Judy Pasternak - Yellow Dirt: An American Story of a Poisoned Land and a People Betrayed

Praise for Yellow Dirt

Publishers Weekly Top 100 Best Books of 2010, Nonfiction The Christian Science Monitor Best Books of 2010, Nonfiction

Gripping.... Literally, a piece of groundbreaking investigative journalism. Exactly what careful, painstaking, and risk-taking reporting should do: Show us what weve become and sharpen our vision of who we ought to become.

The Christian Science Monitor

Theres nothing clinical or dry about Yellow Dirt. While Pasternak cites a wide array of specialists in fields ranging from geology to nuclear physics, the story unfolds like true crime, where real-life heroes and villains play dynamic roles in a drama that escalates page by page.... Eye-opening and riveting, Yellow Dirt gives a sobering glimpse into our atomic past and adds a critical voice to the debate about resurrecting Americas nuclear industry.

The Washington Post

Chilling. Has the cumulative power of scrupulous truth-telling and the value of old-style investigative reportage.

Laura Miller, Salon

An investigative tour-de-force.

People magazine

Compelling.... [Yellow Dirt] builds to a series of surprising conclusions.

The Boston Globe

One of those stories that makes us believe all over again in journalism, in its power to bring truth to light.

Harvards Nieman Narrative Digest

The basic facts of the narrative that Pasternak has done so much to uncover and weave together form such a compelling indictment of governmental neglect.... As newspaper and magazine budgets for ambitious, deeply researched, morally alert reporting like Pasternaks continue to dwindle, we should celebrate the examples we have.

Washington Monthly

A heartbreaking story, and Pasternak tells it masterfully... impeccably researched and compassionately told.

New West

A stunning look at a shameful chapter in American history with long-lasting implications for all Americans concerned with environmental justice.

Booklist

Former Los Angeles Times reporter Pasternak debuts with an explosive account of U.S. neglect of the Navajo Indians during the rush to find the uranium required to create the first atomic bomb.... Disturbing and well-documented.

Kirkus Reviews

Journalist Pasternak details the history of American uranium mining and its horrific consequences for the Navajo people in this stunning tale of deception, betrayal, and bitter consequences.... The author brings half a century of deception to light and details the halting efforts to secure compensation for the victims. With nuclear power once more being discussed as a solution to Americas energy problems, Pasternaks portrait of a devastated community and callous governmental indifference is crucial reading.

Publishers Weekly

This book is a masterwork. It is journalism at its very besta story told fully and eloquently. A story that everyone should know.

Michael Connelly, author of Nine Dragons

This compelling and compassionate book could not be more timely. A gripping story of the betrayal of the Navajos, it comes at a time where once again the human costs of energy production are slighted and both the government and corporations ride roughshod over the least powerful.

Richard White, Pulitzer Prize finalist, recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, and Margaret Byrne Professor of American History, Stanford University

An astounding book. Judy Pasternak has dug deeply into the archives and into the ground itself to uncover the real story behind one of the darkest chapters of the Cold War on American soil. With her dogged pursuit of the facts and an elegant prose style, Pasternak elevates investigative journalism into the realm of literature.

Tom Zoellner, author of Uranium: War, Energy, and the Rock That Shaped the World

Free Press
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New York, NY 10020
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Copyright 2010 by Judy Pasternak
Afterword copyright 2011 by Judy Pasternak

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Free Press Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

First Free Press trade paperback edition July 2011

FREE PRESS and colophon are trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

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Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Pasternak, Judy
Yellow dirt : a poisoned land and the betrayal of the Navajos/
Judy Pasternak.Trade pbk. ed.
p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references. 1. Navajo IndiansGovernment relationsHistory20th century. 2. Navajo IndiansHealth and hygieneHistory20th century. 3. Navajo IndiansBiography. 4. Uranium mines and miningPolitical aspectsSouthwest, NewHistory20th century. 5. Uranium mines and miningSocial aspectsSouthwest, NewHistory20th century. 6. RadiationHealth aspectsSouthwest, NewHistory20th century. 7. Navajo Indian ReservationHistory20th century. 8. Southwest, NewEthnic relationsHistory20th century. I. Title.
E99.N3P378 2011
979.10049726dc22 2011009664

ISBN: 978-1-4165-9482-6
ISBN: 978-1-4165-9483-3 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-4391-0046-2 (ebook)

Los Angeles Times photos by Gail Fisher, 2006.
Los Angeles Times graphic by Doug Stevens, 2006.
Reprinted with permission.

Front matter photo copyright Gail Fisher/Los Angeles Times

For Steve and Isaac, of course

PART I: THE PATRIARCH
Discovery

PART II: THE SON
Fear and Frenzy

PART III: THE GRANDCHILDREN
Aftermath

PART IV: THE GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN
Death and Awakening

CANE VALLEY (in Arizona and Utah, east of Monument Valley)

Adakai Son of Woman With the Stone House and Man With the Red Hair. Also known as the Gambler or John Adakai.

Anna Sling Adakais younger wife.

John Holiday Adakais nephew and a sheepherder. Also known as Little John Holiday.

Luke Yazzie Adakais son (by his younger wife).

June Yazzie Lukes wife.

Mary Lou Yazzie Lukes daughter.

Lewis Yazzie Lukes son.

Lillie Sloan Adakais daughter.

Oscar Sloan Lillies husband.

Hoskey Sloan Their son.

Anna Adakai Cly Adakais daughter (by his older wife).

Ben Stanley Son of Anna Adakai Cly.

Mary Stanley Bens wife.

Adakais Daughter