White Earth

After a weekend in Wisconsin for Easter, I drove up to White Earth, Minnesota, far out of cellphone range and email access to interview activist, author, and 2000 Green Party vice-presidential candidate Winona LaDuke for an upcoming book (more on that later). LaDuke heads up the White Earth Land Recovery Project, an NGO that works to reclaim lands taken from the White Earth Anishinaabe people as well develop methods and technologies for sustainable living, from Ojibwe language classes to windpower, organic farming to an enterprise that sells Anishinaabe crafts, locally harvested maple syrup and honey, and Nicaraguan fair-trade, organic coffee roasted in Northern Minnesota. Above, I'll post a few shots from the drive from Minneapolis along Highway 10 to LaDuke's boisterous, yet cozy home in Ponsford.

Save Wild Rice: A plug for WELRP's current project. White Earth is the largest wild rice-producing area in Minnesota and, possibly, the country. But their crops are threatened by genetic drift from commercial paddy fields that produce genetically modified "wild rice." To take action--especially those of you in Minnesota--click here.