Red Road to the Future: Native Sovereignty is Key to Climate Justice

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In the midst of a national reckoning with white supremacy and colonial history, Indigenous people are demanding a new relationship with DC — honoring the traditional, legal, and moral rights of native nations. Earlier this year, a group of Native organizers traveled with a 25-foot totem pole from the Lummi Nation in Washington State to Washington D.C. stopping for ceremonies in communities under threat and gathering messages for the Biden Harris administration. In DC they held a historic meeting with Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. In this episode, we hear what happened in that meeting, how Native movements are changing, among other myths, the thanksgiving story, and where a Red Road to the future might lead us - if we followed it. November is National American Indian Heritage Month, but as Judith LeBlanc, executive director of the Native Organizers Alliance put it, “the past and the future meet in the present. What are we doing today that will make our descendants proud of their ancestors?”

“How do we begin to really shift the narrative and help Americans understand that when native peoples are taking a stand—whether it’s no DAPL at Standing Rock or, you know, the Keystone XL Pipeline and thinking about Fort Belknap Indian Community or the Rosebud Sioux Reservation—it’s not just a Native American issue. We’re defending the water and the land for tens of millions of Americans.”

GUESTS:

Judith LeBlanc, Director, Native Organizers Alliance

Crystal Echo Hawk,  IllumiNative, Founder & CEO

Anahkwet/Guy Reiter, Executive Director, Menīkānaehkem Community Rebuilders;  Water Protector, Menominee Indian Tribe

Mari Margil, Executive Director, Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights

Faith Spotted Eagle,  Ihanktonwon Dakota Elder & Brave Heart Society Kunsi Member

Deb Haaland, U.S. Secretary of the Interior

Laura Flanders and Friends Crew:  Laura Flanders, along with Sabrina Artel, Jeremiah Cothren, Veronica Delgado, Janet Hernandez, Jeannie Hopper, Gina Kim, Sarah Miller, Nat Needham, David Neuman, and Rory O’Conner. 

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