“My advice is: learn history. Take responsibility for history. Recognize that sometimes things take a long time to change.”
-Winona LaDuke
Greetings, Rebels! This month we would like to highlight the work of Winona LaDuke. She is an internationally known Native American environmental activist, hailing from the White Earth reservation in northern Minnesota.
LaDuke began her life of activism as an Indigenous Women’s Rights advocate, which quickly expanded to environmental rights- specifically environmental rights for Native Americans. She is the founder of the White Earth Land Recovery Project, co-founder and Executive Director of Honor the Earth, and ran twice as the vice-president candidate for the Green Party. She is also the first Native American woman to receive an electoral vote for the position of Vice President.
LaDuke has received many awards, including the Global Green Award, the Reebok Human Rights Award, the International Slow Food Award, as well as induction into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 2007. She is very active today, participating in events such as the Dakota Access Pipeline protests. She has also strongly advocated for the right to grow and sell hemp and marijuana on Native American lands.