Winona LaDuke: Indigenous Activist, Author, and Water Protector

I had the pleasure of hearing Ms. LaDuke speak at the Tribal People Gathering in northern Minnesota in early June. The Treaty People Gathering was an invitation for native and non-native people of faith to join them in stopping the Line 3 pipeline from being built through Anishinaabe Treaty Land.

Ms. LaDuke is an eloquent and passionate native leader who explains what is at stake for native people and for all of us if Enbridge, the Canadian pipeline company, is allowed to complete Line 3 through the White Earth Reservation. It will mean pumping hundreds of thousands of gallons of dirty tar sands oil through some of the most pristine and sensitive ecosystems in North America. They will have to cross 67 rivers to complete the pipeline, some of them multiple times.

 

Many of us white folk may not be familiar with Winona LaDuke. She is an enrolled member of the Ojibwe Nation due to her father’s heritage. She grew up in Ashland, OR, graduated from Harvard University and did her master’s thesis on reservation subsistence economy. She is the executive director of Honor the Earth, a charitable organization she co-founded with the non-native folk-rock group the Indigo Girls.

 

Remember when the former president kept talking about "Make America Great Again"? Ms. LaDuke is very clear about when America was great. Listen to her message to find out.... Hear now Winona LaDuke.