Diné youth have entered the second week of their Journey for Existence or Nihígaal bee Iiná, a roughly 200 mile walk across the Navajo Nation. “We are walking to honor the resiliency of our ancestors who 150 years ago were forced to march hundreds of miles in the dead of winter on a genocidal death march,” says Dana Eldridge, one of several female organizers of the walk. “They sacrificed and suffered so much so that we could live within these four sacred mountains. So we’re walking to honor them... One hundred and fifty years ago our ancestors stared their extinction in the face. And today, we young people are staring our extinction in the face. Our home will become an unlivable toxic wasteland if nothing is done,” Eldridge said. The Navajo Nation has long been exploited by the extraction industry in what can be thought of as a system of resource colonization. For nearly a century the health of these indigenous lands and peoples has been sacrificed for oil, gas, uranium, and coal. Check out this article to learn more about how Diné youth are responding (and preparing) for new assaults by the fracking industry on sacred lands. Click LIKE and SHARE to spread the story of these impressive young organizers.
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 10:57:38 +0000
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