Mountain Valley Pipeline Land Defenders Appear in Court: Images by Dr. Michelle Cook, Dine'

Wetlands and oil pipeline. Photo by Michelle Cook

Mountain Valley Pipeline Land Defenders Appear in Court Images by Dr. Michelle Cook, Dine'

Courtroom monitoring. Sketch by Dr. Michelle Cook

Dispatches from Joye: The Beginning of Resistance to Dakota Access Pipeline

Dakota, Lakota and Nakota Defenders Rode into Cannonball, North Dakota, to defend Sacred land and water from Dakota Access Pipeline on Standing Rock Nation on April 1, 2016. Courtesy photo for Censored News. "We can live without oil, but we can not live without water."

Dispatches from Joye: The Beginning of Resistance to Dakota Access Pipeline, Spring of 2016

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, Feb. 25, 2025

MANDAN, North Dakota -- We travel back in time to the beginning of the resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline. Jury selection is underway in the case of Energy Transfer v Greenpeace and Red Warrior Society, and oral arguments are to begin tomorrow, in North Dakota District Court.

Energy Transfer, the owner of Dakota Access Pipeline, seeks to erase the fact that this is, and has always been, an Indigenous-led movement, Greenpeace said.

On March 29, 2016 -- five months before hundreds, and then thousands arrived at the Standing Rock camps -- Joye Braun, Cheyenne River Lakota, sent Censored News the announcement of the resistance.

"It must be stopped," Joye said in the media statement.

LaDonna Bravebull Allard, working then in the Standing Rock Historic Preservation Office, released the statement with Joye. 

The headline read, "Tribal Citizens Rise Up Against Bakken Oil Pipeline: Horse Ride and Spiritual Camp to be Held Along Proposed Route of Dakota Access Pipeline."

With the dateline of Cannonball, the statement says, "On April 1st, 2016, tribal citizens of the Standing Rock Lakota Nation and ally Lakota, Nakota, and Dakota citizens, under the group name Chante tin'sa kinanzi Po will have a Horse Ride to celebrate the founding of a Spirit Camp that will be erected along the proposed route of the bakken oil pipeline, Dakota Access."

While the first camp was being set up on April 1, 2016, LaDonna Bravebull Allard told Unicorn Riot media, "They are going to put it through a burial ground right there. What happens when that breaks? What happens to our water? It's the same old story with the government, the agencies and big oil -- we don't matter. They're coming again.When will this stop? I am not expendable. My grandchildren are not expendable. We have to fight to live."

"We're on the front lines right now. We are going to fight this pipeline, we are going to fight big oil," a Lakota warrior said as the thirty mile horseback ride began. As the first teepees were being set up, another Lakota opposing the pipeline said, "They bust they don't last. We know that's what's going to happen to our river. That's our way of life, it's not good anyway you look at it."

The statement on March 29, 2016 announcing the camp to block the pipeline said:

"This camp will be called Iŋyaŋ Wakȟáŋaǧapi Othí, translated as Sacred Rock, the original name of the Cannonball area. The Spirit Camp is dedicated to stopping and raising awareness of the Dakota Access pipeline, the dangers associated with pipeline spills and the necessity to protect the water resources of the Missouri river."

"Chante tin'sa kinanzi Po is a grassroots group with the following mission statement:

"They claim this mother of ours, the Earth, for their own use, and fence their neighbors away from her, and deface her with their buildings and their refuse." - Chief Sitting Bull. His way of life is our way of life--standing in opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline is our duty."

"Group: Chante tin'sa kinanzi Po translates as People, Stand with a Strong Heart!"

"Spirit Camp Name: Iŋyaŋ Wakȟáŋaǧapi Othí translates as Sacred Rock Camp"

"Both are in the Lakota language."

"Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), owned by Energy Transfer Partners, L.P., is proposed to transport 450,000 barrels per day of Bakken crude oil from the lands of  North Dakota to Patoka, Illinois."

