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Jim Mason, Two Years Later, Burnham, New Mexico

Carlan Tapp
Jim Mason, Two Years Later, Burnham, New Mexico
From the series Question of Power
2008
Gelatin silver print
16 x 20 inches
Courtesy of the artist
© Carlan Tapp

Jim Mason poses two years later in front of the hogan (pronounced “HOE-gone,” a combined living and ceremonial structure) where he grew up on the Navajo Nation in Burnham, New Mexico. The building has split in two due to the impact of explosions detonated at a nearby strip mine. The artist notes that, to date, Mr. Mason has not received compensation for damages to his home. The Navajo Nation is located on land that is rich in coal as well as radioactive ores that have been actively mined at the risk of the health of workers and residents. Despite the serious hazards, this is the sacred and ancestral home of a people, making relocation unthinkable.