The Navajo Nation sits on one of the richest energy corridors in
the United States, and for close to a century, we have been on the
frontline on resource colonization to provide cheap energy and water to
the cities in the Southwest. Since the 1920's, our land and people have
been sacrificed for energy extraction for oil, gas, uranium, and coal,
which is poisoning our land, water, air, and people. Despite being at
the forefront of energy extraction, our people do not see its benefits;
approximately 1/4 of our people today live without electricity and
running water on the Navajo Nation, while our economy functions at an
unemployment rate of about 60%, and our young people are leaving due to
lack of opportunity. Now our people and land are facing the onset
fracking and a proposed pipeline, which will transport crude oil through
130 miles in Dinétah, the emergence place of our people, in the name
of "economic development".
As young Diné people, we
realize that we can't continue on like this. We need clean air, water,
and a viable lifeway for our people and for all human beings. In facing
this crisis of our future, the idea of walking to raise awareness was
born.
We are walking to honor the legacy of our ancestors
during Hwééldi, who, a 150 years ago, were forced to walk hundreds of
miles in the winter during away from our homelands in the winter to be
imprisoned for four years in the name of American colonization. During
this time of great suffering, our ancestors thought of our homeland,
mountains, and prayed that future generations would carry on our way of
life. It is in their memory and out of this profound love for the land
that we are walking. It is time to heal from the legacy and trauma of
colonization that we having been living under for too long.
It
is our intention to walk throughout the Navajo Nation to document both
the beauty of land and people and how this is being desecrated by
resource extraction. We will do this through a social media campaign and
a documentary films. Along our route, we will visit communities to
listen to the issues our people are facing and share information about
the state of water, air, land, and health, as our communities often have
very little access to media or information about these issues. Our hope
is that we can help to inspire our people to become engage in the care
our land, air, and water, and culture so that we will have a future as
Diné.
On January 6, 2015, we will start from the fireplace
and doorway of Diné Bikéyah, at Dził Nahodiłii (Huerfano, NM) and
Ch'ool'i'i , the emergence place of our people, which is threatened by
fracking. There are over 400 proposed drill sites and within the past
couple months over 100 have been started in the region. From there we
will walk to communities through the Eastern Agency, and then to
Tsoodzil (Mt. Taylor, Grants, NM) which also threaten by uranium mining.
This first leg of our journey will be nearly 300 miles, and will take
us approximately 3 weeks.
In the seasons to come, we will
extend our walk to the other mountains and regions of Diné Bikéyah. To
Doo'o'k'osliid (San Francisco Peak, Flagstaff, AZ) in the Spring, the
Dibé Ntsáá (Hesperus, CO) in the Summer, and in the fall we will go all
the way to Sisnajiní (Blanca Peak, Alamosa, CO). All combined, we will
be walking over 1000 miles in 2015.
We are asking for
support to cover the expenses of this journey through 2015 including
gear, food, media/outreach and educational materials.
Gear
- It is our intention to use as little fossil fuels as possible during
our journey, so we want to carry as much as possible, therefore we are
asking for funding for packs and lightweight gear including sleeping
bags, tents, etc... We will also be facing extreme weather during this
walk, so funding will also be used for jackets, thermals, and other
cold/extreme weather clothing. We also will be needing socks, good
shoes, and first aid supplies to keep us going.
Food - food to feed our walkers daily and our support crew.
Media/Outreach
- a major component of this walk is to raise awareness about the issues
we are facing and document the impacts of resource colonization, so we
need funding for media equipment and too get the word out via internet,
newspaper, radio, and television.
Educational Materials -
this is to cover the expense of printing materials and documents to
distribute to communities as we pass through. We want to share as much
information as possible.
Axhé'hee! Thank you for your support!
