Testimony: Anna Rondon, World Uranium Hearings, 9/16/92, Salzburg

reprinted with permission from
Poison Fire, Sacred Earth,
TESTIMONIES, LECTURES, CONCLUSIONS,
THE WORLD URANIUM HEARING, SALZBURG 1992
pages 157-158
In the Navajo way and, I am sure, in the ways of the other indigenous peoples, the world and the universe were made by the Great Creator and we were placed here to live. In our life on earth and in our relations with the animals, the earth, the sky and the spirits, the central concept is harmony. To maintain and preserve the harmony is to walk the path of beauty. When a person is sick, it is usually because the harmony has been disturbed in some way. Therefore, Navajo medicine men perform healing ceremonies to restore harmony so that the patient can again walk in beauty.
The harmony for all mankind is disturbed by uranium mining. This substance lies within the earth, away from the living beings, and there it is meant to stay. To dig up and distribute this substance into the air and across the land is fundamentally wrong. The number of human beings who have died from the effects of uranium testifies to the truth of this statement.

Anna Rondon

Anna Rondon, Diné (Navajo) Nation, Arizona, USA. Member of Southwest Indigenous Uranium Forum.

Greetings, yat'e! My name is Anna Rondon, my Christian name. My Navajo name is (...?), and at this time, I like to give you a presentation that is going to include the Southwest Indigenous Uranium Forum, how we're networking, and my second statement would be a statement read from our president, Peterson Zah, who is the leader of the Navajo Nation.
First of all, at this time I really like to tell the European people that we come over here and it's very significant the indigenous peoples, especially from the Southwest, come and voice our concerns. The European people must also realize, to be indigenous means that we can still practice the traditions, our culture, which was given to us directly from the Great Creator. We still have that. I've learned that the European people have lost that. So, I feel you are not indigenous. I used to think you were, but somewhere along the time during your history you lost direction. In this building here, I see Christianity. I think you, too, were victims of Christianity. You need to research on your tribal, indigenous teachings. Research it! You need to research the roots, you need to find your roots in this land here, the European countries. Your roots are here. As I heard, the oldest tree is here in Austria. Prove it, prove it to us!
There is a lot of technical information I'd like to share with you, but I think the Pueblo delegation, the Acomas and Lagunas did a fine job on the technical part. But what I feel now is that, as Navajo people, we were given the choice when we came from the underworld, the fourth world, we came to the emergence of this world that we are living now, the glittering world. The Creator told us that we have a choice, a choice to use the corn pollen, which is a yellow substance that we use. It contains the positiveness of life. We were also given a choice to use the yellow cake dirt which we were told by the Creator contained the negative particles of life. So we had a choice and we chose the corn pollen, which is the beauty way. We chose that for all people. Diné people are very close to the Creator, and we come here and we share with you the sacred fire. We gave the European people another chance to find that direct communication with your Creator, which is through the elements. It's so simple. It can be so scientific, but it's so simple. For example, if you go into the sweat lodge, the Lakota sweat lodge, you find the atom in there. You look up at the sweat lodge and you look at the atom that the white people draw. It's the same thing, but the white people use their atom in a destructive way. We use our atom of positiveness in the sweat lodge as a prayer connected to the Creator.
So, you as European people must feel the guilt of what your descendants had done to our people, not only in the western hemisphere, but world-wide. And I extend my hand to all the indigenous peoples here today that we all work together to rise above from this Hearing, that we show the Europeans the way. And we must stand strong together, for we must not trust the Europeans of what they have done, and you must realize why we feel that way. I'm very appreciative to be here. Don't misunderstand me; I know there is good in all people, but still, we must stand our ground as guardian warriors of this land and the waters and the air.
I'd also like to bring up that we come to a place of where uranium was discovered in the 1700's by a German scientist, we also come to a place where genocide was born. 60 million indigenous people in a 100-years span, the worst acts of genocide, slavery, happened to our people. When Columbus first came, he discovered how to kill people and murder them. You also must feel that guilt and take the responsibility to correct it for the next 500 years and beyond. I know, I'm not talking about uranium, but I'm talking about all the other issues that are related to this. Of why we got to the place where we are as the human kind, the five fingered beings. Also, at this time I will read the statement, a message from the Navajo Nation President, Peterson Zah:

"The Navajo Nation welcomes the important dialogue taking place in the World Uranium Hearing. I thank you for the opportunity to offer a statement.
The Navejo people join the indigenous populations of the countries all over the world and sound in the alarm. Not only are we and our precious Mother Earth in danger, but all life faces the threat of extinction by radiation. It is the folly of man that has unleashed the dark power of uranium. It is only now that they are beginning to see the consequences.
The Navajo people are victims. Many of our people have died from mysterious diseases for which no cure could be found. Only 20, 30, 50 years later was the determination made that radiation has caused cancer in these individuals. Our people are patriotic, and when the United States entered the race to develop the atom bomb, our men worked in the mines. Today only a few are left, and their families suffer the same plight which has afflicted people who worked at the nuclear test sites in Nevada and those who lived downwind from the test sites. For those wo have passed on before the diagnosis was discovered, their surviving families only know the tragedy and pain of watching their loved ones die.
In the Navajo way and, I am sure, in the ways of the other indigenous peoples, the world and the universe were made by the Great Creator and we were placed here to live. In our life on earth and in our relations with the animals, the earth, the sky and the spirits, the central concept is harmony. To maintain and preserve the harmony is to walk the path of beauty. When a person is sick, it is usually because the harmony has been disturbed in some way. Therefore, Navajo medicine men perform healing ceremonies to restore harmony so that the patient can again walk in beauty.
The harmony for all mankind is disturbed by uranium mining. This substance lies within the earth, away from the living beings, and there it is meant to stay. To dig up and distribute this substance into the air and across the land is fundamentally wrong. The number of human beings who have died from the effects of uranium testifies to the truth of this statement.
Hopefully, The World Uranium Hearing and your voices will lead to a process of purification. Our Mother Earth is in need of a healing ceremony in order to restore harmony for all life! "

Thank you.