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Ramona Bennett – Leadership Qualities

Biographical Timeline | Leadership Qualities | Little Shell Chippewa Recognition | References

Compassionate

Throughout all of her as a hardworking activist, Ramona never lost sight of what it means to be a leader to her people. A big component of her leadership qualities is compassion; Ramona has always had the well-being of everyone in mind as she fought for more Tribal rights. In 1978, Ramona was able to secure the National Indian Child Welfare Act. This act was solely intended for assisting Native children who would be possibly mistreated by the WA child service laws, which might separate the child from their family. Adding to her generosity and selflessness toward children, she founded the Rainbow Youth and Family Services in 1989. The goal of this organization was to protect Native children from any hate, abuse, neglect, or anything traumatic. More than that, this organization would connect these children to foster parents or to parents who are learning about the process of adoption and would like to take these traumatized children into their families. Ramona’s compassion is not forgotten by many, even after the many years that may pass after she has performed kind deeds for others. When Claudia Kauffman presented Ramona with the 2018 Bernie Whitebear Award, she recalled how helpful Ramona was toward her family. In order to allow Kauffman’s family to attend yearly powwows, Ramona would pick them all up, feed them sandwiches and snacks, and drive them all to the powwows. The compassion that Ramona Bennett has for her Tribe as well as her friends and supporters is remarkable. To this day, Ramona is active in fighting for Tribal rights while still making sure that everyone around her is well-cared for and protected, making her an amazing example of a compassionate leader.

Inspiring

Almost all of Ramona Bennett’s achievements would have never come to fruition had she not been able to rally supporters into action. She inspires her people, and has been inspiring them since back in the 1960s. Ramona led her people in a misunderstanding between her people and the law enforcement that resulted in what is now known as the BIA Takeover of 1972. There were threats made by the U.S. government to break down the doors and barge into the BIA office to arrest the occupants, but Ramona stood strong against these words and performed in such a way that inspired the people with her to stand strong with her. Later, in 1976, Ramona again led her people to seize the Tacoma Cushman hospital, claiming it as the property of the Puyallup Tribe. Alone, Ramona would have been unable to perform such a feat. But she was not alone; she had accrued a following in her time as the Chairwoman of the Puyallup Tribe, and her followers readily marched with their leader to take back their property. Even in recent times, Ramona has been present in the protests against the Tacoma Natural Gas project that will ruin Puget Sound. There is no doubt that a strong activist like Ramona Bennett bolsters the the protestors and makes them fight harder against the gas project. More than that, she gave a speech back in 2012 demanding clemency for Leonard Peltier, adding more fuel to this fiery battle for Peltier. For her entire career as an activist, Ramona Bennett has managed some incredible feats. However, many of these feats were made possible through her ability to be an inspiring character that her people would readily want to follow through thick and thin.

Ramona Bennett with Native Activists meeting outside the Bureau Of Indian Affairs in Washington DC
Ramona and other native activists outside the Bureau of Indian Affairs building in Washington DC in 1976

Resilient

Despite enduring tumultuous hardships, Ramona has continued to advocate for the human rights of Indigenous peoples across America as well as Natives across the PNW. In the face of discrimination and violence, Ramona has accomplished and paved the way for multiple pieces of legislation to be passed. She has faced police brutality and numerous loses and setbacks but has continued to fight for Native rights for over sixty years. When she started participating in fish-ins she was not discouraged in the face of continuous police harassment and brutality. When police came with clubs and riffles, Ramona was arrested along with numerous other protesters, but she was soon bailed out and despite her fear, went back into the fray. In 2013 at a meeting for solidarity with Chief Theresa Spence, Ramona offered her own words on the perseverance of Indigenous activism: “Keep it up, keep shouting, keep fighting. If all you have is your body put it there. Your ancestors did, they fought for every right you enjoy! Freedom of religion, property, resources, and you know what your great great great grandchildren will do the same thing. That’s the indian, that’s who we are, that’s why we’re here.” At the age of 81, Ramona continues to fight for tribal rights today, as her own Puyallup tribe fights against a fracked gas facility being built on their land, and will most likely never stop. Her enduring spirit and unwavering devotion to her cause has inspired many to take up the fight for Indigenous rights and has allowed the Puyallup tribe to flourish. Her never-ending resilience throughout decades of turmoil has not only inspired others in her community but makes her a fantastic leader and shows what can be accomplished with dedication.

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Winona LaDuke (Ojibwe) – Whanganui Water Rights

Biographical Timeline | Leadership Qualities | Whanganui Water Rights | References

Colonization is destructive and ongoing, and manifests in similar ways around the world.

In many ways, the external threats faced by Winona LaDuke and the Ojibwe, are very similar to the challenges faced by other indigenous nations fighting for their sovereignty and their rights to self-determination.

