Speach At The United Nations
May 4th, 2005
Johnella Sanchez
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| Speach At The United Nations May 4th, 2005 Johnella Sanchez |
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My name is Johnella Sanchez and I come from the Ute, Shoshone-Bannock tribe. I joined the walk in Hamburg PA.
In the 70's as a teenager we started working on anti-nuclear issues. At the time I really didn't realize what that meant. We were trying to stop a nuclear power plant from being built in Portland Oregon. I had great hope at the time and I just didn't really realize that 30 some thing years latter we would still be working on it. In the late 70's a lot of native people began walking and praying with the Japanese people to look at nuclear weapons and look at some of the issues happening in the United States. One of the things we know is that the uranium was mined and came from native land. Someone asked me the other day "Why would they work in those uranium mines. Well, when you come from really rural communities, really poor and impoverished communities you will do anything for money. At the time people really didn't understand the consequences. We didn't really understand that the uranium was going to be used for a bomb, to be used to bomb Japan. No-one knew. No-one could imagine I guess you could say. So its very tragic. Its really sad for me that the same uranium is being used in Iraq and all these other countries so everyone is suffering from this 60 years well now 70 years when the mining started. Also in native communities we suffer also because to this day because once they create this nuclear waste they bring it back to the reservations and they want to store it there and store it near rural communities. So in my job I am a carpenter and a union organizer and I am also a community organizer. One of the things we do is to teach people about hazard waste. We start with children and we train children and adults at the same time and talk about exposure. Not to scare anybody but what happens is when you teach children I believe is that they teach their parents. I think that children get it first. We've been very successful with that training of the kids. Its really funny because of course we didn't know what we were doing at first we just took what we know and tried to put it in a kids way, but kids really understand and really give us a lot of hope. I think at this point of my life I feel like we are in some trouble, and its frightening. As a grandparent I have great hope, coz you have grand children you are trying to bring them up and with your own children, and you are just going to do the best you can. I'd like to say that I appreciate the walk. I think that its very important to keep every step closer in creating some peace. I don't know what's going to happen. I am real worried about Yucca Mountain in Nevada. I am real worried about that storage. I know that it sits on an active earth-quake fault. I guess there is 14 earth-quake faults that sort of weave through that same area. I think that is due to open in 2012, not quite sure of the year. But its big business, and we all know that its not about human life its just about money. And I think that's sad. I think there is a way that through more talking and more walking that we learn. We learn more and it brings it back to what were really about, which is taking care of children. We have a great responsibility that these countries ignore. We have a great responsibility because these are really crimes against children. I think that's what it really comes down to. So I would like to just say thank-you. |
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