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Artists Invited To Navajo Nation To Witness Uranium’s Effects

abandoned mine warning sign
Melissa Sevigny/KNAU
/
file | partner
A sign warns to keep away from an abandoned uranium mine.

There’s a map on the wall of the Cameron community center on the Navajo Nation with nearly 100 red dots scattered all over it. They mark abandoned uranium mines.

More than 500 of these mines exist on the reservation. They’re linked to cancer and other potentially deadly illnesses. But nobody knows the extent of the emotional trauma of living on land that’s contaminated. That’s the focus of a new project to raise awareness and bring healing through art.


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Melissa Sevigny is a reporter at KNAU in Flagstaff.