American Indian author and environmental activist Winona LaDuke visited the Newberry Library for the third annual D'Arcy McNickle Distinguished Lecture.
There is much to learn from Winona LaDuke's presentation. She spoke to a standing room only crowd in Ruggles Hall. In her presentation she offers a realistic assessment of what needs to be done and examples of people that are engaged in doing it. Climate change is here. The fossil fuel binge that we all enjoyed is over. Our economy, predicated on an addiction to fossil fuels, is no longer sustainable and its killing us. She offers examples to break free from that addiction guided by indigenous wisdom and culture. She talked about being at Standing Rock, the resistance to planetary domination by money and the counter movements she and others are working to build; indigenous slow food, native hemp production and solar energy heaters providing local jobs and efficiency for the community. She offers some thoughts on what would make America great again as alternative to the Donald's marketing hype ahead of the last Presidential election.
Native culture and practice provide an path to survive climate change through local and efficient adaptation to a world discombobulated by industrial displacement and Capitalist ideology.
She mentions the Buffalo Commons; a plan that would restore the native short grass prairie and bison to re-balance the ecosystem of the Great Planes and create a major carbon store. There is much to learn from her. The introduction offers many clear sighted observations taken from her a few of her many books. It can be heard at the URL in the notes.
Newberry Library, DArcy McNickle Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies Redline Drum
The chart from Lawrence Livermore Lab that shows 59% of all energy used in the Untied States is wasted found here: https://flowcharts.llnl.gov/content/assets/images/energy/us/Energy_US_2015.png
Full program with introduction by David Spadafora, President of the Newberry Library: https://soundcloud.com/newberrylibrary/winona-laduke
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