"The threats this pipeline poses to the environment, human health and human rights are strikingly similar to those posed by the Keystone XL. Because the DAPL will cross over the Ogallala Aquifer (one of the largest aquifers in the world) and under the Missouri River twice (the longest river in the United States), the possible contamination of these water sources makes the Dakota Access pipeline a national threat."

"The construction of Dakota Access will threaten everything from farming and drinking water to entire ecosystems, wildlife and food sources surrounding the Missouri. The nesting of bald eagles and piping plovers as well as the quality of wild rice and medicinal plants like sweet grass are just a few of the species at stake here."

"We ask that everyone stands with us against this threat to our health, our culture, and our sovereignty. We ask that everyone who lives on or near the Missouri River and its tributaries, everyone who farms or ranches in the local area, and everyone who cares about clean air and clean drinking water stand with us against the Dakota Access Pipeline!"

The statement includes Joye's words.

"The dangers imposed by the greed of big oil on the people who live along the Missouri river is astounding. When this proposed pipeline breaks, as the vast majority of pipelines do, over half of the drinking water in South Dakota will be affected. How can rubber-stamping this project be good for the people, agriculture, and livestock?"

"It must be stopped. The people of the four bands of Cheyenne River stand with our sister nation in this fight as we are calling on all the Oceti Sakowin or Seven Council Fires to do so with our allies, both native and non native in opposing this pipeline."

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Spirit Camp goes up, on April 1, 2016

The first camp at Standing Rock resisting Dakota Access Pipeline on April 1, 2016.

Greenpeace said the $300 million SLAPP lawsuit filed by the pipeline is meant to shut down Greenpeace International. Oral argument are slated to begin tomorrow, Wednesday, and the jury trial is expected to last five weeks.

Censored News content may not be used without written permission, or used in any way for revenues.

Havasupai Elder: Uranium Mining Contamination is Here, Hold on to Ancestral Ways

Havasupai Dianna Uqualla speaking in Tuba City. Screenshot by Censored News

Havasupai Elder Dianna Uqualla: Uranium Mining Contamination is Here, Hold on to Your Ancestral Ways

"Stay strong, no matter what the world throws at us, we survive." 

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, Feb. 24, 2025

TUBA CITY, Navajo Nation -- Havasupai Dianna Uqualla said that she brought sad news, that the contamination from the Pinyon Plain uranium mine is already here, and has contaminated the air and the soil. Uqualla asked for the people to rely on their prayers and ancestral ways to guide them.

Uqualla, traditional practitioner who served as the council's vice chairwoman, spoke at the Łeetso ÉÍ Dooda! (No To Uranium!!) Awareness Walk on Saturday, as Native people from the region gathered to shut down Pinyon Plain uranium mine, and stop the radioactive haul trucks from the Grand Canyon to the uranium mill in the White Mesa Ute community in Utah.

Tuba City Awareness Walk to Shut Down Uranium Mine and Halt Radioactive Trucks

Awareness Walk in Tuba City. Photo by Dawn Dyer, Censored News

Tuba City Awareness Walk to Shut Down Pinyon Plain Uranium Mine in the Grand Canyon and Halt Radioactive Haul Trucks

Photos by Dawn Dyer, Censored News

Spirit Run to Oak Flat -- Photos by Morgun Frejo

Today, Chi chil Bitdagoteel, 11th Annual Oak Flat March/Run

TUBA CITY: Walk to Shut Down Pinyon Plain Uranium Mine!

Come out today and support the grassroots group Bidi Roots in Tuba City on the Navajo Nation

Follow our Facebook event page for UPDATES:

https://www.facebook.com/events/1127868852048943

More information is also available here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/.../eetso-ei-dooda-no-to...

