| Press Release |
Yakama Cultural Leader Wins Beeson Peace Award Seattle, Washington – Yakama nation cultural leader Russell Jim received the Beeson Peace Award for his “tireless work for public and environmental health” at the annual dinner of the Washington Physician's for Social Responsibility (WPSR) October 26 th . Congratulating Mr. Jim at the event were Congressman Dennis Kucinich of Ohio and Congressman Jim McDermott, WPSR President Gerri Haynes and Dr. Jim Trombold from the WPSR Hanford Task Force. The Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility organization presents the prestigious annual Paul B. Beeson Peace Award to noted leaders making major contributions to the improvement of public health, the environment and peace in the world. Mr. Jim joins such prior recipients as former Washington State Governor Mike Lowery, Professor Giovanni Costigan, Ms. Kay Bullitt, former Seattle Mayor Norm Rice, Congressman Jim McDermott, political activist and environmental leader Ms. Hazel Wolf and nuclear energy activist Ms. Betty Tabbutt. Accepting the Beeson Peace Award before the audience of 400 physicians, academics and political leaders Mr. Jim delivered a passionate and eloquent speech calling for the restoration of natural resources and natural foods and medicines important to the Yakama people's diet from damage caused by high level and low level radiation from the Hanford nuclear facilities and other toxic hazards. “The Yakama Nation,” Jim said, “responded to these recent challenges in the only way possible, through its cultural insights and understandings.” Noting in his remarks “The Yakama culture continues to respect the land and its creatures through time honored laws which protect life and the cycles of nature” Mr. Jim commented on how modern science now confirms what the Yakama culture has informed the people since “time immemorial.” Demonstrating his commitment to the protection of the health of the more than 7,000 Yakama Nation members in south central Washington State Mr. Jim disclosed the findings of the Columbia River Fish Contaminant Survey conducted by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Mr Jim explained that Indian people “are exposed to elevated cancer risks and that tribal children are exposed to a multitude of health effects, simply from eating Columbia River fish.” Noting that the Columbia River fishery is a major part of the Yakama and neighbor tribes' diet, Mr. Jim reported that the Environmental Protect Agency study “estimated risks to Tribal people can be as high as one in fifty.” Indicating that the toxic chemicals found in the river mud contaminating fish and Indian people had been banned “decades ago” yet they remain fixed in the riverbed and leach into the water of the Columbia River poisoning fish, and plants those who consume them. Warning of other contaminants to the soils and waters of the Yakama Nations' territory Mr. Jim urged US government officials and the public to recognize that the lives of Yakama people are at stake. He pointed to the efforts of the George Bush Administration to “accelerate cleanup” of nuclear waste across the country by changing the name of the cleanup effort to “long term stewardship.” By changing the name, many forms of toxic radioactive materials will no longer be considered officially hazardous, but a problem to be managed. Mr. Jim warned further that such administrative redefinitions are short-sighted and dangerous to the health of Yakama people and people throughout the United States. Dr. Jim Trombold introduced Mr. Jim as the award winner, saying, “Russell is a leader in the struggle to reclaim Hanford from its huge burden of radioactive and toxic waste.” Trombold continued, explaining, “ He is an effective organizer in managing the complex relations between tribal nations and the U.S. federal government. He is a powerful orator because he speaks from his heart.” Mr. Jim served as a member of the Yakama Nation Tribal Council, was appointed by Washington State's Governor to the Commission for the Humanities and to the Washington state High Level Nuclear Waste Advisory Council. He served two terms as President of the affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians; two terms as Vice-President of the National Congress of American Indians, a member of the World Council of Indigenous Peoples Executive Council and serves as the Board Secretary to the Center for World Indigenous Studies. Mr. Jim is currently the manager of the Yakama Environmental Restoration and Waste Management Program working to protect the environment, to cleanup the Hanford Nuclear site while protecting the treaty rights of the Yakama Nation. |