In the span of just four generations entire ways of living have been lost or severely compromised, as mining has contaminated the air, water, livestock, and land upon which the community relies for its existence. The film also celebrates the actions the Diné community is taking to fight against new mines and improve life in an irradiated ecosystem which has resulted in a sharp rise in cancer, kidney failure, and other diseases.

 

The film overlaps with the labor of Dr. Tommy Rock, a Navajo scientist whose life's work is uranium contamination cleanup. Walking through the desert with geiger counter in hand, he traces the invisible trails of uranium that crisscross his childhood home in the iconic Western landscape of Monument Valley. Through him, we meet other Diné activists and elders who have survived everything from genetic damage to nuclear disaster.  Eventually, Tommy finds himself representing his community before Congress, who have been continually pushing to reopen the uranium mines and declare uranium a "critical mineral" for American stability.

In keeping with Diné relations with the earth, the land itself is also a central character whose history, purpose, and power is explored. Through community elders, a valuable oral history is shared that expands the scale from the profit-drive short term of mining companies to the cosmic timeline upon which Uranium exists and breaks down. Some Diné adhere to the tenets of an origin story wherein a demon contentedly lives in the earth. The demon will bother no-one unless disturbed, having been laid there by a formidable warrior. Uranium, for millions of years to come, is perhaps this demon made real.