Winona LaDuke

This morning I had the pleasure of seeing Winona LaDuke. Cal Poly invited her. She spoke to issues of sustainability, of culture and religion, and of land. Sacred places is a central aspect of Native American spirituality, and this collides with the modern American ethic of land use.

LaDuke described the dominant American cultural narrative as the frontier, of "the West," a limitless place to be conquered. This narrative is the opposite of sustainability. We must replace the frontier story if we are to survive.

She spoke of responsibility, how this is more important than rights. She acknowledged the complexities of these issues. At the same time, she argues intensely for her values and positions.

She spoke of examples, stories of struggles over sacred lands threatened with being turned into a golf course, or a coal mine. She spoke of naming places, and how "naming big mountains after little men" can frame our relationship with the land. The Arctic Wildlife Refuge is called "the place where life begins" by the people who live there. Amherst, a town in Massachusetts, is named after the British military commander, Baron Jeffrey Amherst, the first advocate of biological warfare: he ordered the distribution of smallpox-contaminated blankets to the native peoples. (Winona LaDuke went to Harvard, which is near Amherst.)

I know her from her campaign as Green Party candidate for Vice President, with the Ralph Nader for President campaigns of 1996 and 2000. I asked her if she is active as a Green. She said she is still a Green, but is active in other arenas, specific land-use issues, and renewable energy in particular. She is optimistic about those kinds of actions, and named many success stories.

PS. After her talk, I bought her new book "Recovering the Sacred - The Power of Naming and Claiming." When I asked her to sign it, she asked what my name means. (As in Spanish, it is associated with gold. "Orval" is the French spelling of "Orville" and can mean "gold town." )

+Orval Osborne