Laura: HI DE HAVEN; THANKS FOR BEING WITH ME HERE TODAY.

Chaffins: HELLO, THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME HERE TODAY.

I APPRECIATE IT.

Laura: I AM EXCITED TO TALK ABOUT YOUR EXHIBIT RADON DAUGHTER THAT IS AT THE INDIAN PUEBLO CULTURAL CENTER RIGHT NOW.

I WANTED TO START WITH A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOU.

Chaffins: OKAY.

WELL, I AM ORIGINALLY BORN -- WAS ORIGINALLY BORN IN PORTSMOUTH, VIRGINIA.

MY DAD WAS STATIONED OUT THERE IN THE MARINE CORPS.

THAT IS WHERE I WAS BORN AND THEN WE GRADUALLY MOVED BACK TO CALIFORNIA AGAIN.

THAT IS WHERE MY DAD WAS STATIONED IN CAMP PENDLETON BUT THEN PERIODICALLY WE WOULD GO BACK TO LAGUNA PUEBLO AND STAY WITH MY FAMILY OUT THERE, MY GRANDPARENTS AND MY UNCLE.

SO, I REALLY ENJOYED THAT PART BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, YOU GET TO SEE THE DIFFERENT, I GUESS, ASPECTS OF HOW LIVING LIKE CULTURALLY AND THEN LIVING OFF AND ON THE RESERVATION, I GUESS, IT WOULD BE.

SO I REALLY ENJOYED IT BUT I ENJOYED BEING ON THE PUEBLO MORE SO BECAUSE I GOT TO SPEND TIME WITH MY, LIKE I SAID, MY GRANDPARENTS AND RELATIVES.

Laura: CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE LANDSCAPE AT PUEBLO LAGUNA MAYBE FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE NEVER BEEN THERE BEFORE LIKE WHAT THAT LANDSCAPE ESPECIALLY LOOKED LIKE TO YOU WHEN YOU WERE A KID OR GROWING UP.

Chaffins: WHAT I REMEMBER AND WHAT I SAW WAS JUST MESAS EVERYWHERE.

THEY LIVED IN THE VILLAGE OF PAGUATE LOCATED RIGHT IN LAGUNA PUEBLO AND WHAT I SAW WAS JUST VARIOUS SHAPES OF MESAS AND CEDAR TREES AND JUST REALLY PRETTY BUT WHEN I LOOKED MAYBE TO THE SOUTH, I SAW THE URANIUM MINE, WHICH I THOUGHT AT THE TIME, WHEN I WAS YOUNG, I THOUGHT IT WAS MORE OR LESS RESEMBLED A BIG ANT PILE, HOW IT JUST TIERED INTO ONE BIG GIANT THING.

AT THAT TIME, I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT IT WAS.

LATER ON CONSIDERED ONE OF THE WORLD'S LARGEST OPEN PIT URANIUM MINES AND IT WAS LESS THAN 1000 FEET AWAY FROM WHERE MY GRANDPARENTS LIVED.

Laura: CAN YOU TALK ABOUT WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO HAVE THE MINE SO CLOSE?

Chaffins: IT FELT LIKE, YOU KNOW, JUST A MAN-MADE ANT HILL BASICALLY, A MAN-MADE ANT HILL OUT THERE BUT WHEN THE SIRENS WOULD GO OFF, THAT MEANT LIKE EVERYBODY WOULD CLOSE THEIR DOORS AND, YOU KNOW, SHUT EVERYTHING UP, BECAUSE DEPENDING ON HOW THE WIND WAS BLOWING, THE WIND WOULD COME FROM THE MINE AND, OF COURSE, ALL THE LITTLE PARTICULARS AND EVERYTHING WOULD FLOAT TOWARDS THE PUEBLO.

AND SO THAT IS BASICALLY HOW I JUST SAW EVERYTHING AND THEN WHEN THE CLOUD BLEW, THE DUST WOULD RISE UP AND IT JUST SEEMED TO ME LIKE A DRAGON, YOU KNOW, TURNING OVER IN HIS SLEEP AND LIKE KIND OF, YOU KNOW, WHY AM I BEING WAKEN UP AND THE PLUMES COME UP JUST LIKE HOW THE DRAGONS WOULD HAVE THE FUMES COME UP.