Contact: awarenesswalk2025@gmail.com

Ward Valley Victory Celebration: For the Desert Tortoises, Sacred Running Trails and Future Generations

27th Annual Ward Valley Victory Celebration and Spiritual Gathering

For the Desert Tortoises, Sacred Running Trails and Future Generations

By Bradley Angel, Greenaction

Peltier Speaks on Turtle Mountain, Deeply Moved by Support

Peltier speaks to family and supporters at home on Turtle Mountain on Wednesday. Watch at https://www.kfyrtv.com/2025/02/19/live-leonard-peltiers-return-north-dakota/ 

Peltier describes how they tried to kill him in prison, while serving 49 years for something he did not do

Article by Brenda Norrell, Censored News, Feb. 19, 2025

BELCOURT, North Dakota -- Leonard Peltier was honored with an Eagle Staff, Star Quilt and Drum Song, as he was welcomed home to Turtle Mountain. Deeply moved by the support, Peltier described how they tried to kill him in prison, and how he survived during his long struggle for justice.

"I spent 49 years straight in prison for something that I didn't do, and was not really legally convicted of," Peltier said, speaking at the Sky Dancer Casino in Belcourt, a day after his release from federal prison.

Running Now on the Sacred Road: Protecting Oak Flat, February 20 -- 23, 2025

 

On Thursday evening, runners were on their way to the Sports Complex as they make their way to Globe/Miami, on the Sacred Road to Oak Flat

By Apache Stronghold, Censored News

For over a decade, the Apache Stronghold has welcomed people of all spirituality and faith traditions to come pray at Chi'chil Biłdagoteel. To witness the power of Oak Flat is to be on a path of healing and hope for those yet to be born. To stop corporate control of the land is to protect the sacred lifeways. And to be part of a prayerful movement that welcomes people is to resist the isolation that forces of oppression depend on.

Please bring your family and friends to join the 11th Annual Oak Flat March and Run, February 20-22, 2025. Many people have returned year after year to welcome the people who find themselves on the walk for the first time. Supporting the Apache and Indigenous leaders of the fight to protect Oak Flat is an opportunity for everyone to be a part of mending the broken circle.

Be in touch if you have questions about participating and spread the invitation flyer below to your communities.

Leonard Peltier Left Prison on Tuesday Morning

Leonard is Home

The eagle has landed in Turtle Mountains

Leonard Peltier after leaving Coleman Prison this morning in Florida.

“Today I am finally free! They may have imprisoned me but they never took my spirit!” said Leonard Peltier. “Thank you to all my supporters throughout the world who fought for my freedom. I am finally going home. I look forward to seeing my friends, my family, and my community. It’s a good day today.” -- Leonard Peltier

Mohawk Nation News 'Leonard Peltier Homecoming'

New today at Mohawk Nation News

https://mohawknationnews.com/blog/2025/02/20/leonard-peltier-homecoming/

Peltier is Home! Photos by Inila Wakan Janis

Leonard Peltier is Safely Home

Photos by Inila Wakan Janis

"This evening hundreds of Leonard Peltier's community showed up to celebrate his Homecoming and to share a meal together. Many relatives, family members, elders and children from the Turtle Mountain Reservation spoke for him and shared stories of their own decades long efforts. Just a grateful and proud witness to a beautiful moment in our shared history." -- Inila Wakan Janis, Feb. 18, 2025

Peltier Home on Turtle Mountain

By Minnesota Star Tribune: Leonard Peltier enters Turtle Mountain with a raised fist ... "By the time Peltier’s caravan arrived in Belcourt to a parade of more than 100 people along the highway, the aging man in poor health was ready to go home to rest. The crowd waited for him at the Sky Dancer Casino to share his first requested meal of stew, but they carried on the celebration with song, drum circles and stories."

