Toxic Waste in Pápago Territory

In the middle of the desert and in the ancestral territory of the indigenous Pápago people (O’odham), the Federal Government has already authorised the construction of a toxic waste dump. The people of Quitovac, at the heart of the danger, are considering how to change the fate of their foretold death.

17 min

Indigenous Resistance Territory

2006

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Synopsis

“…toxic waste, nuclear waste does not go to the residential areas of New York or Washington: it goes to Indian lands” commented Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos as he listened to communities in the north of the state of Sonora, near the border. There, in the middle of the desert and in the ancestral territory of the indigenous Pápago people (O’odham), the Federal Government has already authorised the construction of a toxic waste dump. The people of Quitovac, at the heart of the danger, are considering how to change the fate of their foretold death.

Toxic Waste in Pápago Territory is part of the Indigenous Words of Northwest Mexico series. Its documentaries visit indigenous peoples, peasant communities and fishers of north-western Mexico, revealing the daily lives of their protagonists and the situations they face in maintaining their land and identity. In addition to Toxic Waste in Pápago Territory, MiradaNativa also offers the documentaries The Yaqui Agreement and Isla del Tiburón, Our Heart.