SO IT WAS LIKE THAT.

IT WAS JUST KIND OF ALMOST A FAIRYTALE IN A SENSE BUT THEN ALSO THE REALITY OF LATER ON I WOULD KNOW THE REALITY OF WHAT IT REALLY WAS.

Laura: I WAS READING ABOUT THE MINE OPERATED FROM THE 1960'S TO THE 1980'S AND SO IT HAS BEEN CLOSED NOW FOR 40 YEARS BUT STILL HASN'T BEEN CLEANED UP.

CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE OTHER -- LIKE THE IMPACTS THAT THE MINE HAS HAD ON THE COMMUNITY AND PEOPLE'S HEALTH?

Chaffins: THE IMPACTS HAVE BEEN PROBABLY CANCER, THE MAIN ONE, AND A LOT OF ILLNESSES THAT MAYBE WE NEVER REALLY SAW OR THE PEOPLE NEVER SAW.

THAT WAS REALLY KIND OF JUST TRAUMATIZING.

JUST TAKING, YOU KNOW, EVERYTHING, THE TREES DIEING, EVERYTHING BEING MONITORED, YOU KNOW, NOW, LIKE WITH THE EPA.

SO, IT BECAME VERY SCARY.

YOU KNOW.

LIKE I SAID, WHEN YOU ARE SMALL YOU DON'T REALLY SEE THOSE THINGS UNTIL YOU ARE OLDER AND I JUST REMEMBER, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE PASSING AWAY, YOU KNOW, INCLUDING FROM MY OWN FAMILY FROM THINGS WE NEVER EVEN HEARD OF.

IT WAS REALLY SAD AND STRANGE AT THE SAME TIME.

Laura: THROUGH YOUR PIECES THAT ARE ON EXHIBIT, WHEN PEOPLE LOOK AT THAT EXHIBIT, RADON DAUGHTER, AS A WHOLE, WHAT DO YOU HOPE THAT THEY TAKE AWAY FROM THAT?

Chaffins: I HOPE THEY TAKE AWAY, I GUESS, MAYBE IN A SENSE, IT IS A WARNING.

I WOULD LIKE TO SAY IT IS A WARNING BECAUSE I KNOW PEOPLE THAT CONTACTED OTHER AREAS TO SEE IF THEY WERE INTERESTED IN DRILLING, AGAIN, SO I THINK THERE WERE BORE HOLES AND IT WAS LIKE, NO, WE ALREADY WENT THROUGH THAT PREVIOUSLY.

A LOT OF PEOPLE PASSED AWAY.

A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE DEALING WITH CANCER, CHILDREN WITH VARIOUS ILLNESSES, SO IT IS NOT -- I DON'T THINK IT IS A REALLY GOOD THING.

Laura: THIS PIECE IS CALLED RADON DAUGHTER, IS THAT RIGHT?

Chaffins: RIGHT.

Laura: CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THIS PIECE AND WHO IS HERE AND WHERE?

Chaffins: THIS IS ALL THE PIECES THAT I HAVE ARE REFLECTED AROUND THE LANDSCAPE, THE LANDSCAPE OF PAGUATE BECAUSE OF THE MAN-MADE MESAS.

SOME ARE THERE, YOU KNOW, JUST BY NATURE BUT SOME HAVE BEEN BUILT BECAUSE OF THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE LANDSCAPE.

BUT THIS ONE I HAD MY DAUGHTER IN THERE AND HOW SHE WAS LOOKING OUT OVER THE LANDSCAPE AND HOW WE HAVE THE CLOUDS, THE BLUE CLOUDS IN THE BACKGROUND COMING DOWN AND WITH THE RAIN AND THEN IT KIND OF DISSIPATES INTO, YOU KNOW, THE URANIUM COMING UP, THE YELLOW CAKE THAT IS THE PUREST FORM OF URANIUM.

YOU SEE THEM COLLIDE IN THE MIDDLE.

MY DAUGHTER I DID AN ABSTRACT IMAGE OF HER WITH THE RAIN COMING DOWN ON ONE SIDE.