Read more https://www.startribune.com/its-a-historical-day-leonard-peltier-coming-home-tuesday-after-nearly-50-years-in-prison/601224731

 

Mohawk Nation News 'Gustafsson Lake Military Seige 1995'

 Read the article at Mohawk Nation News

https://mohawknationnews.com/blog/2025/02/18/gustafsson-lake-military-seige-1995/

Havasupai Tribe Deeply Disappointed in Navajo Nation for Failing to Consult Havasupai on Radioactive Hauling

Havasupai Tribe Deeply Disappointed in Navajo Nation for Failing to Consult Havasupai on Radioactive Hauling

Photo courtesy Grand Canyon Trust

"Shame on Energy Fuels Resources and those who were not brave enough to do what is right and necessary." -- Havasupai Tribe.

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, Feb. 14, 2025

The Havasupai Tribe said the Navajo Nation has disregarded the aboriginal people who live on the land, and failed to consult them before entering into a dangerous agreement for radioactive uranium hauling. There are two trucks now each weekday, traveling at high rates of speed, each carrying 24 tons of radioactive matter that is only covered with tie-down tarps from the Grand Canyon to the uranium mill in Utah.

Navajo President's Deal for Radioactive Transport was Kept Secret from Navajo Council

Navajo President's Deal for Radioactive Transport was Kept Secret from Navajo Council

"Who negotiated these terms?" asked Shiprock Council Delegate Eugenia Charles-Newton.

Navajo Council Committee clearly frustrated during probe of Navajo President's secret 'backroom' deal allowing uranium waste transport

"I don't think they're going to give us the answers. They're just passing the buck." -- Councilman George Tolth.

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, Updated Feb. 17, 2025

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd73YnP9xBE

Translated into French by Christine Prat

https://chrisp.lautre.net/wpblog/?p=8541

WINDOW ROCK, Navajo Nation -- A Navajo Nation Council committee questioned who was responsible for an agreement with Energy Fuels that allows radioactive uranium trucks to travel through the Navajo Nation, pointing out that the Navajo Nation Council was never consulted and never approved the agreement with Energy Fuels.

After going around in circles, and avoiding answering the questions, finally Navajo attorneys said those responsible for negotiating the agreement were Ethel Branch, former Navajo Attorney General, Acting Attorney General Heather Claw, along with the Navajo Department of Justice, and Navajo EPA.

Council delegates questioned why there was not even an attempt made to seek a waiver from a federal law that prevents uranium transport from being blocked on highways, so that the uranium transport could be halted on the Navajo Nation.

The probe into the agreement with Energy Fuels was during the Navajo Council's Naabik'íyáti’ Committee meeting on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025, Earlier in the week, on Monday, the Navajo Council's Resources Committee said it was never consulted and never approved the agreement with Energy Fuels.

Radioactive trucks carrying uranium waste -- covered only with tarps --  passed through the Navajo Nation on Wednesday, and two more on Thursday. The trucks will be increasing. Two to four trucks are planned every day for the rest of the month. The agreement for the deadly hauling is for the next two to four years.

With little or no warning to Navajo communities, the trucks passed through Tuba City -- where Dine' are streaming live in opposition to the deadly truck transport -- between 11 am and noon. The trucks entered the Navajo Nation near Cameron.

During the Naabik'íyáti’ Committee session on Thursday, Council Delegates said the Navajo Nation Council is the law-making body of the Navajo Nation, and they were never consulted about the agreement with Energy Fuels. The agreement allows the transport of radioactive waste from Energy Fuels Pinyon Plain Mine in the Grand Canyon, to the mill in the White Mesa Ute community in Utah.

Naabik'íyáti’ Committee Regular Meeting, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025, Censored News

Naabik'íyáti’ Committee Regular Meeting, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025

Navajo Council Committee questions the tribe's attorneys and the Navajo EPA about the agreement

"Who negotiated these terms?" asked Shiprock Council Delegate Eugenia Charles-Newton. She questioned who decided on the amount to be paid by Energy Fuels to the tribe.

"Who came up with the amount of $1.2 million?" 

"We should have never even entered into this, because the last meeting that we had on the uranium, we all agreed that we would not allow the uranium to be hauled through our Navajo Nation because we're still fighting the federal government for what happened to our people, and they keep pushing it aside saying, 'Well, that
happened years ago, that happened during World War II.'"

