News Release
Havasupai Tribe
On behalf of the Havasupai Tribe, Tribal Chairman Thomas Siyuja Sr. has submitted written testimony asking that the U.S. Senate pass Senate Bill 387 in order to “protect, for current and future generations, the watershed, ecosystem, and cultural heritage of the Grand Canyon region in the State of Arizona, to provide for a study relating to the uranium stockpile in the United States, and for other purposes.”
The tribe’s reservation lands, along with its aboriginal homeland, are all under threat of contamination from uranium mining. Since time immemorial, the Havasupai Tribe’s home has been in and around the Grand Canyon, along the blue-green waters of Havasu Creek and its waterfalls. The Havasupai Tribe, known as the Havasuw ‘Baaja – the People of the Blue-Green Water, live in the Grand Canyon. As Guardians of the Grand Canyon and of our ancestral lands above and below its rims, the tribe has led the fight to permanently protect the Grand Canyon from uranium mining for generations.
“We wholeheartedly believe enactment of this important and necessary legislation is absolutely essential to protect and secure the future of the Havasupai people, now and for generations to come,” said Chairman Siyuja in the tribe’s written testimony.
As residents of the Grand Canyon, the tribe and its elders have fought uranium mining for decades, gaining allies along the way who stand shoulder-to-shoulder with tribal leadership to protect the Grand Canyon, its water source and the cultural identity of the Havasupai People.
Chairman Siyuja continues, “we know the irreparable damage uranium mining can do. For generations we have been at the forefront, working to permanently protect our homelands from uranium mining, which has disproportionately harmed and sickened indigenous people across northern Arizona.”
The threat of uranium mining is very real. For example, Energy Fuels, Inc. operates a uranium mine (Pinyon Plain Mine) within the Havasupai Tribe’s traditional cultural property known as Red Butte – Wii Qdwiisa, a sacred mountain and the origin point of the Havasupai Tribe’s creation story. The mine sits directly above the major aquifer that feeds Havasu Creek, the sole source of drinking water for the tribe, and is located less than 10 miles from the Grand Canyon’s southern rim. The mine poses unacceptable risks to the Havasupai Tribe’s drinking water, natural wonders, and sacred cultural sites, and specifically damages a Havasupai gathering point (Maŧ Ŧivjudvah), which sits within the tribe’s traditional cultural property as recognized by the federal government.
Tribal Councilman Stuart L.T. Chavez explained, “It is everyone’s responsibility to lobby lawmakers who can make the right decisions to stop uranium mining in the Grand Canyon region and support the Havasupai Tribe. We must continue the fight not just for our generation but also for future generations. Our homeland, environment, elements, and lives will be destroyed if our water is not protected.”
“There are those who argue that the current administrative ban, due to expire in 2032, is sufficient protection and that we should wait before seeking the permanent ban on new mining claims that S. 387 would authorize, but a temporary ban is not enough,” said Chairman Siyuja. He further expressed appreciation to the authors’ of the bill, “we thank Arizona Senators Sinema and Kelly for their support of this simple and straightforward law that would once and for all permanently ban new uranium mines on our ancestral lands.”
The full testimony and hearing video are available at: https://www.energy.senate.gov/hearings/2022/6/public-lands-forests-mining-subcommittee-legislative-hearing
Please note: Maŧ Ŧivjudvah is the correct Havasupai spelling of the Havasupai gathering point. The strikethroughs are correct. They are Havasupai language characters.
