Murals Decorate Structures Around Navajo Nation

TUBA CITY, AZ - SEPTEMBER 12: A mural by Chip Thomas with messages about uranium mine cancer deaths (L) and wearing masks for protection from COVID-19 (R) are seen on an abandoned building on September 12, 2022 on the Navajo Nation west of Tuba City, Arizona. Murals and graffiti are scattered across the Navajo Nation on buildings abandoned and often vandalized and tagged by outsiders driving through the reservation. Most address issues important to the Navajo people such as COVID-19, which devastated the Navajo Nation early in the epidemic, and radiation cancers and other health problems from decades of uranium and coal mining on Navajo land. Other topics include tribal stories and ceremonies, and the loss of sacred sites. Numerous murals on U.S. Route 89 were commissioned by the privately funded public art initiative, Painted Desert Project. Navajo Nation is a sovereign Native-American nation and is the largest reservation for indigenous people in the United States. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)