Episode 32: The Fairchild Incident in 1975

Wósdéé Podcast

On February 1975, a group of 20 Indigenous activists from the American Indian Movement and the Coalition for Navajo liberation took over the Fairchild Semiconductor plant in Shiprock, Navajo Nation.

As Dr. Lisa Nakamura describes, Fairchild chose to insource from the Navajo Nation due to cheap labor, tax benefits, and Federal monies. After eight days and failed negotiations, Fairchild announced it would close and leave the Navajo Nation. This had a lasting impact in the Navajo community.

In this episode I talk a long term Shiprock community member. He was a band member of XIT. His name is “Chili” Yazzie

Chili Yazzie discusses the events leading up to the takeover, why it occurred, and the impacts of takeover from the perspective of a community member. The incident provides insight into how Navajo workers played a role in the digital industry as chip manufacturers, as well as activists confronted exploitation, and how the community reacted to the incident.

Chili Yazzie details the sentiment of Navajo community and provides some lessons to consider when organizing in Indigenous communities.

The opening song is titled “Reservation of Education” and the closing song is titled "At Peace". Both songs are by the band XIT.. I will also include a link to Dr. Lisa Nakamura’s article about the racialization of the Navajo women who worked at the factory. I suggest checking it out.

Thank you to Chili Yazzie, thank you for listening.

This is the Wósdéé podcast.

Dr. Lisa Nakamura article:
warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/english/c…enous-circuits.pdf