SO, THAT IS LIKE SHE IS LOOKING OVER INTO THE LANDSCAPE, OR A PART OF THE LANDSCAPE ACTUALLY, SO THAT IS WHAT SHE IS DOING IN THIS PAINTING.

Laura: HUMMINGBIRDS MAKE A FREQUENT APPEARANCE IN YOUR PAINTINGS.

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE HUMMINGBIRDS?

Chaffins: THE HUMMINGBIRD IN MOST CULTURES IS PERCEIVED AS A GOOD OMEN.

IT BRINGS A LOT OF MESSAGES OF HOPE AND HAPPINESS.

THAT IS WHAT I HAVE READ AND, OF COURSE, I UNDERSTAND BUT THIS ONE IS ON A PERSONAL LEVEL.

THIS WAS -- I THINK, HUMMINGBIRDS CAME INTO MY LIFE SOON AFTER THE PASSING OF MY TWO-YEAR OLD SON AND IT WAS AWFUL.

I MEAN, THE WHOLE ASPECT OF IT.

HE HAD BEEN FIGHTING A HORRIBLE ILLNESS AND LATER ON LIKE AT TWO YEARS OLD JUST SUCCUMBED TO IT.

AND MY MOM HAD TOLD ME THAT SHE, MAYBE TWO WEEKS OR MAYBE A COUPLE DAYS AFTER HE HAD PASSED AWAY, THAT THERE WAS A LITTLE TINY BIRD AT THE WINDOW AND HE WAS CLAWED ON AND SIGNING A BEAUTIFUL LITTLE SONG.

AND MY MOM TOLD ME, SHE SAID, I CALLED ALL YOUR FAMILY, THE REST OF THE FAMILY IN, AND THAT BIRD, FOR SOME REASON, JUST STAYED THERE AND HE KEPT SINGING AND SINGING.

SO MY MOM, IN OUR LANGUAGE, SHE SPOKE TO THE LITTLE BIRD AND SHE SAID THAT IT WAS LIKE AS IF THE BIRD WAS TELLING HER, TELL MY MOM AND MY SISTER, I AM OKAY.

SHE JUST BELIEVED IT WAS MY LITTLE BOY, SKY.

AND EVERYBODY CAME IN AND THEY LISTENED TO THAT LITTLE BIRD BEFORE HE DECIDED TO GO AND EVERYBODY IS IN TEARS AND JUST FELT LIKE, MAN, HOW AMAZING AND HOW BLESSED AND FORTUNATE THAT WE KNOW THAT HE IS OKAY.

SO FROM THEN ON THE HUMMINGBIRD JUST PLAYED INTO A MAJORITY OF MY WORK.

I JUST FELT LIKE HOW STRONG OF A PRESENCE HE IS.

SO WITH THIS IMAGE HERE IT IS, YOU FIND YOU KNOW WHAT THE URANIUM AND MINING GOING ON, THE HUMMINGBIRD KIND OF LIKE ALMOST BREAKS APART, BUT YET AGAIN, HE IS COMING TOGETHER BECAUSE OF THE RAIN.

THE RAIN SYMBOLISM ALWAYS RAINS LIKE HE IS WASHING AWAY ALL THE SADNESS AND HE WANTS EVERYTHING TO COME BACK TOGETHER WITH THE TERMS OF REVERSE, YOU KNOW, THE LANDSCAPE, ANIMALS, VEGETABLES, TREES, OTHER PLANT LIFE, THAT EVERYTHING COME BACK TOGETHER AND IS HEALED.

SO, I ALWAYS THINK OF THE HUMMINGBIRD IN THIS IMAGE, HE IS COMING BACK TOGETHER.

YOU KNOW.

HE IS GOING TO BE FORMED AS ONE AND GO DELIVER HIS MESSAGES OF HOPE AND WHATNOT.

THIS IS ANOTHER FAVORITE OF MINE.

Laura: THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR ART WITH EVERYONE AND THANKS FOR SHARING YOUR TIME WITH ME TODAY.

Chaffins: THANK YOU.

I REALLY APPRECIATE IT TOO.

THANK YOU SO MUCH.