FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – In testimony before Congress, letters to the federal government and news releases, Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye and his vice president have brought up recent tragedies that have shaken some reservation towns to their cores.
They said eight people killed themselves in communities impacted by the unleashing of toxic waste from the Gold King Mine near Silverton that eventually reached the San Juan River and into the Navajo Nation, burdened by the stress of seeing a sacred waterway polluted.
“When you’re being abandoned in your great time of need, what do you do? It causes great amount of distress,” Begaye said at a recent Senate Indian Affairs Committee hearing where he pleaded for more resources from the federal government over the spill.
Some residents in the affected communities were skeptical, wondering whether there’s a direct correlation between the mine spill and suicides. Some saw the suggested link as an effort for tribal leaders to score political points on a national stage.
“I’m not really sure how this could be related to the contamination of the river,” said Bill Todachennie, vice president of the Navajo Nation’s Aneth Chapter in Utah. “Personally, I don’t know how you could hook (them) together.”
Residents in the region learned something was wrong with the river – a vital source of water for livestock, drinking and crops – through social media, radio reports and by seeing new people around their towns. The Aug. 5 spill took days to reach the reservation.
Begaye responded harshly to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and hosted prominent environment advocate Erin Brockovich on a tour of the reservation.
Begaye invoked suicides in a letter to the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Oct. 2, asking for a preliminary damage assessment from the mine spill. The agency denied the request.
Between July 1 and Oct. 15, at least 10 people died of suicide in the two police districts that cover communities along the San Juan River, according to Navajo police statistics. Six of those happened after the mine spill.
The statistics also show more than three times as many suicide attempts in those districts. But the communities also suffer deep hardships like rampant unemployment, poverty, alcoholism and domestic violence that are major contributors to high suicide rates – an issue on Native American reservations nationwide.
The suicide rate for Native Americans aged 15 to 24 is more than twice the national rate.
