An exhibit at the New Mexico History Museum in Santa Fe highlights the successful campaign by three Diné women to stop a coal-fired power plant on the Navajo Nation.
“A Question of Power” features 40 black and white photographs by Carlan Tapp, a Wicocomico and Anglo photographer and documentary filmmaker. He documented residents on the Navajo Nation between 2004-2011 through video and audio interviews. They include tense confrontations between tribal members and authorities over plans by the Diné Power Authority to build the Desert Rock plant on the Navajo Nation near Farmington.
At the time there were already two major coal-fired power plants on the Nation – the Four Corners Generating Station near Fruitland, NM and the Navajo Generating Station east of Page, Arizona that was also generating tens of millions of dollars in revenue for the Navajo Nation. A third, the San Juan Generating Station was nearby as well.
Robyn Jackson is the executive director for Diné Care, a nonprofit that works with Navajo communities on energy and environment issues.
“As early as the 1970s President Nixon had declared that certain parts of the U.S. would be sacrificed for energy production in order to meet energy needs for some of the bigger cities, like Los Angeles or Phoenix, and others,” she said.
In the wake of the 1973 oil crisis, Nixon announced Project Independence that included expanding nuclear development and coal strip mines into areas of the West, including lands inhabited by Native Americans.
Jackson said community members have been aware of the environmental risks for decades, like increased methane emissions.
“You could see that there was a brown cloud over the community in that region, you could see that there were days where it was hazy, and there have been some studies out there showing high cases of asthma amongst Native American people,” she said. “There was also a high enough number of people with cardiovascular issues, other types of respiratory issues.”
A 2010 research article identified 37 Navajo communities with high rates of certain diseases and conditions associated with coal power plants.
The growing number of children with asthma was one of the reasons Sarah Jane White became involved. She’s one of three women featured in the museum exhibit.
“So I went around the schools, and I found out just how many children were having a respiratory issue, and the elderly, especially around there too,” she said. “I went to homes, to homes, to home. It was like from morning to about midnight job.”
White had a fulltime job, but she traveled in her free time to speak to people about their health conditions in order to report back to state and federal officials.
She said the majority of the Navajo people opposed Desert Rock, and wrote letters to then-Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr., who championed the power plant and the jobs and revenue it promised.
White said she understood those who supported Desert Rock because they needed a job.
“But in the long run, I have known people that have worked at the Four Corners Power Plant. They retired working there and didn't last very long. They either had died of heart attack or respiratory issues. So that tells you something,” she said.
She said plant owners tried to get her to stop protesting against Desert Rock by offering her sons jobs.
“The company told me if I would just drop everything, my boys would be the first on the list to get hired, but that's bribing, you know, and I didn't like that,” she said.
White was joined in her fight by Lucy Willie and Molly Hogue. Jackson said it was significant that they were all elders, because Diné people come from a matriarchal culture and hold value and respect for their elders.
“Our women, we come from a clan system,” she said. “It goes through our women, you get your clan from your mother, and you're going to be very closely connected to the land.”
But Jackson said the outside world often underestimated them.
“They spoke to decision makers, both at the tribal level, the state level, the federal level, and they organized with other groups, because there was a big outpouring from people, the Native population, the non-Native population,” she said.
Tapp said at the time he was just photographing what he was seeing.
“I've been making images since I was six years old, but it was the first time that, when I started working on something, I thought, ‘I have got to keep really good notes on this for some reason,’ I don't know why, and I was shooting film with negatives and making silver prints. Then I started tying those two things together, so it was to create that voice,” he said.
Tapp traveled with White, Willie, and Hogue to different communities on the reservation and he said it was eye-opening.
“I could not believe it,” he said. “People without electricity, people without running water, you know, I said this is not right and living under appalling conditions, just from all the pollution and things like that. So, the more people I met, I found out that almost [everywhere] in the area I was working in, one individual in every family had asthma, had joint problems, health problems.”
Tapp’s photographs and interviews also helped in the fight against Desert Rock.
“Sarah really picked up the legal end. She said, we have to do this through the legal channels, and so ultimately, a lot of the photographs and audio work became key evidence in federal courts,” he said.
Ultimately, the Desert Rock Energy Project was officially cancelled in 2011 due to the continued opposition plus legal challenges, falling electricity demands, and uncertain climate change legislation.
White said she fought against Desert Rock, even when tribal members disagreed with her.
“Everybody was telling me, ‘Sarah, what are you doing? You know how dangerous this is? This is a lot of money involved for these companies, and you shouldn't be messing with it.’ I said, ‘Why not? They shouldn't be messing here.’ They're right across from the canyon, almost in my front yard, and that's what I'm going to be looking at for the rest of my life. I can't see myself looking at another power plant,” she said.
With the closure of another plant, the San Juan Generating Station in 2022, Jackson said you can see the difference in the air.
“There isn't that brown cloud, it looks clear, you can see farther, people can breathe easier, and there is the benefit of less impacts to people's health,” she said.
White said she doesn’t regret fighting against Desert Rock because it wasn’t just for her and her family, she was fighting for future generations.
“I have kids, I have grandkids. At that time, I didn't have great grandkids. Now, I have great grandkids. And I said, I want them to grow up in a clean environment. I want them to grow up healthy,” she said.
There is still one active power plant on the Navajo Nation scheduled for decommissioning in 2031. Jackson said the citizens of the nation continue to deal with health problems and many still don’t have electricity.
“It's a real injustice to have Navajo home sites just under these transmission lines, and that power goes off reservation, which means all the benefits and amenities that come with electricity and energy production go off reservation, and meanwhile community members could use that for their own purposes,” she said.
Still White had a rush of emotions when she saw the exhibit.
“When I walked in and I saw all the work that I have done and all the people that I had worked with, and some of them are no longer here, they passed on – it was very emotional for me. It was really hard to fight back the tears. I said, ‘Wow, I can't believe I did that,’” she said.
“A Question of Power” is on display at the New Mexico History Museum through June 27, 2027.
Support for this coverage comes from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
