At present, within the 18 nations mining uranium, 75%
of the extraction takes place within or close to an area
inhabited by indigenous people, and as a result these
people are suffering from lung cancers and other illness,
according to Toyosaki Hiromitsu of the Shukan Kinyobi
(issue 862), a weekly magazine.
As of the year 2007, of the yearly supply of nuclear fuel
uranium for Japanese reactors, 33% was mined from three
fields in Australia. Of these, the largest, the Olympic
Dam area, was owned by the Kokada Aborigines and was
a place regarded as sacred to them. However in 1986,
they were forcibly removed from their land when mining
began, sent to distant reservations, and scattered among
other aborigines.
In Canada, which supplies uranium to the United States,
many Dene First Nation people, who carried sacks of ore,
died of lung cancer. In the United States, many Navajo
people have also been victims. These indigenous people
had never been given any information that the element
uranium had such a deadly effect, and so those living near
the mines suffered great harm.
Refineries were built on the indigenous people’s land
and on waste material, which maintained 85% of its
accumulated radioactivity, with the result that polluted
run-off caused many related accidents in the United States,
Canada and Australia.
After the Japan nuclear accident in 2011, Hopi Prophecy,
a documentary movie made in 1986, was viewed with
interest in Japan. The Hopi Tribe of Native Americans has
lived near the Grand Canyon in the Four Corners area of
the U.S. for over 2,000 years. When the U.S. Government
discovered uranium ore in that area, the Hopi people were
Japan’s Nuclear Power Generators and
the Rights of the World’s Indigenous Peoples
deceived and mining began. It is said that the uranium
was used to build the atomic bombs that were dropped
on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. So the tragedy of the atomic
bombing of Japan, the nuclear disaster of 2011, and the
suffering of indigenous peoples are related. “Nuclear
Racism” is a term that refers to environmental destruction
and the discriminatory harm done to indigenous peoples.
Adopted by the United Nations in 2007, the Declaration
on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples states in Article
29 that in observing their traditions they have the right
to preserve their environment. Maintaining the quality
of water in rivers and protecting forest and woodlands
from destruction is an established right. Nations must
take measures not to store harmful material or dispose of
such waste in an unsafe manner, and they likewise have
a responsibility for the maintaining the environment and
implementing plans for its restoration.
However, the existence of indigenous peoples continues to
be ignored. Uranium continues to be mined and refined.
Responsibility for the environment as well as maintaining
and implementing plans for restoration are not being
carried out. This is truly an enormous problem.
For more information about the aboriginal peoples’ point
of view and the urgent necessity to rethink nuclear power,
see Hokkai District Ainu People’s Center URL, http:www.
douhoku.org/ainu/ (Tr. GM)
Based on Hokkai Kyoku Tsushin (Hokkai District News) No. 182
From the blog of the Hokkai District’s Ainu Information Center
by Miura Tadao, head of the center, as summarized by Kawakami
Yoshiko, chair of the KNL Editorial Committee and pastor of Okubo
Church, North Subdistrict, Tokyo District

日本の原発と世界の先住民族の権利

現在、世界十八カ国で行われているウラン採掘・精錬場の ７５％が先住民族の居住区周辺にあり、先住民族が肺がんなどで苦しめられている、と「週刊金曜日862号」で豊崎博光氏が報じている。２００７年時点で、日本の原発の核燃料ウランの ３３％がオーストラリアの三箇所の鉱山で採掘されている。そのうち最大のオリンピックダム鉱山は、先住民族コカダ・アボリジニの所有地で あり聖地であったが、1986年から採掘が始まると、強制的に遠くの居住区（リザーブ）に移され、他のアボリジニ も分散させられた。アメリカにウランを提供したカナダでも、ウランを入れた布袋を担いだデネ－・インディアンの多くが肺がんで死亡。アメ リカ国内でも、ナバホ・インディアンに被害が出た。ウランが、致死性の元素であることを先住民は全く知らされず、鉱山周辺に住む人達も被 害を受けた。精練所も先住民族の住む地域に作られ、放射能が８５％残る廃棄物が積み上げられて流出事故が、アメリカ、カナダ、オーストラ リアで多発した。

2011年の東日本大震災による 福島原発事故のあと、ドキュメンタリー映画「ホピの預言」（1986年制作）の上映が(日本で)目立つ。ホピ族は、USA・グランドキャニオン近くにあるフォーコーナーという土地 に、二千年以上暮らしているネイティブアメリカン。ウラニウムの鉱脈を発見したアメリカ政府は、ホピ族をだまして採掘。ウランを使って原 子爆弾をつくり、広島・長崎に投下した、という。日本の原爆被害、原発問題と、先住民族の苦しみは繋がっている。「ニュークリア・レイシ ズム」は、環境破壊が先住民族に差別的に被害を与えていることをあらわす造語である。2007年に国連で採択された「先住民族の権利に関する国連宣言」の29条では、先住民族は、それぞれの伝統にのっとって活 動を行うために環境を保護する権利があり、河川の水質や森林の維持は守られなければならないと、いう権利が謳われている。国には、有害物 質のいかなる貯蔵・廃棄処分が行われないよう措置し、健康管理・維持・回復計画を行う責任がある。しかし相変わらず先住民族の存在は無視 され、ウランの採掘と精練は続けられ、健康管理も維持も、回復計画もなされていない。大きな問題である。先住民族の権利の観点からも、原子力発電を再考する 必要に迫られている。北海教区アイヌ民族情報センターＵＲＬ　http://www.douhoku.org/ainu/

北海教区通信 No.182　アイヌ民族情報センター活動ブログより　三浦忠雄

KNL編集部による要約(川上善子KNL編集委員長)