2026-06-25 –, Room 403 PC Desk (Seats 30)
The traumatic health and environmental impacts of uranium mining on the Diné (Navajo) peoples of the American Southwest in the late 20th century have become well-known cases of radioactive injustice. Yet much less recognized is how Diné experiences with uranium were also significant on a global stage. This paper examines the revealing trans-Pacific and trans-Indigenous networks forged among Diné and allied activists from Japan and various Pacific Island nations in the late 1970s and early 1980s. First, through their shared experiences of nuclear suffering, Diné anti-uranium activists found common ground with Japanese actors from an array of environmental, anti-nuclear, and peace movements. Solidarities and personal bonds were developed at rallies, workshops, and conferences across the U.S. and Japan – from the Navajo Reservation to Nagasaki. Moreover, through these exchanges, Diné participants’ personal accounts of uranium mining’s toxic toll had a transformative effect on many Japanese activists’ understanding of the nature and scope of global nuclear problems. These dialogues helped foster a growing awareness within Japanese anti-nuclear and peace organizations of the need to expand activist efforts beyond conventional concerns over bombs and energy production, to confront all stages of the nuclear fuel cycle and their toxic impacts – from uranium mining on Indigenous lands in North America to nuclear waste dumping’s effects on Pacific Islanders. At the same time, Diné activists worked alongside Indigenous actors from across the Pacific, at international fora in Japan and beyond, to highlight for global audiences the unique toxic predicaments and vulnerabilities of Indigenous people worldwide.
