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D.U.D.E Bios: Yoshi Nakagawa / Sakurako
N.P.R's Guitarist Sakurako (2020)
One of Kirby's old stable-mates, Yoshi Nakagawa (Now Yoshi Tsinajinnie), is the guitarist for the wrestling stable/band 'Native Pride Regime'. Yoshi is a Japanese wrestler, from rural Tsurui, and was trained by Kirby and her family, being the first person in her family to become a wrestler.
"I may be named Yoshi, but I am no video game character."
Name
Full Legal Name: Yoshi Misao Kazumi Tsinajinnie (Née Nakagawa)
First Name: Yoshi
Meaning: From Japanese 'Yoshi' meaning 'Good Luck', 'Yoshi' meaning 'Righteous', or 'Yoshi' meaning 'Good, Virtuous, Respectable, as well as other Kanji with the same reading
Pronunciation: YO-SHEE
Origin: Japanese
Middle Name(s): Misao, Kazumi
Meaning(s): Misao: From Japanese 'Misao' meaning ' Chastitiy, Honour'. Kazumi: From Japanese 'Kazu' meaning 'Harmony, Peace' or 'Kazu' meaning 'One' combined with 'Mi' meaning 'Beautiful'
Pronunciation(s): MEE-SA-O. KA_ZOO_MEE
Origin(s): Japanese. Japanese
Surname: Tsinajinnie (Née Nakagawa)
Meaning: Means 'black-streak clan' in Navajo (Nakagawa: From Japanese 'Naka' meaning 'Middle' and 'Kawa' meaning 'River, Stream'
Pronunciation: SIN-a-JIN-ee (NA-KA-GA-WA)
Origin: Indigenous American, Navajo (Japanese)
Alias: Sakurako
Reason: Ring Name
Nicknames: Yosh, Kaz, Sakura
Titles: Mrs
Characteristics
Age: 33
Gender: Female. She/Her Pronouns
Race: Human
Nationality: Japanese
Ethnicity: Asian, Japanese
Birth Date: May 2nd 1987
Symbols: Guitars, Pink Guitar Straps, Sakura Flowers, Sakura Trees
Sexuality: Bisexual
Religion: Shinto
Native Language: Japanese
Spoken Languages: Japanese, English, Spanish, Navajo
Relationship Status: Married
Astrological Sign: Taurus
Theme Song: 'All Alone' - Gorillaz, Roots Manuva (2006-)
Voice Actor: Rila Fukushima
Geographical Characteristics
Birthplace: Tsurui (Tsurui-mura), Kushiro Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan
Current Location: On the road / Llanfaethlu, Anglesey, Wales / Tsurui (Tsurui-mura), Kushiro Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan
Hometown: Tsurui (Tsurui-mura), Kushiro Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan
Appearance
Height: 5'0" / 152 cm
Weight: 120 lbs / 54 kg
Eye Colour: Brown
Hair Colour: Black
Hair Dye: Half dyed pink
Body Hair: N/A
Facial Hair: N/A
Tattoos: (As of Jan 2020) None
Piercings: Ear Lobe (both)
Scars: None
Health and Fitness
Allergies: None
Alcoholic, Smoker, Drug User: Social Drinker
Illnesses/Disorders: None
Medications: None
Any Specific Diet: Vegetarian
Relationships
Allies: Monster Mike, Ash Thunder
Enemies: None
Friends: Jacob 'J.P' Papadopoulos, Mike Mann, Ashkii Tsinajinnie, Gardenia Lum, Judith Ibarra, Sabina Volkov, Zinnia Turner, Brighid Pritchard, Vanessa Rhydderch
Colleagues: Too many to list
Rivals: 'Homicide' Nelson Erazo, 'Blackjack' Jack Marciano
Closest Confidant: Ashkii Tsinajinnie
Mentor(s): Yorath Rhydderch, Tsukyomi Nakagawa
Significant Other: Ashkii Tsinajinnie (32, Husband)
Previous Partners: None of note
Parents: Tsukyomi Nakagawa (64, Father), Izanami Nakagawa (66, Mother, Née Fujimori)
Parents-In-Law: Klah Tsinajinnie (63, Father-In-Law), Nizhóní Tsinajinnie (64, Mother-In-Law, Née Uentillie)
Siblings: Susanoo Nakagawa (30, Brother), Amaterasu Nakagawa (27, Sister), Suijin Nakagawa (24, Brother)
Siblings-In-Law: Inari Nakagawa (31, Susanoo's Wife, Née Hamasaki), Nanabah Tsinajinnie (29, Ashkii's Sister), Notah Tsinajinnie (26, Ashkii's Brother)
Nieces & Nephews: Wakana Nakagawa (11, Niece), Raijin Nakagawa (8, Nephew), Umeko Nakagawa (5, Niece)
Children: Raiden Tsinajinnie (3, Son), Ajei Tsinajinnie (1, Daughter)
Children-In-Law: None
Grandkids: None
Great Grandkids: None
Wrestling
Billed From: Hokkaido, Japan
Trainer: The C.R.C Wrestling School
Managers: Kirby Rhydderch, Ashkii Tsinajinnie
Wrestlers Managed: Ashkii Tsinajinnie
Debut: 2006
Debut Match: Sakurako VS Vanessa Rhydderch. Sakurako won via submission
Retired: N/A
Retirement Match: N/A
Wrestling Style: Technician
