By Navajo Times | Feb 19, 2026 | BY TOMMY ROCK, PH.D.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Dr. Tommy Rock is from Oljato-Monument Valley, Utah. He is an assistant research professor at Northern Arizona University in the School of Earth Science and Sustainability and the Center for Ecosystem Science and Society. Rock has spent his career documenting the impacts of uranium mining on indigenous lands and advocating for environmental justice.
As global conversation shifts toward nuclear energy as a solution to climate change, a familiar shadow is once again stretching across the Southwest. For the 170,000 residents of the Navajo Nation, uranium mining is not a theoretical debate. It is a lived history of broken promises, contaminated water, and a legacy of loss. If we are to discuss a “nuclear future,” we must first demand justice and safety for the communities that have already paid the highest price.
The environmental and health hazards linked to uranium are not relics of the past. My work with communities such as Sanders, Cameron, Oljato, among others, has shown that abandoned sites — remnants of a 20th-century boom — continue to leach arsenic and uranium into the aquifers our elders and children rely on. We see the toll in higher rates of kidney disease and lung cancer. We also see it in the “Navajo Birth Cohort Study,” which found heavy metals in newborns’ systems.
The desecration of our land and water is an ongoing crisis. To prevent history from repeating itself, we must adopt a comprehensive management approach that prioritizes human life over corporate profit.
New standard for oversight
First and foremost, we must move toward co-managed monitoring. Transparency shouldn’t be a courtesy. It should be a requirement. By involving residents in data collection, what we call citizen science, we ensure that monitoring reflects the community’s specific needs. We need public dashboards that provide real-time “fence line” data on air and water quality at every chapter house along haul routes. If a truck carrying radioactive ore passes through our community, every mother and grandfather has the right to know that the air they breathe remains safe.
Securing our basic rights
Access to clean water is a fundamental human right. We must prioritize household water testing and filtration programs. No family should have to wonder whether the water they haul for their livestock or for their kitchen table is a slow-acting poison.
Furthermore, we must address transportation risks. Enforcement of sealed loads is non-negotiable. Every truck must be properly contained to prevent spillage, and we need specific, real-time alerts for residents along haul routes. Currently, a lack of emergency preparedness is a major concern at the grassroots level. We need spill-response drills and trained local first responders equipped to handle radiological incidents.
Restoring trust through engagement
There is a profound trust deficit among our people, the mining industry, and even our own tribal government. To bridge this gap, transport corridors must be treated as public health priorities. Under existing federal agreements, the Indian Health Service (IHS) should actively monitor residents’ health along these routes.
True safety comes from empowerment. When we engage with our communities, we aren’t just checking a box. We are tapping into local expertise and traditional knowledge that have protected this land for generations. Engagement ensures that solutions are culturally relevant and tailored to each chapter’s unique geography.
Path forward
The dangers of uranium mining cannot be ignored or “fenced off.” It is our collective responsibility to advocate for strategies that prioritize participation, monitoring and full transparency.
We must extend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) to protect those affected by environmental exposure, not just former miners. We must demand that the federal government honor its “trust responsibility” to the Navajo Nation by fully funding remediation.
The future of our land and the health of our next generation depend on our willingness to speak up now. Together, we can ensure that “the desecration of land” becomes a chapter of the past rather than a blueprint for the future.
Spirit of resistance: honoring our ancestors, our future
The fight to protect our land is not merely a scientific or legal battle. It is a fundamental act of decolonization. For too long, federal assimilation efforts have sought to sever our connection to the Earth, but the path forward requires us to dismantle these systems and return power to our traditional teachings. These teachings, the respect for our environment and the natural world, are not merely “values.” They are Natural Law enshrined in the Diné Bi Beenahaz’áanii (Navajo Fundamental Laws).
Our relationship with the natural world is a birthright. In our culture, we say our voices matter because our “belly buttons are buried at our ancestors’ grazing permits.” This deep, physical connection to the land sustains us. Traditionally, our leadership was balanced among three branches: our Leaders, our Warriors, and our Elder Women. Our women have always held a powerful, respected voice in our governance, and their leadership is essential to restoring the health of our Nation.
Whether we live within the Four Sacred Mountains or have moved away for work or education, we remain one people. Living off the reservation does not grant us the luxury of staying uninvolved. We are the stewards of an oral tradition that has endured centuries of hardship. Our ancestors are buried in this soil. They fought and stood up so that we could exist today. Now, it is our turn to speak for future generations – the ones whose names we do not yet know, but whose health and traditions we must safeguard today. We must ensure that the stories we pass down are not stories of sickness and contamination, but of resilience and a restored relationship with the Holy People and the land. To keep our tribe and our traditions alive, we must ensure the land remains capable of sustaining life.