CSDIW holds 33rd annual council
The Continental Society Daughters of Indian War recently held its 33rd national council.
Seven Arkansas Daughters, including State President Sharon Stanley Wyatt, of Pine Bluff, attended and in addition to business, “learned of the dire circumstances on the Navajo Reservation in the Four Corners area of the U.S.,” a news release said.
Introduced by Benton member and supporter Belinda Meacham Jones was guest speaker the Rev. Tweedy Sombrero-navarrete. She is Diné (Navajo), a pastor and missionary for the United Methodist Church in the Four Corners area located in Shiprock, N.M.
“With an estimated impoverished 174,000 residents, it is the largest Indian reservation in the U.S., spanning portions of Arizona, Utah and New Mexico. A third of the households on the reservations do not have access to running water, electricity, phones or paved roads. This combined with cultural practices of shaking hands and multigenerational and extended
families living together, has contributed to the spread of the COVID virus, the highest in the nation,” the release said.
“Asked what is the number one item she would request for the reservation she quickly answered ‘a water truck.’ Running water is not feasible due to the contamination from uranium and coal mining. Although the uranium mining companies have closed, the mining sites and contamination have not been cleaned up. Because there was no regulatory framework in place during the earlier (pre-1990s) round of uranium mining, New Mexico has been left with a legacy of environmental contamination. Remediation is very costly, especially when groundwater cleanup is involved,” it said.
Recently the reservation received several water tanks through donations, but a truck is still needed to fill those tanks. A new water truck price exceeds $200,000.
The 93 CSDIW national council members voted to supply another water tank to the reservation.
The Arkansas CSDIW is assisting the Native Americans with school supplies spearheaded by Jones. Jones and her husband, Danny, also purchased one water tank for the Navajo Reservation. Anyone interested in donating school supplies, a water tank, $500, or who can assist in acquiring a water truck, can email Jones at belindamjones@bellsouth.net.