Stables: Native Pride Regime (2006-)
Teams: Native Pride Regime (Sakurako & A.T / Monster Mike / Kirby)
Regular Moves: Backbreaker Submission, Bow and Arrow Stretch, Canadian Backbreaker Rack, Catapult, Fireman's Carry Takeover, Handstand Kip-Up, Michinoku Driver II, Alabama Slam, Powerslam, Running Stomp to a Seated Opponent's back Followed by a low front Dropkick to the Opponent's face, Rear Naked Choke, Slingshot Atomic Drop, Elevated Surfboard, Modified Inverted Surfboard with a Double Wrist Lock, Wrenching Abdominal Stretch Sometimes Transitioned into a Chin Lock
Finishers: German Suplex, Discus Clothesline, Reverse Powerbomb, Sharpshooter
Refers To Fans As: The Audience
Extras
Backstory: Born in Japan and coming to C.R.C for training at the age of 18 in 2005. Yoshi Nakagawa is her husband's favourite tag partner. She comes from a very rural part of Japan, known mostly for it's cranes, she was taught to marry into power, so she married the most powerful man she knows in the business. Yoshi is the first person in her family to become a wrestler, meeting and marrying Ashkii after training with him at the C.R.C building.
Trivia: Nothing of note
#D.U.D.E#original character#Tsinajinnie#Nakagawa#C.R.C Wrestling School#C.R.C Wrestling Promotion#N.P.R/Native Pride Regime
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Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: Navajo Sleeping Beauty Turquoise Bear Night Sky Pendant Necklace by C. Begay.
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Made to #JMISanJuanChapter! The route was so amazing! Walking next to the farms, under the huge cottonwood trees, with the scent of the #MonkeyEggTrees (#RussianOlive) hanging in the air! #Nizhóní! T'áá Hwó Ájít'éego T'éiyá! (at San Juan Chapter House) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bxd1WjVllRu/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1aj208vpq0rju
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“The three 775-foot smokestacks of the 2,250-megawatt Navajo Generating Station (NGS) — the West’s largest coal plant — were demolished December 18, symbolically marking the end of coal’s dominance in a region where renewable energy sources like wind and solar have become far cheaper.
The Salt River Project (SRP), majority owners and operators of NGS, decided to close the plant in 2017 due to rising operating costs. Scott Harelson, a spokesperson for SRP, told me, “Natural gas prices had been low for a long period of time and are much lower than coal. So the plant was out of market, essentially.”
Critics of the facility point to its environmental costs as problematic — at one point it released more greenhouse gases at an hourly rate than almost any other facility in the US — and argued it polluted land and water used by Navajo ranchers and farmers.
“The demolition of the smokestacks at NGS is a solemn event,” said Nicole Horseherder, executive director of the Navajo environmental grassroots group Tó Nizhóní Ání. “It’s a reminder of decades of exploitation subsidized by cheap coal and water from the Navajo and Hopi.”
The plant’s cleanup is scheduled to be completed by 2023.”
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Using Numbers, Colors, & Animals to Make Navajo Sentences
Navajo color terms are verbs. They will conjugate like verbs, and are not like adjectives as they are in English.
Note that most color terms will begin with the thematic prefix łi-, and in the conjugation patter below the verbs are in the imperfective form.
Verb stem + singular person:
Łinishchííʼ - I am red/reddish.
Łiníchííʼ - You are red/reddish.
Łichííʼ - S/he/it is red/reddish.
Jilchííʼ - One is red/reddish.
Verb stem + Dual person:
Łiniichííʼ - We (2) are red/reddish.
Łinohchííʼ - You (2) are red/reddish.
Łichííʼ - S/he/it (2) are red/reddish.
Jilchííʼ - Those ones (2) are red/reddish.
Verb stem + Plural person:
Daałiniichííʼ - We all (3+) are red/reddish.
Daałinohchííʼ - You all (3+ are red/reddish.
Daalchííʼ - They all (3+) are red/reddish.
Dajilchííʼ - All of those ones (3+) are red/reddish.
