DRUM BEAT
FOR MOTHER
E A R T H
  Communities facing critical threats from POPs chemicals
  INDIGENOUS HOT SPOTS
ALASKAN ARCTIC
Pesticides and POPs in the Arctic: Aleut, Athabascan, Eyak, G'wichin, and Inuit Nations
POPs pesticides heptachlor, chlordane, and toxaphene have been found in the Arctic Ocean. DDT, PCBs, and hexachlorobenzene have been measured in sediment and fish in Arctic lakes. In 1997, blubber from four types of seals contained PCBs and DDT. The same year, measurements of beluga whales from the north coast showed toxaphene, PCBs, DDT, and chordane in their blubber. DDT and PCBs have also been seen in narwhals, gray whales and polar bears. The impact on humans has been seen in children. Inuit children show increased susceptibility to infection as well as immune system abnormalities.
OREGON
Dioxin and DDT in Columbia River Basin seafood: Umatilla, Nez Perce, Yakima, and Warm Springs Nations
Seafood is fundamental to Columbia River Basin tribal culture. DDT and PCBs have been measured in shrimp, flatfish, mollusks, and steelhead from offshore locations, estuaries, and rivers. In addition, PCBs, dioxins, and furans have been found in ospreys and their eggs from this river region. PCBs, dioxins and furans have also been observed in mink and otters. The U.S. EPA has estimated that populations that eat as much fish as the Columbia River Basin tribes face a serious cancer risk of 1 in a 1000 compared to the acceptable risk of one in a million.
POPs poison
WISCONSIN
PCBs contaminate the Menominee and Oneida Nations
PCBs have entered the food chain of Menominee and Oneida tribal members. Paper mills have contaminated fish and birds on the Fox River with PCBs. Other contaminants are currently under examination. These tribal lands are now a proposed Superfund site.
ACROSS TRIBAL LANDS
Burning trash creates dioxin
Trash burning on tribal lands is a potentially large source of dioxins. This is because PVC plastic (or vinyl) supplies chlorine; a necessary ingredient for dioxin formation. The EPA has measured large amounts of dioxin in experiments that imitate the burning of household waste in barrels as well as landfills.
NEW YORK
PCBs contaminate the Mohawk Nation
General Motors, Reynolds Metal, and ALCOA built factories upstream of the Mohawk Nation on the St. Lawrence River. PCBs discharged into the river contaminated water, fish, turtles, frogs, ducks, and breast milk. Until 1986, Mohawk children played in GM's landfill, because the company did not even put up a fence. PCBs are ranked by the EPA as being in the "top 10 percent of the most toxic chemicals to human health." New York has a statewide fish advisory warning people not to eat too many fish because of dioxin contamination.
MAINE
Dioxin contaminates the fish of the Penobscot Nation
Paper mills upstream of the Penobscot Nation have contaminated rivers and fish with PCBs and dioxin. Another mill discharges directly into reservation waters. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection found that dioxin concentrations in all fish samples downstream of paper mills in the Penobscot River exceeded the government's monitoring limit. The Penobscot Water Resources Department has also documented dioxin contamination in reservation waters. Dioxin is a known human carcinogen and has been called "the most toxic chemical known to science." The rate of cancer among Penobscot tribal members is twice the state average.
POPs poison
The Principles of Environmental Justice
The "Principles of Environmental Justice were adopted in 1991 by the participants of the People of Color Environmental Justice Leadership Summit. The first of the seventeen principles states, "environmental justice affirms the sacredness of Mother Earth, ecological unity and the interdependence of all species and the right to be free from ecological destruction. In response, President Clinton issued an Executive Order in 1994 emphasizing that "all communities and persons across the nation should live in a safe and healthful environment."		 Environmental Injustice
Our Indigenous Peoples in North America are being disproportionately harmed from persistent organic pollutants. Environmental racism exists in national and international policies that allow persistent chemicals to pollute the developing fetus and breast milk of Indigenous women and to potentially affect the sperm count of Indigenous men. Indigenous Peoples unjustly contaminated with POPs include:
  • Yaqui farming communities of Mexico
  • Mohawks of Akwesasne in the Great Lakes
  • "River Peoples" of the Colombia River Basin in Washington and Oregon
  • Inuit, Cree and Dene of Canada, and
  • Alaska Natives.
We must educate ourselves on this issue and seek to eliminate persistent organic pollutants from the planet. Our future generations depend on our actions.
How POPs Travel Across the Globe

Pengins in the Arctic. Grace/Greenpeace 1999

POPs can be found across the planet and in the body of every human alive. Several POPs have been shown to migrate towards colder regions by a "grasshopper effect" of repeated evaporation and condensation, which has made the Arctic and its Indigenous population one of the most contaminated zones. Even though developed countries have banned some POPs pesticides like DDT, they are often widely used in developing countries. In addition, developed countries still contain industries that produce POPs such as dioxin. These industries include waste incinerators and vinyl production.		 native Amercians drumming. CORBIS/Robert HolmesINDIGENOUS PEOPLES
What We Can Do
1. Avoid buying products made from vinyl plastic (PVC). Some carry the recycling symbol with the symbol recycle or the letter V. If a product's composition is not listed, contact the manufacturer before buying it. Ideally, choose more natural materials, but if you have to buy plastic, opt for polyethylene (numbers 2 and 4), polypropylene (5) or PET (1).
2. Avoid burning trash, especially if it vinyl plastic containers (shampoo bottles, peanut butter jars, vegetable oils, lamp oils) vinyl food wrap or packaging.
3. Talk to your tribal, IHS, or urban health facility and encourage them to purchase non-vinyl medical products such as IV bags and tubing.
4. Join in support with other non-governmental organizations to call for the total elimination of POPs.
5. Ask your tribal representatives to call on the US. State Department to take a total elimination platform within the U.N. treaty-making process.

Indigenous Environmental Network
P.O. Box 485 Bemidji, MN 56619
(218)751-4967 http://www.alphacdc.com/ien

GREENPEACE
1436 U St. NW Washington DC 20009
(800)326-0959 http://www.greenpeaceusa.org


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