IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v16y2019i21p4195-d281557.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Traditional Sheep Consumption by Navajo People in Cameron, Arizona

Author

Listed:
  • Tommy Rock

    (School of Earth & Sustainability, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011, USA)

  • Ricky Camplain

    (Center for Health Equity Research, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011, USA)

  • Nicolette I. Teufel-Shone

    (Center for Health Equity Research, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011, USA)

  • Jani C. Ingram

    (Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011, USA)

Abstract

Over 500 abandoned uranium mines are located on the Navajo Reservation. Different pathways of environmental uranium exposure have been studied with respect to the Navajo people including water, soil, and plants; however, uranium exposure from traditional Navajo food, specifically mutton (sheep), has not been reported. This study focuses on mutton consumption in the small community of Cameron, Arizona, located in the southwestern region of the Navajo Nation and initiated after community members expressed concern with the uranium exposure of their sheep. Preliminary investigation into the presence of uranium in sheep raised near Cameron showed elevated uranium levels in the kidneys the sheep tested. The goal of this study is to investigate mutton consumption among the Navajo living in Cameron. Mutton is a traditional food of the Navajo, but consumption practices are not well documented. An important aspect of determining the extent of exposure through food consumption is to assess the frequency of consumption. The results of this study indicate the Cameron participants consume mutton most commonly at family gatherings or celebrations. The survey suggests that less mutton is consumed now compared to the past, and there is concern that contaminated mutton may change traditional ceremonies.

Suggested Citation

  • Tommy Rock & Ricky Camplain & Nicolette I. Teufel-Shone & Jani C. Ingram, 2019. "Traditional Sheep Consumption by Navajo People in Cameron, Arizona," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(21), pages 1-13, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:21:p:4195-:d:281557
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/21/4195/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/21/4195/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Christine Samuel-Nakamura & Wendie A. Robbins & Felicia S. Hodge, 2017. "Uranium and Associated Heavy Metals in Ovis aries in a Mining Impacted Area in Northwestern New Mexico," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-17, July.
    2. Lauren Hund & Edward J. Bedrick & Curtis Miller & Gabriel Huerta & Teddy Nez & Sandy Ramone & Chris Shuey & Miranda Cajero & Johnnye Lewis, 2015. "A Bayesian framework for estimating disease risk due to exposure to uranium mine and mill waste on the Navajo Nation," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 178(4), pages 1069-1091, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jonathan Credo & Jaclyn Torkelson & Tommy Rock & Jani C. Ingram, 2019. "Quantification of Elemental Contaminants in Unregulated Water across Western Navajo Nation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(15), pages 1-15, July.
    2. Christine Samuel-Nakamura & Felicia S. Hodge & Sophie Sokolow & Abdul-Mehdi S. Ali & Wendie A. Robbins, 2019. "Metal(loid)s in Cucurbita pepo in a Uranium Mining Impacted Area in Northwestern New Mexico, USA," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-15, July.
    3. Christine Samuel-Nakamura & Wendie A. Robbins & Felicia S. Hodge, 2017. "Uranium and Associated Heavy Metals in Ovis aries in a Mining Impacted Area in Northwestern New Mexico," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-17, July.
    4. Sara S. Nozadi & Li Li & Li Luo & Debra MacKenzie & Esther Erdei & Ruofei Du & Carolyn W. Roman & Joseph Hoover & Elena O’Donald & Courtney Burnette & Johnnye Lewis, 2021. "Prenatal Metal Exposures and Infants’ Developmental Outcomes in a Navajo Population," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-24, December.
    5. Caubet, Miguel & Samoilenko, Mariia & Drouin, Simon & Sinnett, Daniel & Krajinovic, Maja & Laverdière, Caroline & Marcil, Valérie & Lefebvre, Geneviève, 2023. "Bayesian joint modeling for causal mediation analysis with a binary outcome and a binary mediator: Exploring the role of obesity in the association between cranial radiation therapy for childhood acut," Computational Statistics & Data Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    6. Christine Samuel-Nakamura, 2020. "Using Traditional Methods for Collaborative Fieldwork in a Uranium Food Chain Study on Diné Lands in the US Southwest," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-12, August.
    7. Tommy Rock & Lindsey Jones & Jani C. Ingram, 2021. "Approaches for Disseminating Environmental Research Findings to Navajo Communities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-8, June.
    8. Dagmara Strumińska-Parulska & Jerzy Falandysz, 2020. "A Review of the Occurrence of Alpha-Emitting Radionuclides in Wild Mushrooms," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-20, November.
    9. Madeleine K. Scammell & Caryn Sennett & Rebecca L. Laws & Robert L. Rubin & Daniel R. Brooks & Juan José Amador & Damaris López-Pilarte & Oriana Ramirez-Rubio & David J. Friedman & Michael D. McClean , 2020. "Urinary Metals Concentrations and Biomarkers of Autoimmunity among Navajo and Nicaraguan Men," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-17, July.
    10. Nicole Thompson González & Jennifer Ong & Li Luo & Debra MacKenzie, 2022. "Chronic Community Exposure to Environmental Metal Mixtures Is Associated with Selected Cytokines in the Navajo Birth Cohort Study (NBCS)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-14, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:21:p:4195-:d:281557. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.