Like many Native Americans, Juan Juanico believes he has a fundamental responsibility to protect creation. In part, that's why he has decided to sit at the table of the Tribal and Stakeholders Working Group to evaluate alternatives for treating mixed low-level waste. (See Initiatives, June 1996. )
For Juanico, whose Acoma Pueblo is recognized as a sovereign nation under U.S. law, the challenges in participating are not small. He looks at issues from a more holistic philosophic base, he is accustomed to communicating in a way that emphasizes inner values, and he is conscious of a scarred historical legacy of interactions with the U.S. government. At the same time, he recognizes that efforts like the TSWG are helping create awareness between people of different viewpoints, and he realizes the importance of speaking out and contributing his tribe's Native American view. "Before, I don't think things happened this way. The technical managers would devise solutions without getting input from other, smaller groups. We have an ongoing relationship that hopefully will not stop, and we will continue to be recognized." The opportunity to express his tribe's voice on environmental issues is an important step forward, but Juanico reserves a certain amount of caution. "It's a DOE policy now, to involve others in environmental decision-making; but when we don't know how the policy was written and why, it's hard to know why people really want our involvement. In the policy-making process, the tribes have been neglected. We have to look at the involvement process with skepticism, because we have been underdogs for so long. You don't want to, but because you've been on the receiving end for so long, you must."
But, Juanico added, now is also the time to be on the sending end.
On Value Systems
Being heard is a first step, but being understood is quite another. Understanding a tribe's perspective on any particular technical issue really calls for an understanding of the broader value system from which that perspective arises, Juanico explained. "We're looking at technologies that DOE is coming up with for processing waste, and we must safeguard what is really life sustaining-the air, the water, the soil. But how we prevent further destruction will depend on our cultural values," Juanico emphasized. "Our tribe's view has to do with nurturing the environment and the elements. The relationship between man and the environment is an essential part of our whole way of living. What's spoiled that way of living-that integral relationship with the environment-is not just specific environmental actions but a whole different value system and philosophic base where resources are viewed primarily as materials to be used for the good of mankind but where little effort is given to considering the long-term consequences to the environment.
"For example, materials from the earth were used to make a nuclear weapon for defending or safeguarding purposes. That may have been a benefit or it may have been a mistake; but either way, did your value system make you plan ahead or think about the future consequences to the environment?" Juanico asked. "Unless a long-term consideration for the environment is part of our value system, we will always choose to prioritize and protect our short-term tangible interests."
On Science, Technology, and Trust
Tribal traditions, lifestyles, spirituality, cultures, and the survival of future generations are entirely dependent on a respectful relationship with the natural world and the tribe's responsibility to sacred principles. This web of connections influences Juanico's tribal perspective on "technical" problems.
What Juanico observes within modern science and engineering is a tendency to analyze problems on a cognitive level, without internalizing the meaning of what is being done. "There are biological and chemical processes involved in nature, and elements behave in certain ways and affect health. The scientific approach is to analyze and hypothesize and find out what happens. We approach things on a broader plane where environmental, social, religious, and economic systems are combined. For example, crops are not just commodities. Some are used for medicine, some for food, some for spiritual ceremony. If you went into an environment where you had your sacred elements-a church or a temple-you would not only examine it for its physical characteristics, but you would deal with it on a personal plane too. For us, a rock is not just a rock." Juanico continued, "Today we look at the environment with a more intellectual or economic basis, often without reference to things of cultural or spiritual value. Engineers often don't have time to sit down and think about that. So I guess that's partly what this [Tribal and Stakeholders] Working Group is here for.
"It's easy to think when you come up with a technical process, that you have control and can resolve problems. Speaking for our tribe, we don't think we have control and don't try to control. We try to maintain a relationship of being humble toward the earth. That allows the environment to respond in positive ways. We live along with what happens with the seasons. We surely can question why things happen, but we don't have control. The earth brings forth life. If you don't respect it and give it what it deserves, there's no harmony between man and the environment. It's all exploitation now-using resources. But what do we put back? For us, our god is the land. There's a fine line between worship and elemental personifications. There are clouds and rain but behind them are processes, and there has to be respect for those processes. I don't know if others can totally understand our view because they're limited in what they can relate to."
The TSWG's discussion of engineering procedures, design factors, and specifications is a totally different realm for Juanico, placing even greater importance on the issue of trust in communication. "With our children, we want to know what they're doing and sometimes there are things they do that we don't know about or don't understand. But if we have a good relationship, we trust what they are doing is okay. My daughter knows about engineering; and even though I don't know the whys and hows of her specialty, I have faith that she'll use what she knows to produce something with humanistic value." This is the way Juanico believes the relationship should work between the tribes and DOE-trust is paramount. "In our tribe, we say we should speak from the soul of what's true. We have to speak from the true value within. If we're going to look to the welfare of our children, we don't want to make the same mistakes as our predecessors. There must be a plan for safeguarding the environment."
