In Defense of Silyaye aheace

The contradictions apparent in siting a nuclear waste dump here are readily apparent. Ward Valley, known by the Mojave people as Silyaye aheace, is critical habitat for the federally listed desert tortoise. The dump site sits above the aquifer that feeds the Colorado River, just 18 miles to the east. The firm hired by the government to evaluate the site and construct the dump, US Ecology, has a horrible track record in terms of containing radioactive waste even for a few decades, let alone for the millenia required.

Any one of the above should be sufficient reason to cancel plans for this dump. Interestingly, though, the tribes that live along the Colorado River-- Fort Mojave, Colorado River, Cocopah, Quechan, and Chemehuevi -- are basing their resistance primarily on spirituality. This confounds the bureaucrats and politicians. How does one compromise with, or successfully bribe, people who have taken an oath based on their sacred regard for the ground on which their ancestors lived and died?

The tribes have asked to meet with President Clinton, or at least Secretary of the Interior Babbitt, to discuss the situation. Instead, they hear from a spokesman from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) that they are dangerously "upping the ante" simply by making such a request. This is arrogance. The tribes are sovereign nations and must be afforded the respect of meeting with officials who can actually make decisions. A recent meeting with an Interior Department undersecretary for Indian Affairs resolved nothing because the official had no authority. This is an insult to the tribes.

The Ward Valley controversy has dragged on for more than 11 years. It came to a head about a month ago when the BLM ordered protesters off the site so that test drilling for tritium could proceed. (Tritium is radioactive hydrogen left over from the aboveground nuclear bomb testing since the 1940s. It lingers in the air, water, and soil worldwide.) The tribes have told the BLM that testing was irrelevant since they would not allow the desecration of the land to continue.

The encampment (now called "the village" by occupants) at Silyaye aheace is now in its sixth week. There is no end in sight. Elders perform sacred ceremonies around the clock. AIM is here to protect the elders, as are tribal members and non-native activists. Some have said they will die before they allow a nuclear dump on land that was home to their ancestors and is therefore sacred to this generation and generations to come.

The confrontation at Ward Valley is emblematic of the kind of questions we face as a culture in the coming decades. Are we willing to risk contaminating the water source for millions of people while desecrating sacred land just so we can put our garbage "out of sight, out of mind?" If applied with enough brute force, this "strategy" may succeed for awhile. But only for awhile.

There are brave, committed, and above all, patient people at Silyaye aheace. They are standing against a culture gone too far, but they are also standing for a better, safer future for all our children. Indian people believe that decisions should always be made looking ahead to "the seventh generation." How can that be applied to the disposal of nuclear waste that remains lethal for more than a thousand generations?

It can't. That's why this dump must be stopped. The production of nuclear waste must likewise be stopped. Save Ward Valley! Our children will thank us to the seventh and even to the seven hundredth generation.