Burning human remains violated Navajo burial respect and turned elders against the plant

Evidence

Community outrage rose to a crescendo when residents discovered that the incinerator would also burn medical waste, including human body parts and amputated limbs. “That’s what really turned the stomachs of the Elders,” explained CARE cofounder Abe Plummer. “We have a belief that you respect the dead, and if you have to cut off a part of the body you put it in the Earth with respect—with prayers, not just throw it in the trash.” — Luke W. Cole and Sheila R. Foster, From the Ground Up, 605

Categorization

• XREF: Ties directly to the reader’s ‘claim’ reading purpose thread and ADDENDUM on corpse ritual/sacrifice articles — sacred treatment of dead flesh as a political catalyst. — connects to: Burning medical waste violated Navajo religious duties toward the dead; Navajo uranium miners faced disproportionate contamination and disease burdens — David Schlosberg, Defining Environmental Justice:…, 213
• ADDENDUM: Directly instantiates the corpse-decorum theme from ‘On Sacrifice’: the burning of amputated limbs as a dignity violation.

Broader Connections

• Navajo uranium miners faced disproportionate contamination and disease burdens #expands (0.80) — David Schlosberg, Defining Environmental Justice, 213