Among the 100 booths at the Shinnecock Indian Powwow, an annual event of the Shinnecock Nation on its territory in Southampton, New York, was this Labor Day weekend a Federal Emergency Management Agency booth with a flier headed: "Be Prepared For A Nuclear Explosion."
Amid the booths presenting beautiful arts and crafts done by Shinnecocks and Indians from all over the U.S., and food vendors featuring Native American food, and singing and dancing of Native Americans in full regalia, there was this scary message.
"A nuclear weapon is a device that uses a nuclear reaction to create an explosion," said the FEMA flier. "But," it said, "you can keep your family safe by knowing what to do and being prepared if it occurs."
"Get inside the nearest building to avoid radiation"Remove contaminated clothing and wipe off or wash unprotected skin if you were outside after the fallout arrived," it continued. "Family should stay inside. Reunite later to avoid exposure to radiation danger. Keep pets inside."
Under a heading "Bright Flash," it said that "can cause temporary blindness for less than a minute." Then there is the "Blast Wave" that "can cause death, injury and damage to structures several miles out from the blast." Then there would be "Radiation," under which it was explained "can damage cells of the body. Large exposures can cause radiation sickness," and then "Fallout" which "is radioactive, visible dirt and debris raining down that can cause sickness to those who are outside."
It went on and on including advising: "Take a shower or wash with soap and water to remove fallout from any skin or hair that was not covered."
You can view it online at Click Here
I spent much of last year writing a book Cold War Long Island (History Press) with Christopher Verga who teaches Long Island history at Suffolk County Community College on Long Island.
But this FEMA flier was not issued in the 1950s when, where I went to elementary school, P.S. 136 in Queens, New York, we were issued dog tags to wear so we could be identified in the event of a nuclear apocalypse and regularly did "duck-and-cover" exercises, ducking under our desks. But this was 2022 and the FEMA flier was relatively recent: it was dated a few years back.
The FEMA instructions followed, a few months ago, the public service announcement aired by New York City Emergency Management's office declaring: "So there's been a nuclear attack".the big one has hit." It then advised people, like the FEMA flier, of what to do. With Russian President Putin threatening the use of nuclear weapons with his invasion of Ukraine, nuclear war is very much back as a possibility.
Mayor Eric Adams justified the PSA saying "we're going to be prepared." Nothing wrong with being prepared. "Be Prepared" is the motto of the Boy Scouts and I was a Scout, an Eagle Scout.
But is humanity doing what we must to end the specter of nuclear war?
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, an international agreement to abolish nuclear weapons, was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2017"-with 122 nations in favor. Banned would be the development, testing, production, stockpiling, stationing, transfer, use and threat of use of nuclear weapons. "Let's eliminate these weapons before they eliminate us," said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
The big problem: the so-called "nuclear weapons states," notably the U.S., Russia, China, France and the United Kingdom, have not signed on to the treaty.
Can the atomic genie be put back in the bottle? Anything people have done other people can undo. And the prospect of massive loss of life from nuclear destruction is the best of reasons.
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