Ways of Knowing
OFPL, El Morro Theatre, and Bombshelltoe proudly presents on Friday, September 6th at El Morro Events Center from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. A Navajo Nuclear Histories Project with Sunny Dooley, Tina Garnanez, Tommy Rock, Janene Yazzie, Bobby Leonard Mason, and Arnold Clifford. Ways of Knowing is a multimedia project about Navajo Nation’s health and tradition through its enduring and traumatic encounter with uranium mining.
This history began in the 1940s, as the U.S. government’s need to sustain its nascent nuclear weapons program became a top national security priority. After perfecting nuclear weapons technology under the Manhattan Project, the United States could no longer depend on the Belgian Congo and Canada for uranium; the supply had to be closer to home.
Uranium mining for weapons production started in the western region of Navajo Country – in the stunning crimson sandstones of the Colorado Plateau – under the auspices of the Vanadium Corporation of America as “sale of carnotite and other related materials” to preserve secrecy.
Produced by: Lovely Umayam, Adriel Luis & Sunny Dooley
Directed, shot, and edited by: Kayla Briët
Still photography by: Carmille Garcia
Navajo Nation, USA
Year Release: 2019
Duration: 17 min 03 sec
Format: 360 film, color