Following N. Scott Momaday's congratulatory remarks, 1999 Nuclear-Free Future Resistance Award recipient Grace Thorpe stepped to the podium to give her acdeptance speech.
Thank you for those kind words, Scott Momaday. I'm going to refer to my notes here, because I'm going to mention some people and I have to write it down because I'm sure to forget if I don't. First I'd like to thank Claus and the Nuclear-Free Future Awards, Chris Peters and Seventh Generation Fund, Eda Gordon, and I finally learned how to pronounce her name, I'd been saying Ida, and every time I'd answer she'd say, "no it's Eda", so I said, "how on earth I'm gonna remember it?" She said, just remember to put a lot of e's in front of it - e, e, e - and so that I've been able to do now, so Eda thanks. She's done a marvelous job of coordination, don't you think so?!
I'd like to thank Claire Greenfeld for nominating me for this honor. And also I'd like to thank the members of the jury for selecting me, and the Tewa Women United for their part.
I'm in very honorable, noble, unusual company. With the people that are here, there are some of the people that I've heard about, I mean you know, just about all my life, that I have never had a chance to meet. People that I have worked with throughout the years, for example Buffy Sainte-Marie. I can recall her coming out to Alcatraz, when I was there occupying Alcatraz, and that was thirty years ago. That's a long time ago.
Somebody asked me at dinner last night, what my goals are. And my goals within the organization I belong to is to keep nuclear waste off of Indian land. And we now have I believe 545 tribes within the United States, and there is only one, now, that is contemplating putting nuclear waste on their land. And that's the Gooshots in Utah, and I met with a group last night and they're doing some excellent organizing there, and they have some legal suits, and it looks like they are bringing a new winner there, just like we all brought in a winner at Ward Valley just recently.
The question was also put to me, what was the most important thing that I had done in my work? And I kind of thought, gee, well you know in my life, the most important thing in my life was giving birth to a baby. But in the current work that I am doing I guess the best thing that I did is suggest to Senator Jeff Bingaman., that he cut the appropriations for the multiple retrievable storage. And darned if he didn't do it!
So the message there is ask and you shall receive. When you go to see those legislators have in mind what you want them to do. Because that's what he did, he just plain asked me, what do you want me to do Grace? You know I said, cut the, cut their money. And again, I'm still shocked that he did it.
Alright, that's about all I have to say and I'm really honored to have this Award and I am delighted to see some of my old friends and to meet new friends, thank you.
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