Charles-Newton questioned the legality of the agreement, and whether those negotiating the agreement had the authority to do it.

She said the $1.2 million from Energy Fuels to the tribe is not a lot of money, and that this would cover the cost of just one person who has to battle cancer.

"What I do care about is our Navajo people who are still trying to combat cancer because of the uranium mines that they entered into when the federal government chose to withhold that information to our Navajo people, and I question if we already know the effects of uranium, why are we allowing this to continue, and if we want to stop it."

She asked why there were no public hearings, no major press releases, and why the Dine' people were not informed at the time of the negotiations.

"Where does it say they can sign this contract without it going through the Council?"

As a result of her questions, a long, drawn out circle of explanations followed by tribal attorneys and the Navajo EPA during the council committee session.

Navajo EPA executive director Steven Etsitty said the high price for uranium on the global market stimulated the re-opening of Pinyon Plain and other uranium mines. Etsitty said the other factor that makes it clear that this will not go away is the fact that the only fully-licensed and operating uranium mill in the United States is Energy Fuels White Mesa mill near Blanding, Utah. 

Responding to questions, Navajo Interim Deputy Attorney General Kris Beecher said Ethel Branch, former Navajo Attorney General, worked on the uranium transport agreement.

"Ethel Branch and the Acting Attorney General Heather Claw are the two that negotiated this, with the help of EPA and obviously Mr. Moquin to my knowledge," Etsitty said, referring to Dan Moquin, the tribe's natural resources attorney.

Moquin said litigation attorneys from the Navajo Department of Justice were also involved in the negotiations.

Moquin said uranium trucks have probably come through the Navajo Nation in the past, but there was no way to know, or monitor them.

The Navajo EPA and tribal attorneys claimed that this agreement is benefiting the Navajo people, but council delegates disagreed.

Council Delegate Dr. Andy Nez said, "This agreement is not benefiting our people."

Dr. Nez, who represents Crystal, Fort Defiance, Red Lake and Sawmill, asked if the Navajo Nation EPA has a plan to address emergencies that will occur.

"Unfortunately we have a lot of relatives who are along those routes. Maybe they run along those routes, you know they sell their goods and things like that along those routes, and so that is compromising and jeopardizing our relatives and our Western Agency all the way up into Utah."

"When I look at again at the benefits, it's not benefits, it's benefiting nobody other than Energy Fuels -- they're simply giving you the money for them, for the nation to be of service to them, and nobody's benefiting from that."

"So I wouldn't call it a benefit."

"It just doesn't make any sense to me," Dr. Nez said, questioning the negotiations. He also questioned the fact that no hazardous waste truck drivers licenses have been issued by the Navajo EPA.

Etsitty clarified that the license is for the company, Hammond Trucking in this case, and it is a license with an annual fee.

Council delegates were clearly frustrated with the lack of concrete answers from attorneys and the Navajo EPA.

Councilman Georg Tolth

Councilman George Tolth said, "I don't think they're going to give us the answers. They're just passing the buck."

"We're just talking about it 'round and 'round," he said, "we're going to be sitting here all evening."

Tolth pointed out that attorneys are paid to answer the questions, and yet there were no straight-forward answers to where the authority to negotiate the uranium transport agreement came from.

"We're asking questions, and some are not responding," Tolth said, "They're not on the same page."

Tolth recommended that this be referred back to the Navajo Council's Resources and Development Committee. Tolth said it is likely to require subpoenas to get the answers to their questions and bring all the attorneys together.

"Seems like we're doing all the work for them," said Tolth, referring to the Resources Committee. Tolth represents Littlewater, Pueblo Pintado, Torreon, Whitehorse Lake, Baca/Prewitt, Casamero Lake, Ojo Encino, and Counselor.

The committee decided to return to the issue in two weeks, and since it involves a contract, the session will be an executive session and not public.

Today, the following fact sheet was made public -- two days after the trucks passed  through the Navajo Nation.

