Towaoc, each and every one of you, thank you, and Thelma and Anthony's in our prayers too. Okay? Thank you.
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Yolanda Badback:
Hello. I would like to welcome all of you guys out for our spiritual walk this year. My name is Yolanda Badback. I reside here in White Mesa. I've been doing the spiritual walk for... This is my fifth annual now here doing the spiritual walk. I usually have my mom here beside me, but this year my mom's not going to be with me this year. She's up attending my son right now. And I'd like to thank all of you guys for coming out yesterday with our fall mini-conference that we had. I gave you guys more information about the mill.
I wasn't going to attend this year due to a family emergency that I had. I had my kids and my nephews and my brother here that were going to be able to take over this year to go forward with this walk. As I was sitting up there in the hospital, my son told me, looked at me, "Mom, I'll be fine. Go ahead and go. I will still be here when you get here." So I got in my ride and I drove down. That's when I was coming down between Soldier Summit and Helper. There was a big old accident that happened. Two semis had collided against each other.
I sat there in traffic for a while and I thought, "I think this is a sign for me to turn around to go back." But there's a little canyon, it's called Emma Canyon. I went through that route and I made it down here just in time. Everybody was surprised because I told my boys that I wasn't going to show up. But I'm here to continue the walk that I do every year.
This is a good turnout to see a lot of you guys coming out this year again, and especially seeing some of the councilmen and our chairman to come out to support us this year. And I would like to call upon the chairman to come up and give a speech. Then I would like to call Conrad of the council to come up, give a speech, and I would like to call upon Malcolm Lehi to come up and give a speech as well. And I would like to call... Let's see, I don't know if they're here to give a prayer before we start a walk, so I'll give the time over to the chairman right now.
Chairman Manuel Heart:
Thank you, Yolanda. Our prayers are with your son, your mom, that things will be good for us. I'd like to say good morning to all of you. Thank you for coming today for this very important event. It's our fifth annual and really trying to get the word out there that life matters, especially the community of White Mesa. Ute Mountain Ute Tribe has two communities, one in Colorado called Towaoc, one in Utah which is called White Mesa. We do expand into three states: Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. And the government, the Ute Mountain Ute tribal government is in full support of protecting the community of White Mesa. We've been working with senators on a national level, with congressmen, with the state. We have some support from the state of Utah, representatives from the state of Utah to really look at it. We've even had the Lieutenant Governor, Lieutenant Governor Henderson come out last year during the bear dance, before the bear dance, and they came over to Towaoc, the headquarters.
Then I got on a plane with her and we did a flyover over the mill, and she actually saw what 4B, cell 4B was like and what our concerns were with the nuclear regulatory commission, that it didn't have a full cover, a water cover. We do have air monitors that are going, we do have water quality testing all the time. I'd like to thank our environmental department, Scott Clow, for really taking the lead on that, working with the community of White Mesa here. This mill was only short-term. The three legacy cells that were there, the liners have been leaking. The life of them was only 25 years. We're way past the 25 years. They're starting to bring in other ore that are coming in. Two weeks ago, or last Monday, I had a meeting with the governor of Colorado. Some of that stuff is coming out of Colorado, but there are other states that are also bringing ore that are cleaning up uranium mines and they're bringing it here because it's the only place in the United States.
And we need to support the White Mesa community, not only because the air quality and water quality, but because of the community and the health of each one of our tribal members that are here and community members. I've asked the IHS Health clinic through our representatives to do an epidemiology study, not only through IHS, but I also ask from the state of Utah, as they're the regulatory, to do an epidemiology study. We're facing health disparities in Indian country, huge health disparities, not only diabetes, but cancer. And if this water is affecting this community of White Mesa, then it is a big concern. Energy Fuels is looking at it from a profit margin, and so is Utah. I do not think money should be put before the lives of tribal members.
So, we need to do this walk today together in solidarity with our partners from the environmental departments, from the communities, with our community here in White Mesa, our tribal government and other governments so that we may bring to forth... That the equity in healthcare, that's what we strive for, is equity. If the state of Utah is looking at it from a regulatory side and only looking at the funding and the profits, then they need to re-look at and reevaluate. Even if this community is a small community, it has to have same equity of healthcare and healthcare services and take care of and protect the Utah citizens as White Mesa community are Utah citizens, also Ute Mount Ute citizens. So with that, I thank each and every one of you for coming today.
