Winona LaDuke | |
|---|---|
 LaDuke in 2021 | |
| Born | (1959-08-18)August 18, 1959 (age 66) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Education | Harvard University (BA) Antioch University (MA) |
| Political party | Green |
| Parent(s) | Betty LaDuke,Sun Bear |
| Awards | National Women's Hall of Fame |
Winona LaDuke (born August 18, 1959) is an American environmentalist, writer, and industrialhemp grower, known for her work on tribal land claims and preservation, as well as sustainable development.[1]
In1996 and2000, she ran forvice president of the United States as the nominee of theGreen Party of the United States, on a ticket headed byRalph Nader. Until 2023 she was the executive director and a co-founder (along with theIndigo Girls) ofHonor the Earth, a Native environmental advocacy organization that played an active role in theDakota Access Pipeline protests.[2]
In2016, she received anelectoral vote for vice president. In doing so, she became the firstGreen Party member to receive an electoral vote.
Winona (meaning "first daughter" inDakota language) LaDuke was born in 1959 in Los Angeles, California, toBetty Bernstein and Vincent LaDuke (later known asSun Bear).[3] Her father was from theOjibweWhite Earth Reservation inMinnesota, and her mother of Jewish European ancestry fromThe Bronx, New York. LaDuke spent some of her childhood in Los Angeles, but was primarily raised inAshland, Oregon.[4] Due to her father's heritage, she was enrolled at birth with the White Earth Nation, but did not live atWhite Earth, or any other reservation, until 1982. She started work at White Earth after graduating from college when she got a job there as principal of the high school.[3]
After her parents married, Vincent LaDuke worked as an actor in Hollywood in supporting roles inWestern movies, while Betty LaDuke completed her academic studies. The couple separated when Winona was five, and her mother took a position as an art instructor at Southern Oregon College, nowSouthern Oregon University atAshland, then a small logging and college town near the California border.[3] In the 1980s, Vincent reinvented himself as aNew Age spiritual leader by the name Sun Bear.[3]
While growing up in Ashland, LaDuke attended public school and was on the debate team in high school. She attendedHarvard University, where she joined a group of Indigenous activists, and graduated in 1982 with a Bachelor of Arts in economics (rural economic development).[3] When she moved to White Earth, she did not know theOjibwe language, or many people, and was not quickly accepted. While working as the principal of the local Minnesota reservation high school, she completed research for her master's thesis on the reservation's subsistence economy and became involved in local issues. She completed an M.A. incommunity economic development throughAntioch University's distance-learning program.[3]
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While attending Harvard, LaDuke heard a presentation byJimmie Durham that she said "shook something loose" in her and changed her life. She worked for Durham, investigating the effects of uranium mining inNavajo reservations.[5] After graduating, she moved to her father's community at White Earth, where she found work as the high school principal. In 1985 she helped found theIndigenous Women's Network. She worked withWomen of All Red Nations to publicize Americanforced sterilization of Native American women.
Next she became involved in the struggle to recover lands for theAnishinaabe. An 1867 treaty with the United States provided a territory of more than 860,000 acres for theWhite Earth Indian Reservation. Under theNelson Act of 1889, an attempt to have the Anishinaabe assimilate by adopting a European-American model of subsistence farming, communal tribal land was allotted to individual households. The US classified any excess land as surplus, allowing it to be sold to non-natives. In addition, many Anishinaabe sold their land individually over the years; these factors caused the tribe to lose control of most of its land. By the mid-20th century, the tribe held only one-tenth of the land in its reservation.[3]
In 1989, LaDuke founded theWhite Earth Land Recovery Project (WELRP) in Minnesota with the proceeds of a human rights award fromReebok. Its goal is to buy back land in the reservation that non-Natives bought and to create enterprises that provide work to Anishinaabe. By 2000, the foundation had bought 1,200 acres, which it held in a conservation trust for eventual cession to the tribe.[3] WELRP also works to reforest the land and revive cultivation ofwild rice, long a traditional Ojibwe food. It markets that and other traditional products, includinghominy, jam, buffalo sausage, and other products. It has started anOjibwe language program, a herd ofbuffalo, and a wind-energy project.[3] It produces and sells traditional foods and crafts through its label, Native Harvest.[6]The Evergreen State College class of 2014 chose LaDuke as its commencement speaker. She delivered her address at the school on June 13, 2014.[7]
