Cultivators: Winona LaDuke

Winona LaDuke (1959-present) is an environmental activist, economist, and writer of Ojibwe descent. Winona has dedicated her life to working on issues of land reclamation and food sovereignty, as well advocating for the rights of Native women, and participating in decades of protest against oil pipelines encroaching on and destroying native land. 

For Further Reading: 

• Seed Sovereignty: Who Owns the Seeds of the World [Lecture by Winona LaDuke]
• Intelligent and idealistic, Winona LaDuke turns to hemp farming, solar power to jump-start the 'next economy'
• Hess Scholar in Residence Winona LaDuke Says We Must Take the “Green Path” to Restore Our Environment and Economy
• Winona LaDuke
• Winona LaDuke Feels That President Biden Has Betrayed Native Americans

This month, we’re talking about cultivators — women who nurtured, cross-pollinated, experimented, or went to great lengths to better understand and protect the natural world.

History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.

Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.

Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, Sara Schleede, Paloma Moreno Jimenez, Luci Jones, Abbey Delk, Adrien Behn, Alyia Yates, Vanessa Handy, Melia Agudelo, and Joia Putnoi. Special thanks to Shira Atkins.

Original theme music composed by Brittany Martinez.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hello.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
My name is Brittany Martinez. I'm a senior producer at
Wonder Media Network and one of the co curators for
this month. I am so excited to be guest hosting
this episode of Romanica. This month, we're talking about cultivators,
women who nurtured, cross pollinated, experimented, or went to great
lengths to better understand and protect the natural world. Today,

(00:24):
we're looking at the work of a woman whose lifelong
dedication to activism and education has helped center Native people
in the conversation around land rights and helped revitalize and
expand environmental movements, from reconsidering land use to using native
firming practices and traditional crops. Please welcome a woman whose
work stretches across a multitude of domains, from activists environmentalists,

(00:46):
to economists, politician and writer, but above all, she remains
focused on advocating for the rights of her people. Winona
LeDuc born on August eighteenth, nineteen fifty nine. Wanona is
an on Nishinabek Quay and enrolled member of the Mississippi
Band on Nishinabek. She was born in Los Angeles to

(01:08):
Betty Bernstein, an activist and artist and Vincent Leduke, an actor, activist,
and member of the White Earth Reservation. Winona did not
grow up on the White Earth Reservation, but she was
a registered member since birth. Growing up, her father brought
her to pow wows and other traditional events connecting her
to her Ojibwe heritage. Her parents divorced when she was five,

(01:29):
and Winona moved with her mother to Ashland, Oregon. Winona
then attended Harvard University, graduating in nineteen eighty two with
a degree in rural economic development. At Harvard, her activism,
as well as her public image began to take shape.
She became involved with Native student groups on campus. One day,

(01:51):
she heard a speech by Cherokee activist Jimmy Durham. In
his speech, Durham showcase how issues of colonialism and US
policy directly impacted Native populations.

Speaker 1 (02:00):
So they tricked us into thinking that our problem was
that they didn't understand us.

Speaker 2 (02:06):
This was a crucial political awakening for Weanoda.

Speaker 1 (02:09):
Our problem has always been in this country that the
government and corporations finds something on our land that they
won't to make money from, so they come in and
try to take it one way or another.

Speaker 2 (02:25):
She got involved in many movements, including a campaign to
stop uranium mining on Navajo land. She also testified before
the United Nations concerning the exploitation of Native lands. After
graduating in nineteen eighty two with a degree in rural
economic Development, Winona moved to the White Earth Reservation for
the first time. She worked as a principal at the

(02:45):
reservation High School while also researching her master's thesis on
the reservation subsistence economy. For Wanona, this was not an
immediately easy transition. She did not speak the Ojibwe language
fluently truly know anyone living there. However, that did not
stop Winona from becoming entrenched in local issues, particularly those

