The difference between a white man and an Indian is this- A white man wants to leave money to his children. An Indian wants to leave forests.
Winona LaDukeOne of our people in the Native community said the difference between white people and Indians is that Indian people know they are oppressed but donโt feel powerless. White people donโt feel oppressed, but feel powerless. Deconstruct that disempowerment. Part of the mythology that theyโve been teaching you is that you have no power. Power is not brute force and money; power is in your spirit. Power is in your soul. It is what your ancestors, your old people gave you. Power is in the earth; it is in your relationship to the earth.
Winona LaDukeThe Lockean assumption that if we put our labor to it then it becomes our own is totally fallacious. We have to figure out how to leave things alone, and build an economic system that's not built on a linear model, but instead on a cyclical model, because that's the natural world - it's cyclical and not linear. That is going to take a lot of transformation.
Winona LaDukeI donโt understand all the nuances of the womenโs movement. But I do understand that there are feminists who want to challenge the dominant paradigm, not only of patriarchy, but of where the original wealth came from and the relationship of that wealth to other peoples and the earth. That is the only way that that I think you can really get to the depth of the problem.
Winona LaDukeWater is life. We are the people who live by the water. Pray by these waters. Travel by the waters. Eat and drink from these waters. We are related to those who live in the water. To poison the waters is to show disrespect for creation. To honor and protect the waters is our responsibility as people of the land.
Winona LaDuke