Navajo Nation: Part 1

After 24 in hours in Navajo Nation reporting, I am amazed at the depth of the stories we've encountered - stories that must be told. The Navajos have been dealing with the aftereffects of uranium mining on their land for nearly 40 years. They are being diagnosed with cancer, Navajo Neuropathy, liver disease and breathing problems because of the radiation caused by uranium tailings left behind by mining companies - mining that was orchestrated by the federal government.

As a result, these Navajo families are being torn apart by death. Today we interviewed a mother and father who had lost six of their eleven children to Navajo Neuropathy. And this is a horrible disease - your limbs curl up, you can't walk or use your hands, your stomach and face swells up and you die. Doctors have very little explanation to this - but it is believed to be caused by exposure to radiation. This family, the Ne family, had nowhere to turn, no health care and no help from the government. The pain on their faces was so poignant; nothing rivals the pain of a parent losing a child.

We also traveled to an actual mining site, where cleanup was in process. We went with a Navajo man, Teddy Nez, who literally lived 500 feet from the mine's edge, in the middle of the cleanup site. The site of his home was tested for radiation and it had 120 times the accepted amount of radiation. He and his family were relocated to apartments in a neighboring town. But Teddy still plans to move back into his home on Dec. 23.

One question that is often asked of the Navajo is this: Why don't you just leave?

It seems simple enough to us Westerners. If a place is making you sick, then move to a new place. Simple. But to them, it is anything but. The Navajo are spiritually tied to the land. They even call it "their blood and their bones." One Navajo woman and our guide for the trip, put it simply, "To leave is to die." And to them, a spiritual death by leaving the land is worse than staying. Even if the land they are living on is essentially killing them.

On a personal note, being on the scene of the issue is incredible. There's an element you just don't get over the phone; seeing where someone lives, seeing them with their people, seeing their homes - it all makes for a better story. I'm beginning to think that being some sort of traveling reporter is something I would like to do.