Nicole Horseherder

After returning home from graduate school, Horseherder learned that the springs which supplied water to her family's farm had run dry.^[3] The region's aquifer had been depleted by mining performed by the Peabody Western Coal Company,^[4] also exposing local residents to coal dust.^[5] Encouraged by community elders, Horseherder turned to environmental activism to fight the issue.^[6] In 2000, she co-founded the nonprofit Tó Nizhóní Ání, which translates to Sacred Water Speaks.^[7]

From 2000 to 2005, Horseherder ran a campaign to get support to shut down the Black Mesa Mine. Efforts focused on securing supportive resolutions from local chapter houses.^[8] In 2003, the Navajo Tribal Council approved her resolution to cease pulling water from the Navajo aquifer in support of coal mining.^[8] Peabody's mining operations were shut down in 2005.^[4] Horseherder also campaigned to close the Navajo Generating Station, a coal powered plant that was closed in 2019 and demolished in 2021.^[3]

Horseherder has been critical of the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement for failing to enforce reclamation activities of the Black Mesa Mine against Peabody.^[9]

In 2023, Horseherder received a Heinz Award in recognition of her efforts to "protect the water, air and landscapes of the Navajo Nation".^[10]