Albuquerque’s Indian Boarding School History, Radon Daughter Art Exhibit Reflects New Mexico’s Uranium Legacy & New UNM Africana Studies Director | 2.21.22

New Mexico in Focus (A Production of NMPBS)

The city of Albuquerque has been involved in conversations with Pueblos and Tribes since June, when 215 unmarked graves of unidentified Indigenous youth were discovered at the site of a former Indian Boarding School in British Columbia. Correspondent Antonia Gonzales talks with Dr. Theodore Jojola about this difficult history and the current efforts to acknowledge that history and foster healing.

De Haven Solimon Chaffins grew up living with her grandparents on the Laguna Pueblo. The landscape there shaped her view of the world... the natural landscape... and the Jackpile-Paguate Uranium Mine. That huge open pit mine is a federal Superfund site and is still polluting water and causing cancers. This week, Chaffins sits down with Our Land Correspondent Laura Paskus to explain how her artwork explores the story of the mine and its impacts. You can see some of her work at an exhibit called ‘Radon Daughter,’ on display at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center through the end of this month.

Plus, we introduce you to the new Director of the Africana Studies Department at UNM. Kirsten Pai Buick is no stranger to the university, but she takes the helm just as the program prepares to evolve into a fully-fledged ethnic studies department. The pair discuss that transition, and Buick's goals and aspirations as she builds a department.

Correspondents:

Antonia Gonzales

Laura Paskus

Gene Grant

Guests:

Dr. Theodore Jojola, director, UNM Indigenous Design & Planning Institute

De Haven Solimon Chaffins (Laguna/Zuni), artist

For More Information:

City moving forward to honor burial site of Native American boarding school students - KRQE

City holds community conversations about Albuquerque Indian School burial site – KUNM

Indian School Graves Rediscovered Under City Park – The Paper

Of Hummingbirds and Hope: Radon Daughter Sooths the Yellow Dragon – Indian Pueblo Cultural Center

Exposure: Native Art and Political Ecology – IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts

Jackpile-Paguate Uranium Mine, Laguna Pueblo, EPA Superfund Site

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