Winona LaDuke
Winona LaDuke
Winona LaDukeis an American activist, environmentalist, economist, and writer, known for her work on tribal land claims and preservation, as well as sustainable development. In 1996 and 2000, she ran for vice president as the nominee of the Green Party of the United States, on a ticket headed by Ralph Nader...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionActivist
CountryUnited States of America
country cancer two
Uranium mining in northern Canada has left over 120 million tons of radioactive waste. This amount represents enough material to cover the Trans-Canada Highway two meters deep across the country. Present production of uranium waste from Saskatchewan alone occurs at the rate of over 1 million tons annually. Since 1975, hospitalization for cancer, birth defects and circulatory illnesses in that area have increased dramatically - between 123 and 600 percent in that region.
fighting land two
Native people - about two-thirds of the uranium in the United States is on indigenous lands. On a worldwide scale, about 70 percent of the uranium is either in Aboriginal lands in Australia or up in the Subarctic of Canada, where native people are still fighting uranium mining.
two fire people
Ojibwe prophecy speaks of a time during the seventh fire when our people will have a choice between two paths. The first path is well worn and scorched. The second path is new and green. It is our choice as communities and as individuals how we will proceed.
develop enhanced grain happen plant rice scientists state wild
We don't think scientists have the right to contaminate the state grain -- and it could happen through cross-pollination, if they develop a genetically enhanced wild rice and plant it in Minnesota.
drew mess
We drew a line. Just don't mess with the rice.
everybody knows
She's an old ricer and knows everybody on this reservation.
abundant acres natural rice thousands wild
On my reservation, we had one of the most abundant fisheries in the world and hundreds of thousands of acres of wild rice beds. We've lost a lot of it, but there's still natural wealth that could support our communities.
climate eat economy food interested
I'm interested in what kind of food we're going to eat as the climate changes. I'm interested in what kind of economy we're going to have in another 1,000 years.
felt harvard introduce parties
I used to go to some Harvard parties with my athlete friends, and they would introduce me as 'Winona, the Indian activist.' It made me uncomfortable. I felt like a novelty.
arrested bad book factory gate good los people phone total trees using waste
Now that I think about it, I was arrested in 1992. Some people may think of that as a bad thing, but I feel good about it. I chained myself to the gate of a phone book factory, a GTE factory in Los Angeles. They were using thousand-year-old trees to make phone books. I think that's a total waste of a tree.
less mostly offices operating post rural save seven tribal
Eliminating some 3600 post offices - mostly rural - will save the USPS less than seven tenths of one percent of their operating budget, but nationally, a number of tribal communities will be hit.
economist
I'm Harvard-educated; I'm an economist by training. I'm an author, a journalist, as well as being active in community development.
accustomed america depiction entirely people
America is so accustomed to some depiction of native people that is entirely racist, and there's a perception that that is okay.
Actually, I consider myself to be pretty politically conservative.