From the Midland Daily News:
| Sustainable living with Winona LaDuke |
| By Noel Lyn Smith |
Winona LaDuke spoke about sustainable living and shared examples of how that is being used on her home land of the White Earth reservation in Minnesota.
LaDuke, a Native American rights activist and environmentalist, spoke at Central Michigan University Monday as part of the monthlong series celebrating Native America Heritage Month.
She is an Anishinaabekwe (Ojibwe) enrolled member of the Mississippi Band Anishinaabeg from the Mukwa Dodem (Bear clan) and is the founding director of the White Earth Land Recovery Project. She ran on the Green Party ticket as vice presidential candidate alongside Ralph Nader in the 1996 and 2000 elections.
“It is possible to have a world view outside an empire,” LaDuke said to the audience before beginning her speech.
She presented an indigenous view on sustainability and how that view centers on living within the “creator’s law,” which is the highest law, and that all living beings are related.
LaDuke told a story about herding buffalo at Yellowstone National Park, which is the last place buffalo freely roam.
In the winter, buffalo leave the protected boundaries of the park and some are shot when they enter cattle rancher’s private property. LaDuke said she skiied back and forth, trying to keep the buffalo inside the park.
She said that buffalo are vital to the land because they eat prairie grass in the winter by searching underneath the snow, which provides a natural churning of the land. Cattle, however, must be fed during the winter, using large amounts of fuel to transport feed.
That does not reflect sustainable living, she said.
She also talked about the projects the White Earth Land Recovery Project is managing. These projects range from growing native foods to reintroducing traditional animals to the area.
Utilization of alternative power sources is gaining notice on the White Earth reservation. Solar heating panels are used to keep homes warm in the winter, which also reduces heating expenses for families, she said, and the tribe is looking into wind turbines.
The 1983 Mercedes she owns was modified to run on biodiesel and is the first vehicle on the reservation to use this energy.
“It is the first fry bread power Mercedes Benz,” she said.
One of the tribal members asked LaDuke for more information about using biodiesel.
“He called me up and said, ‘I’m going to have to go out of business because of the price of fuel. How’s the grease, Winona?'” she said.
Turtle Talk 