Color terms in Navajo, along with other verbs that indicate size, shape, weight, and texture are known as neuter verbs. Other neuter verbs are:
dichʼíízh - 'rough'
ditłééʼ - 'moist'
ditłʼo - 'hairy'
disho - 'fuzzy'
nitłʼiz - 'hard'
niteel - 'wide',
nidaaz - 'heavy'
nilį́ - 's/he is'
nahalin - 'it resembles'
nizhóní - 'it is pretty'
átʼé - 'it is'
hólǫ́ - 'it exists'
yáʼátʼééh - 'it is good'
#navajo language#language learning#color terms#number terms#language practice#american indian langauges#native american languages#southern athabaskan#na-dene#athabaskan#athapaskan#southwestern languages#indigenous languages#navajo#dine#ndn
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Excerpt from this story from Front Page Live:
Peabody Energy essentially depleted Navajo Aquifer to operate a coal slurry pipeline, leaving Native Americans in the region with extremely limited access to water at a time when COVID-19 has ravaged their community, Bloomberg reports.
The COVID-19 infection rate in the Navajo Nation is about one and a half times higher than any state. These overlapping crises force Navajo Nation members like Percy Deal to drive 17 miles to wait in line for an hour to buy water just to “do this hand-washing thing that’s recommended by the health people.”
“It’s not just me, it’s hundreds of my neighbors,” Deal told Bloomberg. “Peabody drained the aquifer for 45 years, so we all don’t have any water.” Until 2005, Peabody’s Black Mesa Mine extracted, pulverized, and mixed coal with water drawn from the aquifer to form a slurry, which it then pumped 273 miles via pipeline to a power plant in Nevada. It also used the aquifer for a separate mine that powered the Navajo Generating Station, the largest coal-fired power plant west of the Mississippi River, until 2019.
About one-third of homes in the Navajo Nation do not have running water, and because Peabody drained the aquifer so dramatically, wells must now be driven 2,000 to 3,000 feet deep, instead of just 400 to 500 feet, according to Nicole Horseherder, director of Tó Nizhóní Ání, or “Sacred Water Speaks,” a Native environmental group.
“Peabody wants to walk away without reclaiming a damn drop of this precious water,” Horseherder said. “That’s not right, and that’s not going to happen. We’re going to make sure they don’t just get to walk away.”
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Nizhóní (Nee-zhon-ee) One quote one shot book 2
So much gratitude to @balfeheughlywed and @notevenjokingfic for their work and efforts organizing this one shot one quote. My story is set in the beautiful southwestern US, an area where I spent four years studying and working with the Navajo. I am indebted to them for teaching me many life lessons. When I most recently visited the southwest, in October 2018, I felt inspired to write an OL fanfic set among the multi-layered beauty and culture of northern New Mexico and Arizona. The photos are (1) the area where I imagined this story taking place (you might spot me in the photo), and (2) the beloved Navajo woman who taught me about weaving (photo used with her permission). I extend special thanks to my dear friend @notevenjokingfic for her beta expertise! My assigned quote is in bold italics near the end of the story.
She knew it could happen. She just never believed it would happen. What young woman imagines herself newly pregnant and widowed at age 25?
But that is indeed the reality Claire Beauchamp Randall found herself in, shortly after she and her husband Frank became homesteaders in the New Mexico territory, in 1872. Frank’s death came suddenly, following an accident that occurred while he was cutting down a tree. Unbeknownst to him, the tree had several dead branches, one of which broke off with the first swing of his axe, knocking him forcefully to the ground. He never regained consciousness, and Claire surmised he had suffered an injury to his brain.
Screaming and running, she had no idea how she arrived at the nearest homestead. Out of breath, and barely able to get the words out, she fell into the outstretched arms of her neighbor. Glenna and Charles Fitzgibbons, the Scots couple who befriended her from the day she and Frank arrived, brought her into their home and she poured out the whole story. While Frank never warmed to them, Claire knew from the first they were the kind of neighbors one always hoped to have; they were reliable, generous, friendly, and they knew everyone in the area, having arrived in New Mexico territory fifteen years earlier.
Several hours later, Claire felt strong enough to return to her homestead. While Glenna helped her prepare the body for burial, Charles dug the grave. Glenna had done this before, and her gentle strength enabled Claire to bear her jumbled thoughts and emotions.
“Claire, are ye thinking of returning tae England?” Glenna asked, her loving and compassionate voice reminding Claire of how grateful she was for such a friend.
“I have nothing there, really,” Claire starred off into the distance, her gaze settling on the red rock cliffs in the distance. “You know my parents and uncle are gone, and I have no other family. I do not even know what kind of life I would have there. And travel would be difficult for me with a baby coming. I have enough money to live on for now.” She spilled her heart out to Glenna, grateful to finally share her fears and anxieties with someone. Relief mixed with fear, sadness mixed with a sense of resignation.
So it was that just 2 years after arriving in the U.S., a mere 6 months after reaching Santa Fe following an arduous journey by covered wagon, and 3 months after settling on their land situated on the border of the New Mexico and Arizona territories, Claire found herself alone on the frontier.
