[CPEO-MEF] "Military expansion continually besieges Indian lands"

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Military expansion continually besieges Indian lands 
Question of proximity: A study contends the high number of hazardous
sites near reservations is akin to discrimination 

By Nicholas K. Geranios 
The Associated Press (Salt Lake Tribune)
November 25, 2004 

SPOKANE, Wash. - The last major campaigns by the U.S. Army against
Indian tribes took place in the late 1800s. But the military is still
dangerous to Indians in the West today, a new report found.

The study contends the dramatic expansion of U.S. military bases during
the 20th century was largely concentrated in the same remote, arid
places where Indian reservations were located.

That means Indians could be disproportionately exposed to toxic
chemicals and unexploded bombs, compared to non-Indians, according to
the report by Gregory Hooks of Washington State University and a former
graduate student, Chad Smith, now of Texas State University-San Marcos.

Two world wars and the Cold War "pushed the United States to produce,
test and deploy weapons of unprecedented toxicity," the study said.
''Native Americans have been left exposed to the dangers of this toxic legacy.''

The study, just published in American Sociological Review, is based on
geography, not on actual data showing whether Indians are more often
injured by unexploded bombs, Hooks said. Such studies remain to be
conducted, he said.

...

For the entire article, see
http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_2473272

-- 


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org
_______________________________________________
Military mailing list
Military@list.cpeo.org
http://www.cpeo.org/mailman/listinfo/military