As the 40th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22 approached, a group of demonstrators passed through Catskill Wednesday, participating in a Peace Walk aimed at the abolition of nuclear weapons and, in fact, all nuclear power.
Beating small drums, sometimes chanting and bearing banners stating their purpose, the walkers numbered around 20 as they passed through the village on their way to Saugerties.
The walk started out from the Steamburg in the Buffalo area on March 2 and will end at the United Nations building in Manhattan on May 2, have covered 700 miles by then.
The Peace Walk was initiated by the Nippozan Myohoji Buddhist Order, and is intended in part to bring to light the disproportionate burden borne by indigenous peoples where nuclear power is concerned. Literature distributed by the walkers states that native communities, from uranium miners to tribal communities targeted for nuclear waste dumps, bear significant risk from the nuclear fuel cycle.
Engaged to correspond with the United Nations Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference to be held in May, the walk will join with two other interfaith peace walks organized to influence the NPT talks trekking from Tennessee and Vermont.
The NPT came into being in 1970, with 190 governing bodies involved, including the United States, United Kingdom, Russia France and China. The treaty’s purpose is prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and technology and is reviewed by the UN every five years. The next review is being held this May 3.
“We’ve visited all six Iroquois Nations along the way,” said Maine resident Paul Gagnon. Participation varies from day to day, he noted, with some people joining the walk briefly to show their support. A Cayuga nation representative, Alan White, has been walking with the group off and on since it began. White is a striking figure in that he wears a bear paw tattoo across his face.
Gagnon noted that when the three walks converge at the George Washington Bridge, up to 200 people are expected to be present. Participants have come from as far away as Germany and Japan, he noted.
Heidrun Hartmann flew in from Germany especially to participate in the Peace Walk.
“This is the same issue I work with in Germany,” she said during the rest stop in Catskill. “During the Cold War, the United States gave us atomic bombs, and we don’t want them.”
“We want them to take them back as soon as possible.
Hartmann flew in to Syracuse to join the walk when it began near West Valley, NY a nuclear waste site which was the home of a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant from during the ‘60’s and ‘70’s. The site is said to be heavily contaminated with radioactive wastes, which are said to be leaching into the groundwater supply, and clean-up costs estimated to cost up to 5 billion taxpayer dollars.
“This nonsense should stop,” she said. “Nuclear waste is a big problem. I’ve heard so much about what happens here, with the waste, it’s unbelievable! It poisons everyone.”
Since the walkers began their trek, both Gagnon and Hartmann noted that support from the public has been very strong. Besides being put up at tribal sites, area churches and ecumenical bodies along the way have also been supportive, despite the movement’s Buddhist initiation.
“I’m not a Buddhist,” Gagnon noted, adding that he simply supports the purpose of the walk.
“This group is beautiful,” Hartmann said, smiling. “We’re from different countries, yet we’re so easy together.”
Traveling together day to day, their needs are few and easily met, she noted.
“It’s like a family.’
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