When Frank made the decision for them to emigrate, they joined the unprecedented number of immigrants drawn to a new life in America, lured by the dream of economic prosperity and vast tracts of unspoiled land. While initially she found the idea of homesteading in the West foolish and reckless, after they arrived in western New Mexico, Claire relished the wide open spaces, endless horizon, and the landscape that seemed as though it was painted by a divine artist.
Frank wanted to make a name for himself, and he found prospects for doing so in England diminishing as he alienated himself from family, friends, and associates. Having read anthropology and history at Oxford, he initially imagined himself as a professor, but after hearing tales of the Indian Wars in the American west, and having a distant cousin who had joined the homesteaders, his sense of adventure led him to purchase tickets for the journey across the Atlantic.
That he only told Claire about it after the fact gave her heightened awareness of his total lack of regard for her preferences, feelings, and aspirations to further her work as a nurse and midwife. Having trained at St. Thomas Hospital and the Nightingale Training School for Nurses in London, Claire once imagined herself spending years working alongside the renowned staff at St. Thomas, even perhaps becoming actively engaged in the education of young nurses and midwives. But Frank’s decision to emigrate closed the door on her dream.
And now he was dead.
She faced the truth of her aloneness. While for some this truth may have felt harsh, for Claire it was an awakening of all she had hidden away in her heart. The previous day, Glenna and Charles visited and offered to take her to the trading post in Arizona. While there was a closer trading post in New Mexico, they preferred Fraser’s Trading Post in Arizona, telling Claire of their high regard for the proprietor, James Fraser, a Scotsman who was known far and wide for his kindness and fairness to the homesteaders, as well as to the Navajo and Apache.
“Come with us, Claire. It will do good to be away from here for a few days, to see a bit more of the area, and to learn your way there.” Eventually, Glenna persuaded her to join them. “Ye will be amazed at the variety of items at the trading post. Everything ye want and need, and then some!”
They left early the next morning, the journey to Fraser’s taking about four hours. When they arrived at midday, Claire noted how beautiful and orderly the Trading Post appeared, situated as it was along the southern banks of the Pueblo Colorado Wash.
“I have yet to see so many people in one place since we left St. Louis,” Claire reflected. “Is the whole territory here?”
“It seems Mr. Fraser attracts traders from as far away as California,” Charles informed her. “Folks seek out Fraser for his fair prices, as well as his uncanny ability to find whatever it is ye need. I have yet to leave the trading post disappointed.”
As she climbed down from the wagon, Claire noticed a tall man striding towards them, his air of confidence and warmth obvious even at first glance.
“Glenna, Charles, ’tis good tae see ye. And ye’ve brought a friend…” Jamie’s voice trailed off as his gaze settled on Claire. Even after a long ride through the dust and heat, her beauty captivated him.
Before Glenna or Charles could make proper introductions, Claire reached out for Jamie’s outstretched hand. “Claire, I’m Claire Randall.”
“Nizhóní,” Jamie said quietly, not realizing Claire overheard the word she assumed was Navajo. It dawned on Jamie that this was the widow of Frank Randall, the Englishman accidentally killed a few months earlier. “Mistress Randall, I extend my deepest sympathies. Ye’ve suffered a great loss.”
“Thank you, Mr Fraser.” Claire realized they were still clasping each other’s hand, and reluctantly pulled away, but not before she noticed the color of Jamie’s eyes, a shade of blue like the ocean.
Glenna broke the awkward silence, asking Jamie about news from Scotland.
“Well, ye ken the news is always about 3 months old by the time it gets here, but my sister has given birth to her second bairn, and the farm is doing well, so they cannae complain.”
The three Scots conversed amiably, and as they walked into the trading post, Claire found herself drawn in by Jamie’s attentiveness to everyone and everything going on around him.
As they moved through the various rooms of the store, Claire noticed the Navajo women effortlessly working their looms. By now, Navajo weavers were well known throughout the territory for the beauty and quality of their rugs and blankets.
One of the weavers caught Claire’s eye and smiled, the kind of smile that immediately puts one at ease. “I am Haseya.”
“I’m Claire. I have never seen anything quite as beautiful as your weaving.”
Haseya’s gaze rested on her work, as she reached for another strand of wool to add to the loom. She explained the design as well as the significance of the various colors. As Haseya talked, Claire knew Jamie was hovering nearby, and she felt uncharacteristically happy. She had not known happiness for such a long time, so the feeling startled her. Before she even realized it, she found herself asking Haseya about learning how to weave. The Navajo woman clasped Claire’s hand, and motioned for Jamie to join them.
“I have a student weaver,” Haseya stated in the direct, yet soft, manner characteristic of the Navajo.
Jamie’s heart leapt, as he realized Claire would be a frequent guest at the trading post. He knew that it was quite uncommon for a Navajo weaver to teach weaving to a non-Navajo, but Haseya was known to have great wisdom and insight, so he surmised she realized Claire needed something to actively engage her senses.