(03:07):
surrounding land rights and reclamation. In nineteen eighty nine, Winona
completed her master's degree in Community Economic development and founded
White Earth Land Recovery Project. Winona sought to buy back
land previously purchased by non Native, non reservation members. The
recovery Project also emphasized environmentalism, prioritizing renewable energy efforts such

(03:32):
as investing in wind energy, as well as indigenous farming
practices like protecting local wild rice crops. The Land Recovery
Project also made efforts to improve local food services and sanitation,
all with the mission of land sovereignty and stewardship. It
remains one of the largest reservation based nonprofits in the
country to die. In nineteen ninety three, Winona and the

(03:56):
folk rock duo Indigo Girls co founded Honor the Earth,
and advocacy and fundraising group dedicated to organizing and upholding
Indigenous environmental justice. Wenona served as the executive director of
both the White Earth Land Recovery Project and Honor the
Earth until she stepped down in twenty fourteen and twenty
twenty three, respectively. In nineteen ninety six and two thousand,

(04:19):
Winona entered national politics, serving as Ralph Nader's running mate
on the Green Party presidential ticket.

Speaker 3 (04:24):
So what we need is an amendment to the constitution
that says you cannot flash the commics, you cannot degrade it,
not only for this generation, but for the generations to come.
And there is a teaching in our community which is
that in each deliberation, you should consider your impact on
the seventh generation from that.

Speaker 2 (04:48):
Over fifteen years later, during the twenty sixteen election, she
made history as the first Native woman to win an
electoral vote for Vice president though she was not actually
running for office at the time, her name was written
in as a protest vote. Winona also had direct embolvement
in pipeline protest, including the twenty sixteen Dakota Access pipeline

(05:11):
protests at Standing Rock. She spent years fighting oil giant
Enbridge in Minnesota. In twenty twenty one, she was arrested
and jailed for protesting their expansion of the Line Free
pipeline in the northern part of the state.

Speaker 4 (05:22):
I'm not a criminal. I'm a water protector. I'm an
addition of a woman who prayed by the river. They asked,
did my darkness to stop the pipeline and then had
charges in three counties. Ambridge needs to be charged because
they are the criminals.

Speaker 2 (05:38):
In her later life and career, Winona has maintained her
dedication to land rights and expanded that work significantly in farming.
In twenty twenty, Wenona gave a keynote lecture on her
belief that a return to biodiversity, localized agriculture, and an
emphasis on energy efficient infrastructure will lead to a better
economy and environmental protection for the United States and its
indigenous peoples. In the speech, she stated America was great

(06:02):
when there was eight thousand varieties of corn, and when
you can drink the water from every stream and river.
Where I live is still the place where the wild
things are wild. Rice is one of our most sacred foods.
For two hundred years, our people have fought to protect
our rice from encroachment from dam and pipeline projects. I
know we can make change and believe that we can
put our good hearts and minds together to transform. In

(06:28):
adherence with these goals, Winona had brought her advocacy for
seed preservation and sovereignty, as well as hemp cultivation to
the Foe. She began farming decades ago and has always
appreciated its importance in her life. Her father once told her,
you're a smart young woman, but I don't want to
hear your philosophy if you can't grow corn. In addition

(06:49):
to heritage vegetables and plants, she recently focused on hemp farming.
Hemp is a useful crop for economic purposes, but Winona
also focuses on its environmental considerations as it sequesters carbon.
Winona is hoping to encourage new avenues for locally based
economies on reservations to thrive, including her own hemp and
Heritage Farm and the Ana Shanabe Agricultural Institute, which she founded. Today,

(07:14):
Winona continues her activism as well as her farming on
the White Earth Reservation in Minnesota. She has written six books,
including her debut novel from nineteen ninety nine, Last Standing Woman,
and co authored numerous others. She has six children, all
months We're talking about cultivators. For more information, find us
on Facebook and Instagram at Wamanica Podcast. Thanks to co

(07:39):
creators Jenny and Liz Kaplan for letting me guest host.
Talk to you tomorrow