The Whanganui iwi (tribe), for example, is located thousands of miles away from the Ojibwe nation, on Aotearoa (an island more commonly known as New Zealand). Their struggle to protect their waters from the harms of the colonial government is similar to the work that Winona LaDuke does today.

Cows grazing on a river in Aotearoa. Photo courtesy of Radio New Zealand.

Water is threatened in Aotearoa.

How is it threatened? Let us count the ways…

For starters, it has been poisoned. Gallons of human and animal waste flood the waterways. Although the New Zealand government has botched sewage control for decades, many blame an unregulated dairy farming boom for the recent increase in fecal contamination. The resulting level of E. coli contamination has left many lakes and rivers unsafe for people to touch, much less to swim in – and by 2017 the drinking water of Aotearoa was contaminated to the point of emergency. Nutrient-rich plant fertilizers escape from agricultural farms as well, and can feed the overgrowth of harmful algae. Heavy metals, rubber, and petroleum byproduct also contaminate the water when they wash off of roads and out of urban areas. Furthermore, many industries obtain the right to dump waste directly into the waterways of Aotearoa. 

The riparian ecosystem has been damaged as well. The amount of available water decreases every year, as the New Zealand government relies economically on agriculture, and issues water rights to farmers with unsustainable irrigation practices. Furthermore, dams and poor forestry tactics deform rivers and degrade the health of the ecosystem.

These issues clearly affect everybody who lives on the island – whether they are members of an iwi, or not. However, for the Māori people, New Zealand’s attack on the water supply is simultaneously an attack on Māori sovereignty.

What is sovereignty? Who has sovereignty in Aotearoa?

Absolute sovereignty. In Māori, tino rangatiratanga.

Māori leaders signed a treaty with the British Crown in 1840, which Britain then used to claim ownership of and sovereignty over Aotearoa. There were two versions of the this treaty: one written in English and signed by the Crown, and the other written in Māori and signed by Māori leaders. In the Māori version of the treaty, although the leaders ceded governorship (kawanatanga) to the British in return for protection, they retained tino rangatiratanga. Absolute sovereignty. Because of this difference in language, the Waitangi Tribunal determined in 2014 that the Māori people did not legally sacrifice their sovereignty. And yet, the Māori people still live under the rule of a colonial government which retains the ability to rule over their people and their land.

Image of the Whanganui river, published by ABC.

Whanganui water sovereignty 

The denial of Māori sovereignty, and the implementation of the colonial model of resource use in Aotearoa, is at the heart of New Zealand’s water abuse. To the New Zealand government, water is merely one natural resource among many. On the other hand, to many Māori people, the rivers and lakes they have lived alongside for centuries are sacred family members.

The Whanganui iwi has a familial relationship with the Whanganui river. The leader of the iwi, Gerard Albert, argued strongly against New Zealand’s “perspective of ownership and management” of the river, which instead of an object which can be owned is “a living entity,” an “indivisible whole.” The government, on the other hand, tends to compartmentalize the health of the Whanganui river by putting it into what Albert calls “environmental…box,” isolated from social concerns, public health, and the rights of the Whanganui people. After compartmentalizing the issue, the government dismisses “environmental” concerns as unimportant, especially when “the environment” would benefit from limits on resource extraction. “New Zealand tries to squeeze maximum value out of its natural resources,”  according to a NZ national research institute. From the perspective of the Whanganui people, the colonial government squeezes them to the point of suffocation.

However, the iwi fights back against this suffocation. In 2014, after years of organizing and activism, the Whanganui iwi gained legal recognition of the Whanganui river as a person. This sets a precedent for other iwi in Aotearoa to fight for the legal personhood of rivers and other ancestors near them. Although the NZ government still retains control over the river, it retains such control in Māori terms. This is not a recognition of absolute sovereignty. However, this success does allow for the Māori people to self-determine within the NZ government.

Winona LaDuke speaking about the importance of water, at Standing Rock.

What would Winona LaDuke’s perspective be?

The United States rejects tribal sovereignty in many ways, and takes a very similar stance to resource extraction and ownership as does the NZ government. In this sense LaDuke is already familiar with the situation faced by the Whanganui and other iwi in Aotearoa – as it is the same kind of situation she has been fighting against for years.

LaDuke is no stranger to discussions of treaties and sovereignty. The Ojibwe signed treaties with the US government in the 19th century, which preserved their right to hunt and fish on ceded land. However, the Minnesota state government frequently denies these claims – on the basis of state law, and treaty language.

In 2000, LaDuke fought against a Minnesota university’s attempt to patent wild rice, a crop which her people have harvested for hundreds of years. The University’s attempt to establish ownership over a living organism, with which indigenous peoples have a centuries-old relationship, is much like the NZ governments establishment of control over the waterways of Aotearoa.