So it was that Claire became an apprentice to Haseya, learning all aspects of rug making, from carding and spinning the wool, to the intricacies of the patterns, to mixing the various plants and herbs used to make colors for dying
She traveled from the homestead to the trading post twice each month, initially making the journey with Glenna and Charles, but eventually felt comfortable making the trek alone, much to Glenna’s dismay.
“I will be fine, Glenna. I have to learn to make my way, and I want to learn as much as I can before the baby comes.”
Glenna acquiesced, realizing the futility of arguing with Claire. Her journeys through the red rock cliffs and wide canyons gave her a sense of peace and contentment. Rather than being fearful about traveling alone, she relished the time to think. While the baby was always foremost in her thoughts, Jamie Fraser was never far from her stream of consciousness. Each trip, she spent three or four days working side-by-side with Haseya, who, unbeknownst to Claire, was considered by the Navajo to be their most skilled weaver.
After working with Haseya during the day, Claire found Jamie waiting for her most evenings, eager to talk about the comings and goings at the trading post, but even more eager to hear about her progress as an apprentice weaver. “I dinna ken how ye do it, Claire. Keepin’ the colors straight, and the patterns bein’ so complicated.”
“Once you get the image of the pattern in your head, it is fairly simple. And I find that weaving is all encompassing. While I am weaving, I’ve no thought about what will become of me, or the baby. And I suppose I am grateful for that…” Claire’s voice trailed off.
Jamie smiled and reached for Claire’s hand. “My mam always quoted scripture to us, and one of her favorites was ‘Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?’”
Over the next few months, each evening during Claire’s visits, they walked and talked, oblivious to the late hour, sharing stories of days gone by, gazing up at the stars, comfortable with the occasional periods of silence. Claire shared her hopes to eventually resume her nursing and midwifery work, maybe working with the Navajo and Apache, as well as caring for the homesteaders.
“I ken ye well enough, Claire. You can do anything, and quite well, I might add.” He held her hand, accustomed as they were by now to being close to each other.
She found herself blushing at Jamie’s kind words. She was not accustomed to being praised. With Frank, there was near constant criticism, and disregard of her wishes.
Jamie reluctantly walked her back to the cabin she used during her visits, and almost before he realized it, he found himself saying, “I know ye havena been widowed so long, but life is different out here, and I ken propriety isna what it might be in England or Scotland. I would very much like to kiss ye, Claire. May I?”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Claire turned toward him, her face lit up as though they were in bright sunlight. Frank never asked if he could kiss her. He always assumed that he was in complete control of their relationship.
“Yes, Jamie Fraser. Yes!”
And they both hoped and prayed that this was the first of a lifetime of kisses.
The next morning, while working in the weaving room, she told Jamie and Haseya that she would not be making the trek to the trading post for several months.
“I reckon the baby is due in about a month.” She felt her heart break as she watched Jamie’s face. “What else am I to do, Jamie?”
He felt as though his heart had been pierced with a sword. He interrupted and asked her to walk with him to his home. She had been there a few times, visiting in the parlor, but she sensed his uneasiness and anxiety as they walked toward his front porch.
“Jamie, what is it? You know you can say anything to me.”
He took her hands in his, raising them to his lips and gently kissed each one.
“I’m honest enough to say that I dinna care what the right and wrong of it may be, so long as you are here wi’ me, Claire. I know it may not be proper to marry to ask you so soon after Frank’s death. But will you have me, Claire? Will you do me the honor of being my wife?”
As she looked at him, she felt as though she was holding heaven in the palms of her hands. Her gaze turned toward the grassy field stretching between his home and the trading post. In her mind’s eye, she saw curly headed children running and playing, screeching with laughter as Jamie chased after them. She saw herself nursing a red-headed newborn as Haseya sat next to her, dying wool. She saw all of it, all of the beauty and joy of a life spent by Jamie’s side.
“Yes, James Fraser. Yes, I will marry you.”
1 Month Later
Claire sat up in bed, carefully readjusting her curly haired baby girl, all of three hours old, already suckling at the breast. Haseya and the other Navajo women had attended her during the birth, and now, certain that she and the baby were healthy, they bid their farewells, assuring Jamie someone would be back in the evening to check on Claire and the newborn.
He settled in next to Claire on their bed, carefully enfolding her and the baby in a loving embrace. That Frank was the bairn’s father was of no consequence to him. He and Claire would raise the child, and Jamie knew that he was the child’s father, in every way that mattered.
“What name are we going to give her?” he asked, his eyes brimming with tears. Now that the bairn was finally here, he was grateful Claire had come through the labor and birth without any complications.
“There’s a word I have heard you say many times, but I’ve never asked what it meant,” Claire replied. “And it is not one of the Scots terms of endearment you use.”
