The Toxic Legacy

"The Toxic Legacy" is chapter 4 of a 5-part series called "Sacred Land - Scarred Land". The project is a critical examination of the uranium mining legacy on Navajo land in Arizona, Utah and New Mexico. The Navajo have experienced injustice and betrayal since the first miners arrived in 1944. The dumping of millions of tons of radioactive mine tailings near settlements has continually contaminated natural resources on which the Navajo depend. This project tells the story of an underrepresented and vulnerable minority who suffered from a hazardous environment and increased cancer rates due to the invisible threat. The cleanup is ongoing, slow, and consistently underfunded. Permanent scars remain visible on land that is sacred to the Navajo. Burials, springs and ceremonial places were desecrated and permanently destroyed. Natural sources are polluted with unhealthy levels of heavy metals, nitrates and radiation. I used visual effects, such as smoke or light painting, to illustrate that there’s more than the human eye can see. These effects are symbols for the invisible threat. Radioactivity from abandoned uranium mines and contaminated groundwater are omnipresent near Navajo settlements. The light painting in the picturesque landscape of Monument Valley looks displaced, disturbing. This work is a reminder of the sorrow, grief and anger that economic greed and uranium mining have brought to the people of this remote part of the United States. https://sacredland-scarredland.com