Extract

Extract is the culmination of four years of action research into the legacy of coal and uranium mining on the tribal lands of the Four Corners region of the southwestern United States. The research was carried out, in large part, in collaboration with the Navajo Abandoned Mine Lands Reclamation program (AML) and the Uranium Mill Tailings Remediation Action (UMTRA).  It was conducted in parallel with a digital storytelling project working with Indigenous and environmentally active groups and individuals to encourage environmental health advocacy. The research resulted in an Indigenous-led, intergenerational account of the environmental challenges that people face on and around Navajo Nation. Participants included members of New Energy Economy, Diné College of Environmental Studies, Mesalands College Wind Energy Research Center, the Center for Contemporary Arts Santa Fe, New Mexico state government representatives, and Indigenous youth and individuals. The project goals were to document the health and environmental fallout from the legacy of mineral extraction and the reclamation work being done to mitigate this national emergency, to raise funds for an environmental health impact study, to secure cleanup funds for a 30-year-old uranium tailings dam spill, and to create the beginnings of a renewable energy economy. An online archive was compiled for use by the Navajo AML/UMTRA, the Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment, and New Energy Economy for use as a public awareness tool for health and safety issues affecting Indigenous communities. The Extract website is a partial representation of the work conducted during this time. The project was also presented in exhibition form and chronicled in a book chapter entitled Mapping a Bleak Future: The Mining Legacy of Navajo Nation, in On Active Grounds, published by Wilfred Laurier Press.