Story Published:
Apr 13, 2010
Story Updated:
Apr 13, 2010
CANASTOTA, N.Y. – The Central New York offices of Indian Country Today are typically rather quiet. But the sound of drums April 8 sparked the worker’s attention. A multicultural group of about 20 began a 700-mile “Walk for a Nuclear Free Future” March 7 in Salamanca, N.Y. to call attention to the 2010 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, which is scheduled for May 3.
According to an event announcement the treaty’s objective is “to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament.”
Larry Bringing Good, a Cheyenne Arapahoe and Otoe Missouria from Troy, N.Y., said the walk began at the West Valley Nuclear Waste Site in Salamanca, “where erosion is going to cause nuclear waste to leak into the Great Lakes and contaminate the water.” He said waste “they say is lower hazard” has been stored there for years.
The walk was initiated by the Nipponzan Myohoji Buddhist Order, who chanted “Na Mu Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo,” a Buddhist peace prayer along the way. Walkers plan on visiting six Native American territories in New York state.
“Historically and currently, the Native communities – from uranium miners to tribal communities targeted with nuclear waste dumps – bear a disproportionate burden of risk from the nuclear fuel cycle,” reads the announcement.
The group stopped at the Onondaga Nation in Syracuse, N.Y. April 6. “The people were really friendly and really spiritual,” Bringing Good said. “They let us into their longhouse. We could feel all the peacefulness and the caring.”
The peace walkers will be at the United Nations in New York City May 2, where they will meet with three other groups from Massachusetts, Vermont and Tennessee.
Bringing Good said the group’s goal is to “bring awareness that all life is sacred and to the protection of Mother Earth. Something needs to be done to stop nuclear waste from reactors and depleted uranium.”
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Rachel Lazzar said on Tuesday, Apr 27 at 5:18 PM
I'm so glad there is coverage SOMEWHERE about the persistent and dangerous nature of nuclear energy/weapons that goes on for hundreds (thousands?) of years. The nuclear-free-future movement should focus on no nuclear weapons AND no nuclear power (controversial, I know, but achievable). I have been disappointed to not hear the Obama administration address the problem of nuclear waste that we (Mother Earth!) are still stuck with since WWII and on. This waste inevitably and directly comes from the production of nuclear energy and weapons. There has not been any reliable and effective innovation to prevent these poisons from being created in the process, and escaping containment after their use. Even if we did have containment that doesn't leak, do we want these toxins around? Until we are able to create nuclear energy without poisons, we simply should not do it. It is too much of a risk.
42102152peggy la Fontaine said on Friday, Apr 16 at 2:48 PM
Great educational information Thank you
41405239coyote said on Thursday, Apr 15 at 4:17 PM
hell yeah natives got to stick together
41337662Dreamsthunder said on Wednesday, Apr 14 at 7:07 PM
A comment for Getrealfolks, what are you worried about Getreal, that they might actually discover that we have been wrong all along and the Native American's were always here. Any real scientist knows that Theories are just that...theory. As such, theories are not immutable.(that mean unchanging.) As new discoveries are made, theories are modified or totally thrown into the garbage. As it is, the theory of the great glacier corridor has pretty much been dismissed as pure conjecture because the physical evidence does not add up. But that is besides the point. If it is true that the Native peoples migrated to this continent, they still have the right to be treated with repect and the right to have their treaties with the U.S. honored. Use your ears and do what their meant to do, hear a segment of our population ask for the same rights that are enjoyed by the majority of U.S. citizens. Is that too much to ask?
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