“Hmm, well, I ken ye must mean Nizhóní.”
“Yes, that’s the word. What does it mean?’
“It means beautiful.”
Now it was Claire’s eyes that filled with tears, remembering Nizhóní was the first Navajo word she had ever heard Jamie speak.
“I want us to name her Nizhóní. Nizhóní Elizabeth Fraser.” Jamie pulled them closer, his wife and his bairn, gently stroking the face of the miracle who had just come into their lives.
And life was indeed beautiful.
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I've been thinking of maybe changing the name of the Nitzho region to something else. It's supposed to be Navajo for "beautiful" ("Nizhóní") and the word "plateau" but idk if it sounds right. I have to keep reminding even myself what it is and that's not a good sign for a region name.
I feel a little silly changing it now after having posts about it already but what do you guys think?
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After decades of activism, the Navajo coal plant has been demolished
The largest coal plant in the western US has come down. Now cleanup begins.
By Jariel Arvin Dec 19, 2020
The three 775-foot smokestacks of the 2,250-megawatt Navajo Generating Station (NGS) — the West’s largest coal plant — were demolished December 18, symbolically marking the end of coal’s dominance in a region where renewable energy sources like wind and solar have become far cheaper.
The Salt River Project (SRP), majority owners and operators of NGS, decided to close the plant in 2017 due to rising operating costs. Scott Harelson, a spokesperson for SRP, told me, “Natural gas prices had been low for a long period of time and are much lower than coal. So the plant was out of market, essentially.”
The move to close the coal plant is a part of a broader shift to renewable energy taking place across the US and around the world. According to a report by the International Energy Agency, electricity-generating renewables will have grown roughly 7 percent in 2020, despite the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. This shift has been driven in part by concerns over climate change — but also by increasing questions about the potential health impacts of fossil fuels.
For more than four decades, the station on the Arizona-Utah border had been a critical local employer, providing more than 800 Native people with jobs that paid much higher than the area average. Harelson said 90 percent of the plant’s employees were Navajo.
The station officially shut down in November of 2019 once its remaining supply of coal had burned. The Kayenta mine, which fed the plant, closed in August of 2019 because it didn’t have any other customers besides NGS. Jobs there also paid well: The average salary per worker was $117,000.
But for many members of the region’s Navajo and Hopi tribes, those high wages also came with a high price. Critics of the facility point to its environmental costs as problematic — at one point it released more greenhouse gases at an hourly rate than almost any other facility in the US — and argued it polluted land and water used by Navajo ranchers and farmers.
In a statement Friday, members from organizations representing the Navajo and Hopi tribes welcomed the razing, while acknowledging that the plant brought some financial benefits to their communities.
“The demolition of the smokestacks at NGS is a solemn event,” said Nicole Horseherder, executive director of the Navajo environmental grassroots group Tó Nizhóní Ání. “It’s a reminder of decades of exploitation subsidized by cheap coal and water from the Navajo and Hopi.”
Yesterday the #NavajoGeneratingStation was demolished. This was just 1 step in our decades-long work to secure a just, equitable energy transition for #FourCorners communities. We're excited for the road ahead. Thanks to @EcoFlight1 for the incredible video
In particular, Horseherder argued that the economic benefits were outweighed by coal miners suffering respiratory ailments and the land being contaminated by polluted water. The statement also said that many Navajo and Hopi had not been able to partake of the electricity and water the plant produced — that most of it went to nearby Phoenix, Arizona.
But now that the station has been demolished, some Navajo and Hopi members have high hopes for a strong future without the coal plant.
Carol Davis, executive director of the Navajo grassroots group Diné CARE, said in the statement, “We’re hopeful that this marks the continuation of our transformation into a sustainable economy that is built on fundamental Navajo and Hopi respect for air, land and water and that will have direct, measurable benefits for our communities, not exploit them.”
A massive cleanup operation has begun
Now that the smokestacks are gone, the land occupied by the facility will be turned over to the Navajo Nation — but first, SRP will be required to complete the complicated and expensive process of clearing the plant’s remaining infrastructure and returning the land to its original state.
“All told, it’s about a $150 million effort to remove all the infrastructure that the Navajo Nation does not want to keep,” Harelson said. “The warehouse, admin building, railroad, lake pump, those facilities, will remain and become property of the Navajo Nation.”
There is also chemical cleanup to do — toxic compounds like coal ash need to be removed. “All of the hazardous chemicals have to be removed and disposed of properly. And there’s an extensive reclamation project to bring the project back to its original state,” Harelson said.
SRP has promised to do this “according to regulations and safety,” but some activists are concerned that there has been too little transparency as to what standards the company is following.
“We need to tell the communities about the toxins that are there,” Diné citizen scientist Kim Smith said. “Just because the smokestacks are going down there’s this mirage that everything is going to be okay, that we’re going to get what we’re owed, that the land is going back to what it was.”
