Suppressing the Native vote in the Deep North
By Winona LaDuke Wow, North Dakota, you never cease to amaze me. Less than three weeks before Election Day, the state has new laws which may disenfranchise up to 5000 Native voters. Now, I remember that the US Post Office cut off postal service to a lot of rural areas over the past few years, […]
Militarizing Against Native and Indigenous Peoples
By Winona LaDuke On September 24, the Duluth City Council discussed purchasing $82,721 worth of riot gear for the second time. Water Protectors, the NAACP, church representatives, and many others packed the City Council to oppose the riot gear purchase. The decision was tabled for the second time. It’s an interesting moment in Duluth. Two […]
Viva Mexico: land, water, and Indigenous candidates
By Winona LaDuke They tried to bury us. They did not know we were seeds…” – Mexican Proverb I have always loved the above quote; rooted, ancient, and resilient. That is my Mexico, not the Mexico of Donald Trump tales. 40,000 years of history; the origin of corn, potatoes, tomatoes, avocadoes and, let me say […]
The meaning of consent: Fond du Lac and Enbridge
By Winona LaDuke “Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) is one of the most important principles that Indigenous Peoples believe can protect their right to participation. It is embedded in the right to self-determination. The duty of States to obtain Indigenous Peoples’ FPIC entitles Indigenous people to effectively determine the outcome of decision-making that affects […]
Black Snake Chronicles: Police, Courts and Victories
By Winona LaDuke August was marked by three new landmarks in Native resistance to pipelines in Canada, Minnesota, and North Dakota. On August 29, 26 people were cited in downtown Bemidji, Minn. after stopping traffic for four hours. Ojibwe women from Red Lake, Leech Lake and White Earth were joined by the Board Chair of […]
Finding beauty in horses, hemp and solar panels
By Winona LaDuke Let’s be honest, sometimes it’s hard not to hang your head with the challenges of these times. To counter this, I just pick my head up and look around and find beauty. Honor the Earth’s Water is Life Concert at Bayfront Park featured the Indigo Girls, Corey Medina, Lyz Jakkola, Annie Humphrey […]
A very different justice: Red Fawn Fallis and the Hammonds
By Winona LaDuke Early July marked two very different approaches to justice. One towards Native people and another towards non-natives Steve and Dwight Hammond, who were convicted in 2012 of setting fires that spread on government-managed land near their ranch in Oregon. On July 8, Water Protector Red Fawn Fallis was sentenced for her involvement […]
The Bad Decision: PUC approves Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline route
By Winona LaDuke Apparently $5 million is the price to buy a pipeline route in Minnesota. In an unprecedented process, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) issued a 5-0 approval of the Certificate of Need for Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline. In a second move, they approved tentatively a route permit for the company’s preferred route, […]
Planting Victory Gardens for hope and peace
By Winona LaDuke I am planting a Victory Garden. Well, a couple of them. They are full of heritage varieties of corn, beans, squash, potatoes, artichokes, tobacco, and hemp. There’s a hefty tomato-basil-cucumber-eggplant-and-other-produce section of the gardens, and more to come. I am planting in a time of ongoing wars. Our civil society is shaken […]
If the System Works
By Winona LaDuke I want a system which works, after all, the US likes to tell everyone in the world how to govern and it would be great if a regulatory and governance system worked in Minnesota. At the least. The Minnesota Department of Commerce (DOC) says Enbridge’s new pipeline 3 is not needed based […]
Open Letter to Beltrami County
BY WINONA LADUKE In late February, the Beltrami County Commissioners approved the Sheriff Department’s request for a mutual aid agreement with various northern Minnesota agencies to beef up for their assessment of an imminent approval for Enbridge’s Line 3. Their decision is morally wrong. I want to thank Commissioner Tim Sumner for his No vote on this […]
Solar Energy’s future nationally and in Minnesota
BY WINONA LADUKE The Trump Administration recently announced a 30% tariff on imported solar panels to bolster, one assumes, a dying fossils fuels industry, and (possibly) promote Made in the USA. At the same time, the solar industry is predicting some significant declines in the market, especially in utility scale. These tariffs may reduce the projected new […]