Councilman Conrad Jacket:
Good morning, everybody. I'm Councilman Jacket. So this mill isn't just our problem. It's everybody's problem. You see that wind when it blows? It blows the powder across state lines into Colorado. And it's the same thing I said to the representatives and to the senator and to the governor, it's going to be our problem. It's going to go into our reservoir and go into our water. It's going to affect us the cattle. They're eating the hay, and we're eating those processed beef, too. So it's going to affect us, all of us, in the long run. The state of Utah does not give a care. I'm going to say that again. They do not give a care. They do not give a care. This is the place where they want to dump their waste. And not only the waste in America, but we take waste from China, from Japan, from Europe.
All of the countries who helped us during World War II, they dumped their waste here, and that's not right. And like I said, it's not just our problem. It's everybody's. It's White Mesa, Blanding, Bluff, Montrose, Monticello, Cortez, Durango, Colorado, this whole area. And all of you guys, even us standing right here, we think we're safe. You're not. There is a thing called downwind with radioactive waste, and I know that because my grandpa, he was a uranium worker and my grandma and my uncles, they all passed away from rare cancer. That's what's potential for everybody to have here. But first and foremost, it's going to affect White Mesa because they're so close, but not only white Mesa, but Blanding. And they want to look away from this problem. Yeah, you can look away for right now, but I guarantee you within the next 20 years, they're going to see it's going to be a disaster.
And this area is going to be a condemned area. And it's true. The water's bad. The land's bad. Give it a couple more decades and that's it. That's it for White Mesa, the community that was, that never... Just disappeared.
And not only that, Blanding, too. They look away and they say, "It's not our problem. It's not our problem. It's not our problem." It is your problem. They dump it, it flies, it's downwind. They are all potential to have cancer. And it's sad to see that. And I'm hoping that these studies that we have going on, that they show results. But if the government decides to look away and they're getting paid underneath the table for this waste to be dumped here, that's wrong. That is very much wrong. And I truly believe that's what's going on. People are being paid underneath the table just to have their waste dumped right here. I'm going to say again, it's not just our problem, it's Navajo Nation's problem. Navajo Nation should be out here, too. We should be quadruple this size. We should have thousands of people upset about this, but they're not. But I'd like to thank Yolanda and her family, Thelma... They're making us an awareness, and thank you for coming. We could all be someplace else. We can be all in Shiprock fair, but we're not. We're here. And I'm very thankful that you guys all here to show your support. So with that being said, Towaoc, thank you.
Speeches at mill entrance, after walk
Yolanda Badback:
My name is Yolanda Badback, and I am glad, I'm very thankful that you guys came to support us in our spiritual walk here. This is as far as we can go to because... But majority, we go further up, they'll call the cops on us. So I noted that every year when we do our spiritual walk, they shut the gates up there, so nobody won't go in, enter into their area there.
But I'm very thankful that all of you guys had came out and supported us. And I'm going to give the mic over to my brother Michael, and he's going to say a few words and we're going to sing some songs here. And then we'll all carpool back to the community center and we'll have lunch there, because lunch is waiting for us there now. So I'll give the mic over to him and let him say what he wants to say and we'll go from there.
Michael Badback:
Hello everybody. Nice to see you guys here again, especially my favorite people from the University of Utah for showing up for the first year. I'm glad you guys showed up this year to walk with us. And my other friend over there, they come back the second year and it's good to see him. It's good to see all of you guys here, especially my people from Towaoc that came first year, second year. Thank you guys for all showing up. I appreciate all of you guys showing up to this event and walk. We really need the help, and the drive to get this thing going and other circumstances. This is how life is; you have to keep going. It don't matter what kind of bumps you run into, you'll bypass those bumps and keep going and do what you're going for and set your goal. Especially my home girl back there, the one I rode with. She's a little firecracker, but she's got a fire in her. So thank all of you guys that showed up, and I really appreciate the help.
