Dayish denies pro-uranium stance

By Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — Last week was the first time since 2003 that Navajo Nation Vice President Frank Dayish Jr. has been mischaracterized as being pro-uranium, he says.

For someone whose father worked in the mines blasting a trail for others to follow, such a report is a personal affront. An error on par with the snake that supposedly slithered past two offices and under locked doors last July only to end up in the vice president's office on his birthday.

The vice president, fortunately, was out of town.

A report in last week's Navajo Times stated that early in the administration of Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr., the vice president "spoke enthusiastically about developing the nation's rich uranium reserves, prompting a sharp public reminder from Shirley that they had campaigned on a platform of opposing further uranium development on tribal land."

Dayish traced the sentiment back to July 2003.

"The president and I split the administration down the middle. Because he's a social person by training, he took on all the social stuff. Then he said, 'I need a way to fund all these projects, and you're a business person.' That was the connection," Dayish said.

Just the facts
During a 2003 meeting in Durango, the vice president presented a Navajo Nation report entitled "Give Power Back to the People," which outlined social issues such as the poverty level, number of employers and other issues.

"At the very end, I said, 'Whatever we need to do to get revenue to fund some of these sorts of things is what we're looking at'," Dayish said. "So then I said, 'Let me give you some facts.' "

"I said, 'Water, we have a lot. That's why we're diligently working on the San Juan proposed water settlement.' But then right after that, I said, 'We have 40 million tons of uranium, 4 billion tons of coal, millions of barrels of oil ... ' " and went down a list of the Nation's natural resources.

From that, he said, it was reported that the vice president wanted to develop every one of those.

"That's when Diné Bidziil got interested and said, 'Frank Dayish, we have a July 19 conference on uranium. We would like you to come over.' This was Norman Brown," the vice president said.

"I said, 'Fine. I'm just going to do my spiel and leave.' And he said, 'No, we want you to listen to a couple of speakers.' So I went in and I listened. And then I got up and I proceeded to tell my story. And my story is my dad is a former uranium mine worker, and not just peripheral-type jobs," Dayish said.

Underground
"He was in the mine, he had the drill in his hand, and he was actually drilling holes into the rock and the uranium. Then he would actually put the dynamite sticks in there and then they would run them all together and then they would ignite it and run down the entry and then get behind some of the entryway till it blew up," Dayish recounted.

"There was all of the dust and everything flying everywhere. Then they went back in and they would actually take that stuff and put it on the little rail cars and then that eventually ended up on the surface. That's what he used to do; so that's what I explained."

When his father came out of the mine, he said, his overalls would stay at the mine, but his work clothes still would have the uranium dust on them.

Dayish said he told the audience, "We were at the house and he would come home and that stuff would get all over. So, I said, we were impacted from that perspective and we certainly don't want anyone else hurt the same way."

And then that's when a local headline stated that Dayish and the crowd blew off the roof of the high school yelling the chant, "Leetsoo Doo Daa," (no uranium).

"That's been our position all this time," Dayish said, " ... and then this story comes out."

He said he hopes readers will reflect on the last three years, and the Nation's position of, "No, this is not what we want to do, because that's what the people want."

Time to revisit
The vice president also said that in light of uranium mining plans by companies such as Hydro Resources Inc., Strathmore Minerals and Quincy, he believes it's time to take a closer look at the Diné Protection Act of 2005.

"We might not have any teeth in the protection act," he said. The act bogged down in Council until stripped of certain enforcement provisions against the advice of New Mexico Environmental Law Center attorney Eric Jantz, who helped craft the legislation.

Whether the legislation is revisited is up to the people, Dayish said. "The people have to decide, 'We have an issue,' and then they need to highlight it to their chapter officials. The chapter officials need to go to their council delegates, and so you actually have a proclamation out. ... But then you need to get the people behind it."

If the Diné Protection Act "needs to be tweaked a little bit; then it needs to come from there," he said. "It's real easy once the people decide this is what we want and take a stand. ... I think we've done our part with laying out the Navajo Nation's position," he said.

Though the agenda is set for Winter Session, Dayish said the people still can voice their sentiments to delegates.

Strathmore has said the protection act may create an access problem with its Church Rock, N.M., property located on Bureau of Land Management lands, possibly requiring the company to seek an alternative route. Strathmore's Church Rock property is estimated to contain 11.8 million pounds of uranium, up from Kerr-McGee's previous estimate of 6 million pounds.