Help Protect Lakota Indian Children from Uranium Contamination

We hold the First Lady in high regard for her dedication to and advocacy for the health of America’s children. Children on several Native American Reservations in South and North Dakota are in danger from radioactive pollution from abandoned, open-pit uranium mines. The overall health and well being of these children is already compromised by America's worst poverty. Runoff from uranium and other heavy metals is contaminating the water, air and food sources. One mine polluting the Cheyenne River and Standing Rock Reservations puts out radiation nearly four times higher than the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant. Cancer rates among Native Americans in South Dakota run 30% higher than the non-Natives and life expectancy averages age 48. The infant mortality rate runs as high as 25%. We ask you, Mrs. Obama, to bring attention to this critical issue, encourage governmental action to investigate and correct these dangers expeditiously, and to advocate on behalf of these children and their families to the public, legislators and the Executive Branch through the use of your personal voice and your good offices.