Meanwhile, Navajos report that the tarps covering the radioactive uranium waste  loaded in the semi-trucks are not secure, and the tarps are flapping open at the corners, contaminating the air.

Besides the endangerment to Navajos on this deadly haul route, the agreement includes future permission for Energy Fuels to haul radioactive waste through the eastern part of the Navajo Nation in New Mexico, if Energy Fuels begins uranium mining at Energy Fuels' Roca Honda mine, near the Dine' Sacred Mountain of Mount Taylor in New Mexico.

Further, in the agreement, Energy Fuels agrees to remove 10,000 tons of abandoned uranium mine waste from Cold War uranium mining on the Navajo Nation.

While the removal of radioactive waste from the Navajo Nation may benefit the tribe, concerned Navajos and Utes point out that it further endangers White Mesa Ute who live in the community where the mill is located. The mill, a radioactive dumping ground, is located in southeastern Utah.

White Mesa Ute testified before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in 2024, describing the health impacts from the mill, how the radioactive dumping endangers their families, and their efforts to shut down the mill.

Meanwhile, during the backlash, questions and controversy, Navajo President Buu Nygren said that Acting Attorney General Heather Clah signed the agreement with Energy Fuels on behalf of the Navajo Nation. Nygren made the statement on Facebook on Thursday.

Earlier this week, on Monday, another Navajo Nation Council Committee said the agreement with Energy Fuels was not negotiated or approved.

"The Resources and Development Committee clarified that the agreement was not negotiated or approved by the Committee. The Resources and Development Committee continues to urge the Executive Branch to communicate and work with the legislative oversight committee."

The deadly route through the western Navajo Nation begins near Cameron and continues through Tuba City, Kayenta and Mexican Water. The radioactive haul route is 320 miles of remote Dine' homes and communities located on the Navajo Nation before entering Utah. There are long stretches with no hospitals or hazardous waste emergency services. Police and emergency responders often take hours to show up when there are emergencies.

Navajo Nation Agreement with Energy Fuels Fact Sheet

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     Navajo Interim Deputy Attorney General Kris Beecher, front center, answered questions today.

(Below) While the Navajo government lapsed into secrecy, Haul NO! and Bidi Roots in Tuba City kept Dine' informed who were on social media. Bidi Roots livestreamed two radioactive uranium trucks traveling through Tuba City on Wednesday and another two trucks on Thursday. The trucks leave Energy Fuels Pinyon Plain uranium mine in the Grand Canyon, and enter the Navajo Nation near Cameron in Arizona. The radioactive trucks, with uranium waste and ore covered only with tarps, pass through Kayenta and Mexican Water in Arizona, before dumping the radioactive loads at Energy Fuels uranium mill in the White Mesa Ute community in Utah. 

Below: The deadly radioactive truck haul route through the Navajo Nation. 

Image courtesy Grand Canyon Trust.

(Below) The Navajo President's secret deal with Energy Fuels endangers everyone in the region, including Laguna and Acoma Pueblos in New Mexico already suffering from the cancer and death from uranium mining at Jackpile uranium mine. The new agreement between the Navajo government and Energy Fuels includes a provision for Energy Fuels to transport radioactive uranium waste through the eastern part of the Navajo Nation, if Energy Fuels begins mining uranium near the Dine' Sacred Mountain of Mount Taylor in New Mexico. (Photo blasting at Jackpile uranium mine, where Acoma and Laguna Pueblos worked and suffered from cancer as a result.)

Statement by Resources and Development Committee: Report on uranium ore transport agreement

Feb. 12, 2025

By Navajo Nation Council's Resources and Development Committee

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. – On Monday, the Resources and Development Committee received a report regarding the Uranium Ore Transport Agreement, recently signed between the Navajo Nation and Energy Fuels, Inc., a uranium ore producer that operates the Pinyon Plain Mine near the Grand Canyon.