Smith’s comments are a reminder that trust in SRP isn’t universal, as the company has broken promises to the Native community before.
Cassie Scott, for instance, told the Associated Press that her grandmother had allowed part of her land to be used to build the plant in exchange for electricity. However, Scott said, that power never came, and she died without it in 2013.
“The plant generated massive amounts of electricity, yet many homes on the Navajo reservation lacked electricity despite the proximity of the plant,” Michael Hiatt, a staff attorney at environmental law organization Earthjustice, told me. In 2019, NPR estimated that 10 percent of people in the Navajo reservation live without electricity.
https://www.vox.com/2020/12/19/22189046/navajo-coal-generating-station-smokestacks-demolished
Next Up In Energy & Environment
After decades of activism, the Navajo coal plant has been demolished
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Want to improve climate policy in the Biden era? Here’s where to donate.
Environmental defenders in Colombia are being killed in alarming numbers
The Paris agreement is five years old. Is it working?
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This week’s small business is: NIZHONI SOAPS
http://www.nizhonisoaps.com
Nizhóní Soaps was founded by Kamia Begay, a 12-year-old girl of the Navajo Nation in New Mexico, and her parents. Their soaps are inspired by natural Native American scents from their homeland. They feature unique scents such as piñon pine, sweetgrass, and Navajo tea as well as more familiar scents like lavender, cucumber melon, and strawberry. Support an indigenous-owned business and try Nizhóní Soaps!
You can also buy a smaller selection of Nizhóní soaps and support the Navajo Water Project, an effort to bring running water to rural homes in the Navajo nation, here: https://www.digdeep.org/products/nizhoni-soaps
Products: bar soap, foaming hand soap, wax melts, car fresheners, bath tea, sugar scrub, Navajo tea
Price range: $10 (bar soap) - $20 (sugar scrub)
Accessibility:
Mobile friendly ✔️: Website is easily navigated on a smartphone.
Images described ❌: Image alt text is non-descriptive. Product descriptions are informative but do not provide a complete description of the images.
High contrast ⚠️: Some headings and text do not meet WCAG guidelines for high contrast, but product descriptions do.
Keyboard control ✔️: Website is easily navigated by keyboard.
No flashing lights or images ✔️: Images remain static.
No distracting and bright colors ✔️: Color scheme uses simple colors.
Shop these products and more at Nizhóní Soaps!
[ID: Two images of products sold at Nizhóní Soaps:
The first depicts “Shima Red Rose Soap”. Soap bars that are red on the bottom half and clear on the top with a thin layer of plant material between the colors are stacked against a white brick background. They are surrounded by decorative red roses and red cloth and are accompanied by a hand-lettered sign that says Shimá Red Rose.
The second depicts “SweetGrass with Hints of Fresh Pear” foam wash. A small plastic bottle with a white foaming soap dispenser filled with light green liquid soap sits on a white countertop decorated with Native basketry, a fluffy sheep figurine, sweetgrass sprigs, and a Native doll holding a hand-lettered sign that says Sweet Grass Foam Wash.
\end ID]
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D.U.D.E Bios: Ashkii Tsinajinnie / Ash Thunder
N.P.R's Bassist Ash Thunder (2020)
One of Kirby's old stable-mates, Ashkii Tsinajinnie, is the bassist for the wrestling stable/band 'Native Pride Regime'. Ash is a Native American, specifically Navajo, wrestler and was trained by Kirby and her family, being the first person in his family to become a wrestler.
"My suggestion, despite Kirby's blue hair, don't compare us to Gorillaz."
Name
Full Legal Name: Ashkii Shandiin Bidziil Tsinajinnie
First name: Ashkii
Meaning: Means 'boy' in Navajo
Pronunciation: ASH-key
Origin: Indigenous American, Navajo
Middle Name(s): Shandiin, Bidziil
Meaning(s): Shandiin: From Navajo 'Sháńdíín' meaning 'Sunshine'. Bidziil: Means 'he is strong' in Navajo.
Pronunciation(s): sh-un-DEEN. BID-zeal
Origin(s): Indigenous American, Navajo. Indigenous American, Navajo
Surname: Tsinajinnie
Meaning: Means 'black-streak clan' in Navajo.
