Western Shoshone Principal Man Ian Zabarte, who lost his family members to diseases caused by radiation exposure, says it amounts to racism against Native Americans that DC detonated over 900 atomic bombs on his ancestors’ land in secret from 1951 to 1992.
On Jan. 7, the film “Oppenheimer” snagged five Golden Globe awards. It’s a blockbuster directed by Christopher Nolan about the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan in 1945.
But flying under the radar is a documentary called Downwind, another movie about nuclear weapons. Mark Shapiro is the co-director of “Downwind,” and lives in Portland.
Ian Zabarte from Las Vegas is the Principal Man of the Western Bands of the Shoshone Nation of Indians, and is featured in the documentary.
They joined OPB’s Weekend Edition host, Lillian Karabaic, to discuss Downwind and the tragedy that inspired the documentary.
So, what happened was the European refugees came into our country in secret. They developed the US nuclear facilities, and they came to our country to test the bombs that they built, and they did this in secret. They didn’t ask our consent.
The hostile invaders didn’t tell us what was happening, and we didn’t know the problem.
That secrecy is counter to democracy, and we’re all not just the Shoshone; we’re all downwinder’s, and we’re all living with the burden of the adverse health effects that are known to be plausible from exposure to radiation, in this case, from radioactive fallout.
When I was about 18 years old, I returned to the reservation, which is centrally located in the Great Basin, and I saw my family dying, and I didn’t understand why they were dying.
My grandfather’s skin fell off. And as we began to understand that the nuclear weapons testing and the fallout came through our communities, I was angry and confused about how this could happen just like everyone else’s. How could this happen?
At the same time, the US Bureau of Land Management was blaming Shoshone livestock [and] Shoshone ranchers for destruction of the land that was caused by nuclear weapons testing, blaming the Indians for destroying the land caused by the nuclear fallout.
A lot of people think, obviously even the first test in New Mexico was too many. But to continue to do that 928 times when the United States can serve as a model for the rest of the world, it’s irresponsible and unforgivable in my opinion.
I think there are some things that need to be addressed immediately, including, you mentioned the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. It’s scheduled to sunset in June of this year.
So the $50,000 compensation, those amounts won’t be available after June this year unless Congress, they extend the bill, which we hope will happen. As Ian mentioned, is $50,000 enough? I don’t think so. Most people don’t think so, but it’s a start.
The Nevada Test Site is still operational and doing research. They’re still doing things at the Nevada Test Site. So that’s something that I think is unforgivable, given the fact that it’s not American land; it’s Shoshone Nation land, so that needs to be addressed.
But we look at our film as the people impacted in the wake of Oppenheimer, and as Ian mentioned, all the Indian tribes became down-winder’s.
OPB Organization / ABC Flash Point News 2025.
Psychopaths at work?
The same formula used worldwide nowadays, to plunder, kill and occupy other people territories for so-called democracy and freedom …………….they do not care, because the demons inside them guide them to the ultimate destruction.