Renowned environmentalist and activist Winona LaDuke welcomed students this year by passionately urging them to think critically about the current global crisis of climate change and the connection between their lives and the environment.

LaDuke, an Anishinabe member of the Makwa Dodaem, or Bear Clan, which is on the White Earth reservation in northern Minnesota, is nationally respected as a champion of the environment and of American Indians.

President Michael Roth introduced LaDuke, praising her tireless work and commitment to social activism.

“She has been reminding us for a long time that the earth isn’t just something that you look at from afar…that care of the environment is not just a matter of mind and heart, but a matter of where we stand and who we are,” Roth said.

From the podium in Memorial Hall, LaDuke began her speech by introducing herself in her native language, following the customary naming tradition of her clan. Throughout her speech, she urged the audience to rethink how they had been taught to approach the world and the environment.

“Other knowledge systems are valid…[but] an indigenous knowledge-based education is not treated the same as a European knowledge base.” LaDuke said. “How able are we to get out of our box and think about a different world view?”

LaDuke also discussed the background of her people, describing the main teachings of their tradition: equality, reciprocity, and a cyclical view of the natural world. She explained how these beliefs have taught her to see all animals as relatives to be respected, and how her worldview, which embraces natural cycles like those of the tide and the moon, differs from the linear, myopic system that she sees governing too many minds today.

“We as humans create laws to which we might not know the answers,” she said, critiquing the inefficiency of superfund, waste management, and other environmental legislation. “We have essentially created slaves and paupers out of most of our relatives. We over-allocate resources in a single-species mindset…we continue to lose in the linear system.”

Eliana Thorou ’12 appreciated LaDuke’s blunt, refreshing approach to environmental issues:

“It was nice to see someone so honest and straightforward providing real solutions, rather than trying to please many people with solutions of no lasting effect,” she said.

LaDuke continued to address “peak oil” and energy, critiquing the Bush administration’s support of “clean coal” and nuclear power. She insisted instead that more time and money should be invested in renewable energy.

“It turns out that you can only invade so many countries for oil. We have to come to terms with the fact that we can’t mine fossil fuels anymore,” she said.

On food security, LaDuke spoke about the danger of genetic engineering and the corporate concentration of seed types.

“The question of who now owns [seeds] has become a question of seed slavery,” she said, describing the unsustainable agricultural practices she sees advocated by today’s society.

LaDuke went on to explain how her tribe researched their energy consumption and discovered that they could dramatically reduce their fossil fuel use and energy costs by installing solar heating panels and wind turbines.

“Now every reservation in Northern Minnesota wants a wind turbine,” she said.

By working to retool the local economy of her reservation, LaDuke hopes to reduce the distance members must travel to find work. She also advocates the use of heirloom seeds and the support of local and organic food production systems, which are not dependent on fossil fuels and are also more nutritious.

LaDuke advised the audience to consider the implications of their current lifestyles as members of the world’s largest and most inefficient energy economy.

Charles Barron ’12 was glad that he attended the speech, but was left wanting more.

“It was impressive what they did in their community, but I felt that I have heard those same ideas before,” he said. “I would have appreciated some more concrete examples for what I personally can do.”

Elana Baurer ’09 still found the speech to be a worthwhile experience.

“I felt that she was right on, and I really liked how she connected so many failures of our society and how they can relate to the environment… I was appreciative of her being there and how much of her life she has devoted to these causes.”

LaDuke concluded her speech by reminding the audience to always remember the power of personal agency.

“Most of you, I’m assuming, come from some sort of privilege…You can’t buy your way of life at the mall, you have to make it. We have the opportunity now to do the right thing.”