Pronunciation: SIN-a-JIN-ee
Origin: Indigenous American, Navajo
Alias: Ash Thunder
Reason: Ring Name
Nicknames: Ash, Sunny
Titles: Mr
Characteristics
Age: 32
Gender: Male. He/Him Pronouns
Race: Human
Nationality: Native American, Navajo
Ethnicity: Native American
Birth Date: June 5th 1988
Symbols: Bass Guitars, Green Guitar Straps, Ashes, Thunder
Sexuality: Bisexual
Religion: Christian (with Navajo traditions)
Native Language: Navajo
Spoken Languages: Navajo, English, Spanish, Japanese
Relationship Status: Married
Astrological Sign: Gemini
Theme Song: 'Feel Good Inc' - Gorillaz (2006-)
Voice Actor: Tatanka Means
Geographical Characteristics
Birthplace: Coalmine Mesa, Arizona, USA
Current Location: On the road / Llanfaethlu, Anglesey, Wales / Coalmine Mesa, Arizona, USA
Hometown: Coalmine Mesa, Arizona, USA
Appearance
Height: 6'2" / 187 cm
Weight: 210 lbs / 95 kg
Eye Colour: Brown
Hair Colour: Black
Hair Dye: None
Body Hair: Shaves when wrestling
Facial Hair: Shaves when wrestling
Tattoos: (As of Jan 2020) 9
Piercings: Ear lobe (Both, double)
Scars: None
Health and Fitness
Allergies: None
Alcoholic, Smoker, Drug User: Social Drinker, Non-Smoker, Smokes Weed / Uses Weed Edibles
Illnesses/Disorders: ADHD
Medications: Self-medicates with Weed
Any Specific Diet: Vegetarian
Relationships
Allies: Monster Mike, Sakurako
Enemies: None
Friends: Jacob 'J.P' Papadopoulous, Mike Mann, Yoshi Nakagawa, Tristan Lum, Xavier Ibarra, Ardalion Volkov, Patrick Turner, Conan Pritchard, Lochlainn Rhydderch
Colleagues: Too many to list
Rivals: 'Homicide' Nelson Erazo, 'Blackjack' Jack Marciano
Closest Confidant: Yoshi Nakagawa
Mentor(s): Yorath Rhydderch, Klah Tsinajinnie
Significant Other: Yoshi Tsinajinnie (33, Wife, Née Nakagawa)
Previous Partners: None of Note
Parents: Klah Tsinajinnie (63, Father), Nizhóní Tsinajinnie (64, Mother, Née Uentillie)
Parents-In-Law: Tsukyomi Nakagawa (64, Father-In-Law), Izanami Nakagawa (66, Mother-In-Law, Née Fujimori)
Siblings: Nanabah Tsinajinnie (29, Sister), Notah Tsinajinnie (26, Brother)
Siblings-In-Law: Susanoo Nakagawa (30, Yoshi's Brother), Inari Nakagawa (31, Susanoo's Wife, Née Hamasaki), Amaterasu Nakagawa (27, Yoshi's Sister), Suijin Nakagawa (24, Yoshi's Brother)
Nieces & Nephews: Wakana Nakagawa (11, Niece), Raijin Nakagawa (8, Nephew), Umeko Nakagawa (5, Niece)
Children: Raiden Tsinajinnie (3, Son), Ajei Tsinajinnie (1, Daughter)
Children-In-Law: None
Grandkids: None
Great Grandkids: None
Wrestling
Billed From: The Navajo Nation
Trainer: The C.R.C Wrestling School
Managers: Kirby Rhydderch, Yoshi Nakagawa
Wrestlers Managed: Yoshi Nakagawa
Debut: 2006
Debut Match: Ash Thunder VS Lochlainn Rhydderch. A.T won via submission
Retired: N/A
Retirement Match: N/A
Wrestling Style: Technician
Stables: Native Pride Regime (2006-)
Teams: Native Pride Regime (A.T & Sakurako / Monster Mike / Kirby)
Regular Moves: Bulldog, Second Rope Bulldog, DDT, Dropkick, Figure-Four Leglock, Ringpost Figure-Four Leglock, Headbutt, Headbutt Drop, Inverted Atomic Drop, Bridging / Release German Suplex, Snap Suplex, Vertical Suplex, Superplex, Pendulum Backbreaker, Russian Legsweep, Seated Senton, Second Rope Dive into an Axe Handle Elbow Drop, Top Rope Dive into an Axe Handle Elbow Drop, Second Rope Dive into a Side Elbow Drop, Top Rope Dive into a Side Elbow Drop, Sleeper Hold, Standing Legdrop, Swinging Neckbreaker
Finishers: Sharpshooter, Piledriver
Refers To Fans As: The Audience
Extras
Backstory: Born in America and coming to C.R.C for training at the age of 18 in 2006. Ashkii Tsinajinnie is no stranger to being handed a shit hand in life, his homeland becoming abandoned and seen as a ghost town, and his family telling him from a young age to never trust a white man. Ash is the first person of his family to become a wrestler, meeting and marrying Yoshi after training with her at the C.R.C building.
Trivia: Nothing of note
#D.U.D.E#original character#Tsinajinnie#C.R.C Wrestling School#C.R.C Wrestling Promotion#N.P.R/Native Pride Regime
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Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: Diné Navajo Sleeping Beauty Inlaid Bear Night Sky Pendant Necklace by C. Begay.
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