On Jan. 29, Energy Fuels announced that an agreement was signed between the Navajo Nation Executive Branch and the company to oversee the transport of uranium ore from Energy Fuels' Pinyon Plain Mine in northern Arizona to the company's White Mesa Mill in southern Utah, along federal and state highways located within the boundaries of the Navajo Nation.

The report, presented by Navajo Nation Acting Attorney General Heather Clah and Acting Deputy Attorney General Kris Beecher, outlined additional protections included in the agreement.

These added protections include limiting transportation to specified routes and hours of the day, prohibiting transport during celebrations or holidays, defining emergency response procedures, and establishing clear notice and reporting requirements. The agreement also introduces more stringent insurance, driver qualification, and training standards.

Furthermore, the agreement mandates that transportation drivers obtain Navajo Nation transportation licenses, use state-of-the-art cover systems, secure provisions for escorts, and implement additional inspection procedures to ensure that all rules and agreements are adhered to.

Council Delegate Casey Allen Johnson (Cameron, Coalmine Canyon, Birdsprings, Leupp, Tolani Lake) requested the Department of Justice to cite the law that grants the federal government the authority to override the Navajo Nation's sovereign right to regulate uranium transportation.

Acting Deputy Attorney General Beecher explained that the agreement complies with federal preemption, a constitutional principle that asserts the supremacy of federal law over conflicting state laws.

"Federal law prohibits the banning of uranium transportation," Beecher explained. "The Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency will have primary oversight of the transport. Before transport begins, Energy Fuels must apply for a transport license from the NNEPA."

Acting Attorney General Clah stated that public outreach is currently underway, with the most recent update provided to the Mexican Water Chapter.

Beecher also highlighted an additional benefit of the agreement: Energy Fuels, Inc. will transport and remove an extra 10,000 tons of uranium waste from Abandoned Uranium Mines (AUM) on the Navajo Nation for processing at the White Mesa Mill.
"This will incur no cost to the Navajo Nation," Beecher said. "This removal and processing would otherwise cost the Nation $2 million."

The Resources and Development Committee clarified that the agreement was not negotiated or approved by the Committee. The Resources and Development Committee continues to urge the Executive Branch to communicate and work with the legislative oversight committee.

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About the author

Brenda Norrell has been a news reporter in Indian country for 42 years, beginning at the Navajo Times during the 18 years that she lived on the Navajo Nation. She was a correspondent for Lakota Times, Associated Press and USA Today. After serving as a longtime staff reporter for Indian Country Today, she was censored and terminated in 2006. She created Censored News as a result. She has a masters degree in international health, focused on water, nutrition and infectious diseases.

Copyright Censored News. Censored News content may not be used without written permission, or used in any way for revenues.

Mohawk Nation News 'Free Leonard Peltier'

Kahentinetha Horn, Mohawk Mother and publisher of Mohawk Nation News, shares her thoughts after viewing the new film, "Free Leonard Peltier," which premiered at Sundance Film Festival in January.

New today at Mohawk Nation News:

https://mohawknationnews.com/blog/2025/02/12/free-leonard-peltier/

Alert: Radioactive Uranium Trucks on the Navajo Nation Today

Radioactive Uranium Trucks on Navajo Nation

A banner on the deadly haul route today, Wednesday, as two radioactive uranium transport trucks pass by Dine' homes in Tuba City on the Navajo Nation. Dine' families said they had no warning and the Navajo government sold them out.

Radioactive uranium trucks loaded at Energy Fuels Pinyon Plain uranium mine in the Grand Canyon ready on Tuesday. Courtesy photo for Censored News.

Two radioactive uranium trucks passed through Tuba City on the Navajo Nation at between 11 a.m. and noon today, covered only with tarps, headed to the mill in the White Mesa Ute community in Utah. 

Breaking News update:

Navajo Nation Council committees said the Navajo Council was never consulted and never approved the secret agreement with Energy Fuels for uranium transport, which was carried out by Navajo President Buu Nygren and the tribe's attorneys.

