Policy Studies Journal, Vol. 16, No. 4, Summer, 1988 AMERICAN INDIANS AND NUCLEAR WASTE STORAGE: THE DEBATE AT YUCCA MOUNTAIN, NEVADA Richard W. Stoffle Michael J. Evans University of Michigan American Indians were given a strong voice in the decision to buiid the country's first high level nuclear waste storage facility; yet, after the first round of environmental studies, it appeared that few Indian voices would be heard. The Congress of the United States cieariy recognized the sovereignty of American Indian Tribes in the Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA) of 1982 (PL 97-425, 96 Stat. 2202). The Act considered Indian tribes as having power equal to that of states. Despite this liberal interpretation of Indian tribal rights, only one of five Final Environmental Assessments (FEAs) of potential nuclear waste disposai sites concluded that an Indian Tribe could be affected by the project, in Washington State the Yakima Indian Nation, the Nez Perce Tribe, and the Confederated Tribes of the Uma- tiila Indian Reservation were recognized as being potentially affected by the disposal facility there, but questions arose regarding the status of Indian people having traditional ties to other sites. What about the Choctaws living a few miles away from the Richton, Mississippi site, the Kiowa, Apache, and Comanche tribes living just north of the Deaf Smith, Texas site, the Utes and Paiutes iiving near the Davis Canyon, Utah site, and the Paiutes and Shoshones living next to the Yucca Mountain, Nevada site? Each of these tribes traditionally occupied lands being considered for a nuclear waste storage site. After the FEAs were issued, a debate was engaged between the Department of Energy (DOE) and persons interested in Indian people having a voice in the siting process. The debate occurred as part of the next step in the siting process. This paper presents ethnographic, ethnohistorical, and legal arguments for inclusion of American Indian concerns regarding the Yucca Mountain, Nevada nuciear waste site proposal. The arguments focus on three questions: 1) Do indian people have a legal or regula- tory right to be part of further site characterization studies? 2) What kinds of Indian peoples should be part of the study? 3) How many Indian people are potentially impacted? The pertinent evidence was assembled at the request of the DOE as it considered further the relationship between its Nevada facility proposal and Indian people.