On Tuesday the company that owns a uranium mine near the South Rim of the Grand Canyon began hauling ore through the Navajo Nation, which has outlawed transporting the mineral through its lands. Navajo President Buu Nygren has vowed to stop any future shipments.

On Tuesday, Energy Fuels Resources, the company that owns a uranium mine near the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, began hauling ore to a mill in southern Utah.

In a statement, the company said the shipments are safe, have low levels of radiation and have been permitted by state and federal regulators.

But the transport route includes a large swath of the Navajo Nation, which opposes the mine and has outlawed uranium hauling through its lands.

Navajo President Buu Nygren quickly sent out Navajo police in an effort to turn the trucks back, but the shipments eventually passed through the reservation on highways regulated by state agencies.

The president has vowed to stop any future uranium hauling and spoke with KNAU’s Ryan Heinsius about the tribe’s response.

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  • Dolores [love/loves]
    ·
    3 months ago

    any armchair hexlawyers in chat to explain how this works? like i get that on some level only the federal government is allowed to regulate interstate commerce, right? but the reservarion isn't a state. or a soverign nation really. so what do they actually have the power to do, and what would happen if they had their cops block the highways?

    like it goes without saying that the navajo are in the right to assert their sovereignty, i'm just wondering if they'd win the court case

    • glans [it/its]
      ·
      3 months ago

      They will lose the court case because the US supreme court has nothing resembling logic going on or even the pretense of it.

      What do they have the power for, that is a different question. Do they have other means of power? People, money, influence, gonads, guns, botnets, etc etc?

      • Dolores [love/loves]
        ·
        3 months ago

        They will lose the court case because the US supreme court has nothing resembling logic going on or even the pretense of it

        i was tempted to say like, '30 years ago' to get a read of how things are supposed to work, 2024 is very simple in the courts: supports racism, patriarchy, and empire halal supports justice haram