Winona LaDuke.

• Author: Paul, Sonya
• Position: Native American ecological activist - Interview

Winona LaDuke first spoke before the United Nations when she was only eighteen years old. In the nearly two decades that have passed since, she hardly has paused for a breath. Today, LaDuke is one of the most prominent Native American environmental activists in North America. She brings a burning focus to her work, which is devoted to turning society "from the synthetic reality of consumption and expendability to the natural reality of conservation and harmony."

LaDuke is an enrolled member of the Mississippi Band of Anishinabeg (also known as the Ojibwe or Chippewa), but she grew up with radical parents in East Los Angeles and Ashland, Oregon. She went to college at Harvard, then dove head-first into Indian politics while completing graduate school along the way. As a leader in the ultimately successful struggle against James Bay's hydroelectric development in the 1980s, she became an international voice for indigenous environmental concerns.

These days, LaDuke prefers to balance broader campaigns with battles closer to home. She has returned to her father's White Earth Reservation in northern Minnesota, where she lives with her two children, Waseyabin, age six, and Ajuawak, age four. As campaign director of the White Earth Land Recovery Project, LaDuke divides her time among an eclectic variety of local issues, from land restoration to organic agriculture.

Even from the backwoods, however, LaDuke remains connected to international forums. She lectures regularly at universities, serves on the board of Greenpeace, and is the environmental program officer for the Seventh Generation Fund. Last spring, she organized a national benefit tour with the Indigo Girls, raising funds for a host of grassroots organizations and thrusting the growing Indigenous Women's Network (IWN) into the national spotlight. In September, she led an IWN delegation to the World Conference on Women in Beijing.

LaDuke is also an accomplished writer, and is currently finishing a book on Native environmentalism for South End Press.

Face to face, LaDuke has a commanding presence. She has an incredible drive to get things done, and some friends call her "the Duchess." But she also exudes great personal warmth.

We spoke with her at her home on White Earth. It is an unassuming log house overlooking wild rice beds and beautiful Round Lake. Inside, the frenetic pace makes the dwelling a political office as much as a home. We sat on the deck in the sunshine, as the sounds of the children playing mingled with the calls of birds.

Q: You were born in L.A. and educated at Harvard. How did you make your way back to White Earth?

Winona LaDuke: Ever since I was little I wanted to come back and work in the Indian community. My father is from White Earth, and I never felt entirely accepted on the West Coast. As a kid, I was always the one passed over at dances and never picked for sports teams. At that age, it's easy to blame the victim--you're too dark or your hair is funny But that's not what it's really about. It's about learned racism and classism. Eventually, I started to question what's wrong with America.

My family also had a keen sense of social responsibility. I was never told to go out and make money, but to do the right thing. Before my parents split up, they were both active in Indian politics in Los Angeles. Later, I remember my mom taking me out of school for anti-war and civil-rights marches.

Q: What led you to the Ivy League?

LaDuke: I'm not sure. I certainly wanted to escape from my hometown. I also think I went to Harvard because they told me I couldn't. My guidance counselor basically said, "Don't bother. Go to vo-tech."

But once I got there it turned out to be a transformative experience. A great bunch of Indian students came and found me, and I was politicized pretty quickly. I was also very fortunate to have excellent role models. One of the first events I attended was a speech by Jimmie Durham of the International Indian Treaty Council. He talked about how there was no such thing as the "Indian Problem." He said that it was a problem with America. As a college student, I was trying to understand the world, and all of a sudden I just got it. His message of decolonization resonated with me entirely. So I asked him if I could go to work for him. From that point forward, at the age of eighteen, I worked on Native environmental campaigns all over the West and learned from people on the front lines. They laid the foundation of my political thinking.

School was different. There I learned how to utilize the resources of a major institution to benefit communities. For example, while doing environmental research on corporate practices in Indian Country, I found that more information was available to me in Cambridge, thousands of miles removed, than on the reservations themselves (which is part of the problem).

Q: How does it feel to be back home after a whirlwind month on the road with the Indigo Girls?

LaDuke: Oh my God, what a relief! We called it "the big party," but it was tremendously successful. We raised about $250,000 for local organizations and their projects. But the "Honor the Earth" tour also raised political awareness. With the Indigo Girls, the concerts drew the attention of an entirely new constituency. Their fans seemed to be mostly young women, and most of them...