This ain't just for us, it's for our kids off the Mesa and all the kids that are commuted on the bus every day and every afternoon going home. These trucks come by. We're afraid that if they wreck, then who's going to be liable for that, when the kids go through and they get sick? This is a big thing for us and we don't want them to expand, because we can smell that smell when winter comes. It settles in the mesa and we can smell that sulfur smell. During the winter or sometimes during the summer when we go by, you can smell it. It's not a good smell. And a lot of our people got sick and we don't know if it's due to that. I've been asking for a while, I've been asking the tribe to help us do community research on that, and I never had anybody come back and tell me anything.
Now, I guess finally they're stepping up or somewhat, but I never seen anything. They tell me they're working on it and I've never seen anything. And all this time we've been walking. I'm glad, this is the first time I've ever seen the representative, the counsel and the chairman here.
I have respect, but like I said, I'm very thankful for all you guys showing up, and I hope you guys show up again next year, and the year after that and hope you guys all had fun walking and meet new people, meet new friends, and take your friendships home and spread it with your family, with your people. I appreciate you guys. Thank you. Next.
Chairman Manuel Heart:
Good afternoon. Again, thank you all for coming on behalf of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. You look way over there in the distance, you see the Ute Mountain, when you were walking up, you seen Bears Ears over here. And as you look over here, Blue Mountain, and you look way off in the distance up there, it's Lizard Head. So all this is all old Ute Aboriginal lands. We roamed this. We're nomadic, so we traveled based on season and these canyons that are behind us, Allen Canyon, all the way down through, there's Aboriginal lands, they have allotments in there. So, this history of Native American, they've been here for 10,000 years recorded by archeologists, written in our archeologists in our archives in Utah, Colorado. So the mountains are our homeland. We're put there by our Creator as stewards to take care of the mountains all the way down to this area.
So as we roamed these areas, these are our homelands. So we gathered and moved around to these different areas based on the season. So as Ute people are Nuuchu, are proud, proud heritage, proud of who we are and where we come from. Just like each one of you, wherever you come from, whether it's from Hispanic, or it's from Anglo, or it's from African-American, whatever the case may be, you each feel it here in your heart and your mind about where you are and what you call home. We call this home. And today, welcome to our home. Welcome for supporting us. Welcome for being a part of us as family. Because what we have, our initiative is common; we want to have healthy lives. We want to have access to clean water. We want to have resources for the future of our children and grandchildren that are not here yet.
So that's what we advocate for today. This protest walk today started with Thelma, and her family and they're really looking out for the community of White Mesa. And they continue to lead that charge with the council, with the tribal members, community members, not only just here in Ute Mountain, but Navajo Tribe, Hopi Tribe, whatever tribe is local. And each one of you today show that same thing of respect of helping together, one another.
Yes, things take time and don't happen overnight, don't happen over a month, or a year, it takes time. It takes time. It takes time to educate people, people from the EPA, the Environmental Protection Agency, from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, to hold this mill accountable. It's not just about money, it's about the lives, each one of the lives that crossed this road and traveled this road and this mill here is not in the best interest of this community, and they need to move it, close it, put it someplace else where it has no effect to life, water, or the environment. That's what we ask.
We don't know if it's inevitable what the resources for energy development is in the future. Hydro projects are kind of going out based on water, drought. We don't have enough water coming off, so they're looking at new areas. United States government does support nuclear energy development, but we don't want it here. Not in this local area, not even in this country. Once it leaks, it contaminates, it affects a lot of lives, so we need to really protect the future and where we're going.
So today, on behalf of Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, our tribal members here, the community of White Mesa and our tribe as a whole, we honor you, each and every one of you for coming today to be a part of our family. Really thank Yolanda, her mom, her brother Michael, all of them. Tuvuuch Towaoc, that's how you say, "Thank you very much," in Ute, Tuvuuch Towaoc. And I say that on behalf of our tribal membership, thank our councilmen, Councilor Lehi, for helping advocate for things here that we may work together in the future, in partnership as we look toward the better in the future of tomorrow.
Partnership for the kids, your grandkids that are not here. So again, Tuvuuch Towaoc, each and every one of you, thank you, and Thelma and Anthony's in our prayers too. Okay? Thank you.
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