Native Case Studies

The Oppenheimer movie narrates the story of the Manhattan Project that was launched to build the first atomic bomb during World War II. The movie develops a particular type of scientific character as a tragic hero. It does not include the story of the displacement of indigenous and land-based peoples and the poisoning of sacred lands and waters and the air that was the result. The setting of the large project on indigenous lands surrounded by marginalized people demonstrates the impact of nuclear colonization on peoples’ lives, lifeways and livelihoods. This case analyzes the character and plot as portrayed in the movie and does not claim to describe Oppenheimer or other individuals in terms of historic fact. However, the facts of building of the nuclear bomb project and its immediate and continuing impacts on indigenous peoples are factual and well- documented. Much of that is absent from the movie. This case seeks to contrast two worldviews and provide a counterpoint for understanding the trajectory of events and impacts that were ignited by the Manhattan Project and continue to flow like the waters from a broken dam.