'Free Leonard Peltier' A Film For the People

Powerful voices in 'Free Leonard Peltier' Image by Censored News

Free Leonard Peltier A Film For the People

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, Feb. 11, 2025

"Free Leonard Peltier" begins in Leavenworth. And with the sound of the metal crash of the prison door behind him, there is the sound of the passage of time, years and years of time.

Free Leonard Peltier tells the long story, back from the beginning, of the injustice, the police beatings, lives stolen in boarding schools, and the 68 murders on Pine Ridge. It tells the story of the soft-spoken Leonard Peltier.

The images, from Alcatraz to the BIA takeover in Washington, to the Jumping Bull Camp, tell the story of those who were there and have always known what happened.

The film reveals one of the longest-running secrets in Indian country.

'Don't Nuke the Grand Canyon!' Flagstaff Action -- Photos by Dawn Dyer

Flagstaff Haul No! Solidarity
Photos by Dawn Dyer
Censored News, Today, February 10, 2025

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Navajo Nation is 'Back Peddling' by Allowing Uranium Transport through Dine' Communities and More Dumping on Utes

Navajo Nation is 'Back Peddling' by Allowing Uranium Transport through Dine' Communities and More Dumping on Utes

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, Feb. 8, 2025

TUBA CITY -- Leona Morgan, Dine' co-founder of Haul No!, said the Navajo Nation is now "back peddling" by allowing radioactive uranium waste to be transported through Dine' communities. This radioactive transport from the Grand Canyon means even more deadly waste for another Native community -- the White Mesa Ute community in Utah.

Speaking at a community forum in Tuba City on Saturday, Leona said there has been little or no information along the haul route. The Navajo government expects the Dine' Chapters on the route to each have an emergency preparedness plan. Leona asked if the Dine' communities are aware of this and whether the Navajo Chapters are certified to deal with radioactive emergencies.

Thacker Pass Lithium Mine Permit Violates Indigenous Peoples’ Rights: Mine Permitted Without Free, Prior, and Informed Consent

Numu/Nuwu and Newe prayer horse riders pictured in front of the mountain range approaching Peehee Mu’huh on the annual memorial and prayer horse ride in honor of the 1865 massacre and other atrocities that occurred across the state. Fort McDermitt, Nevada, March 24, 2024. 

© 2024 Alison Leal Parker/Human Rights Watch

Lithium Mine Permit Violates Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Mine Permitted Without Free, Prior, and Informed Consent

By Human Rights Watch and ACLU, Censored News, February 9, 2025

-- The US government’s decision to permit Lithium Americas to mine at Thacker Pass in Nevada violated Indigenous people’s rights by not obtaining free, prior, and informed consent.

-- The project shows how US mining laws and the permit process run roughshod over the rights of Indigenous peoples, who find access to the land important for religious and cultural practices. Residents also fear that the mine threatens their rights to health, a healthy environment, and water.

-- The federal government should halt construction at Thacker Pass until it gets the free, prior, and informed consent of Indigenous peoples and ensure that all current and future mine permit processes comply with international human rights standards.

WASHINGTON, D.C. February 6, 2025 -- The United States government’s decision to permit Lithium Americas to mine at Thacker Pass in Nevada violated Indigenous people’s rights, Human Rights Watch and the ACLU said in a report released today. The 18,000-acre mining project is under construction and will extract lithium from one of the world’s largest known deposits.

The 133-page report, “‘The Land of Our People, Forever’: United States Human Rights Violations against the Numu/Nuwu and Newe in the Rush for Lithium,” found that the US Bureau of Land Management permitted the Thacker Pass mine without obtaining the free, prior, and informed consent of Indigenous people—the Numu/Nuwu and Newe, or Northern Paiute and Western Shoshone in English—in violation of their rights to religion, culture, and to their ancestral lands under international human rights law and standards. While there may be others, at least six Tribes have connection to the land at Thacker Pass.