TRINITY 80th ANNIVERSARY SOLIDARITY TOUR
With the 80th Anniversary of the first use of nuclear weapons, the Nuclear Truth Project has been working with community members in New Mexico and other partners to prepare for commemorative events across New Mexico.
The Nuclear Truth Project, ICAN International and the Marshallese Education Initiative joined commemorative events marking the important 80th Anniversary of the Trinity test in New Mexico.
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SUNDAY 13 JULY 2025
We began by joining community events on Sunday 13 July in Santa Fe and Albuquerque.
We joined a morning Catholic Mass at the Basilica Cathedral (Santa Fe) led by Archbishop John C. Wester.
In the afternoon, an Interfaith Remembrance of the Trinity Test featured music, speakers, exhibitions, and moments of reflection and prayer, at St. Pius X School (Albuquerque) which was also live-streamed.
MONDAY 14 JULY 2025
On Monday 14 July we visited with communities in White Rock, Cochiti Pueblo and Tsankawi with Tewa Women United.
The team was taken through the beautiful lands stretching across the Rio Grande to the sacred site of Tsankawi (Banelier National Monument), Whiterock and other townships, then on to join community members in the Cochiti Pueblo for the annual feast day.
Learn more about Tewa Women United.
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WEDNESDAY 16 JULY 2025
On Wednesday 16 July we visited the communities surrounding the Trinity test site.
On the 80th anniversary of the very first United States atomic bomb test, the team was hosted by local activist and nuclear justice advocate, Tina Cordova. Traveling to the gates to the White Sands missile site, and visiting the towns of Tularosa and Alamagordo, they shared in commemorative ceremonies, a Mass in Tularosa, and joined a community event to share meals and a candlelight vigil in Tularosa.
Learn more about the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium.
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Thursday 17 JULY 2025
On Thursday 17 July we visited Acoma Pueblo. Acoma Pueblo has been home to its community for over two thousand years. Elder Petuuche Gilbert will host a visit to the adobe houses, plazas, and walkways on the 367-foot tall mesa of ‘Sky City’, sharing the story of nuclear resistance across the region.
FRIDAY 18 JULY 2025
On Friday 18 July we visted the Jackpile uranium mine in Pagaute. Jackpile was one of the world’s largest uranium mines and has left an ongoing toxic legacy for the local community.
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SATURDAY 19 JULY 2025
Our final day on the Solidarity Tour was Saturday 19 July with a visit to Churchrock with the Red Water Pond Road Community Association. We discussed the work of Diné community members to protect their health and culture from uranium mining.
Churchrock is the site of the worst radioactive spill in US history.
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We were represented on this Solidarity Tour by Benetick Kabua Maddison and Dr April Brown, Board Members of the Nuclear Truth Project. They travelled with representatives of ICAN, Executive Director Melissa Parke and UN Liaison Seth Sheldon.
We thank all community members and organizations who supported this tour and offered such generous insight into the impacts of nuclear weapons and their associated harms. Particular thanks to Pam Kingfisher who coordinated community liaison for this tour.
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DNA Repair. 2017. 16 x 20 in. Acrylic on Watercolor Paper. Mallery Quetawki (Zuni Pueblo). artist site | instagram
DNA has the ability to repair itself through complex mechanisms and pathways when damage occurs. Its intricacy of repair can be compared to the creation of beaded items in Native Culture. Designs are thought out ahead and require skill and patience to be able to bead such intricate pieces. When a beaded necklace comes undone, the stones/beads are restrung by using what is already there. The design used is from the Crow Nation. The use of the flower design symbolizes the idea of regrowth.
We would like to acknowledge the use of Ms. Quetawki’s images from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, the University of New Mexico NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center and the University of New Mexico College of Pharmacy.
We are grateful to Zuni Pueblo artist Mallery Quetawki for designing the beautiful Nuclear Truth Project logo. Combining many symbols familiar within the nuclear free movement, this stunning design evokes both the strength and the long story of the movement we are a living part of. As the artist explains;
“The olive branch is the offering for peace, the arrows are signifying the work towards a common cause and the peace symbol represents the outcome. The handprint represents unity and the sunflower represents remediation. The DNA strand represents the positive outcome for all living things.”