LaDuke was also the executive director ofHonor the Earth, an organization she co-founded with the non-Native folk-rock duo theIndigo Girls in 1993. Honor the Earth is a national advocacy group encouraging public support and funding for Native environmental groups. It works nationally and internationally on issues ofclimate change,renewable energy,sustainable development, food systems andenvironmental justice. Members of Honor the Earth were active in theDakota Access Pipeline protests.[2] As of 2016, the organization's mission was:
to create awareness and support for Native environmental issues and to develop needed financial and political resources for the survival of sustainable Native communities. Honor the Earth develops these resources by using music, the arts, the media, and Indigenous wisdom to ask people to recognize our joint dependency on the Earth and be a voice for those not heard.[8]
On March 30, 2023, theBecker County, Minnesota, District Court ordered Honor the Earth and LaDuke to pay a former employee $750,000 in damages in a sexual harassment and abuse complaint, based on actions from 2015. LaDuke resigned from the organization on April 5, 2023, acknowledging her failure to protect victims of sexual harassment.[9]
In 1996 and 2000, LaDuke ran as the vice-presidential candidate withRalph Nader on theGreen Party ticket. She was not endorsed by any tribal council or other tribal government.[citation needed] LaDuke endorsed the Democratic Party ticket for president and vice-president in 2004,[10] 2008,[11] and 2012.[12]
In 2016,Robert Satiacum, Jr., afaithless elector from Washington, cast his presidential vote for Native American activistFaith Spotted Eagle and his vice-presidential vote for LaDuke, making her the first Green Party member and the first Native American woman to receive anElectoral College vote for vice president.[13]
In 2016, LaDuke was involved in theDakota Access Pipeline protests, participating at theresistance camps in North Dakota and speaking to the media on the issue.[14]
At the July 2019National Audubon Convention in Milwaukee, LaDuke gave the keynote address with updates on efforts to stop theSandpiper pipeline, other pipelines, and other projects near Ojibwe waters and through theLeech Lake Reservation. She urged everyone to bewater protectors and stand up for their rights.[15]
In 2020 and 2021, she was a leader ofthe protests against theLine 3 pipeline.[16][17][18][19]
As of 2018, LaDuke operated a 40-acre (16 ha) industrialhemp farm on the White Earth Indian Reservation, growing hemp varieties from different regions of the world,[20] vegetables and tobacco.[21] She has said that she turned to industrial hemp farming after being urged to investigate the practice for several years and advocates its potential to turn the American economy away from fossil fuels.[22] LaDuke has promoted the growth of both marijuana and industrial hemp on Indigenous tribal lands for financial profit and the localization of the economy.[23][24] Her position can be considered controversial given experiences of other reservations, such as theOglala Sioux Tribe, who were raided by the DEA in relation to hemp farming.[25]
In 1988, LaDuke married Randy Kapashesit ofMoose Factory, Ontario, Canada. They had two children before separating in 1992.[26][5] Their daughter, Waseyabin, is on the staff of theGiiwedinong Treaty Rights and Culture Museum that opened inPark Rapids, Minnesota in 2023.[22][27] Their son, Ajuawak, is a writer, actor, and director known for his appearances inIndian Horse,Ahockalypse,Once Upon A River, andIndian Road Trip.[28]
LaDuke's third biological child, with her partner Kevin Gasco, was born in 1999, and she also has three adopted children.[22] On November 9, 2008, LaDuke's house inPonsford, Minnesota, burned down while she was in Boston. No one was injured, but all her personal property burned, including her extensive library and Indigenous art and artifact collection.[29]
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Her editorials and essays have been published in national and international media.
Television and film appearances:
| Presidential candidate Vice presidential candidate | Party | Popular votes | % | Electoral votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Clinton(incumbent) Al Gore | Democratic | 47,401,185 | 49.24% | 379 | |
| Bob Dole Jack Kemp | Republican | 39,197,469 | 40.71% | 159 | |
| Ross Perot Pat Choate | Reform | 8,085,294 | 8.40% | 0 | |
| Ralph Nader Winona LaDuke | Green | 685,297 | 0.71% | 0 | |
| Harry Browne Jo Jorgensen | Libertarian | 485,759 | 0.50% | 0 | |
| Others | 411,993 | 0.43% | 0 | ||
| Total | 96,277,634 | 100% | 538 | ||
| Presidential candidate Vice presidential candidate | Party | Popular votes | % | Electoral votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al Gore Joe Lieberman | Democratic | 50,999,897 | 48.4% | 266 | |
| George W. Bush Dick Cheney | Republican | 50,456,002 | 47.87% | 271 | |
| Ralph Nader Winona LaDuke | Green | 2,882,955 | 2.74% | 0 | |
| Pat Buchanan Ezola Foster | Reform | 448,895 | 0.43% | 0 | |
| Harry Browne Art Olivier | Libertarian | 384,431 | 0.36% | 0 | |
| Others | 232,920 | 0.22% | (abstention) 1 | ||
| Total | 105,421,423 | 100% | 538 | ||
Electoral vote for vice president
| 227 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 305 |
| Kaine | Warren | Cantwell | LaDuke | Collins | Fiorina | Pence |
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| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| First | Green nominee for vice president of the United States 1996,2000 | Succeeded by |
