Mining — the Navajo — to Extinction: Resource Extraction and The Genocide of the Navajo People

We the five-fingered beings are related to the four-legged,
the winged beings, the spiritual beings, Father Sky, Mother Earth, and nature.
We are all relatives. We cannot leave our relatives behind.
Betty Tso, traditional Navajo

In our traditional tongue, there is no word for relocation.
To relocate is to move away and disappear.
Pauline Whitesinger, Big Mountain Elder

With all the talk of alternative fuel sources and energy-efficient light bulbs you hear today, 55 percent of our nation’s electricity is still generated by the burning of coal. This requires that tens of millions of tons of coal be extracted from the Earth each year. The toxic fallout from coal burning is well known to most, but largely unknown is that the price being paid for extracting this coal is the virtual genocide of approximately 10,000 Navajo people.

Environmentalists, politicians, scholars, new age speakers and theologians will often speak of the power and wisdom of the native peoples of North America. Their reverence for life, connection to the Earth and appreciation of the web of life are foundational concepts in many…