Quotessence
Home / Authors / Winona LaDuke
Winona LaDuke

Winona LaDuke Quotes

Activist

Filter quotes by topic

AllLandPeopleEnvironmentalWaterEarthNativeWorldCommunityAncestorIfsPollutionCountryGenerationsNeedsStruggleWhiteEnvironmentalistForceForestsLakes

Famous Winona LaDuke Quotes

“The reality is that the founding fathers were land speculators. The fact was that you couldn't vote in this country if you did not own land, and that was basically you had to be a white man who owned land. Now how did they get that land? They basically had to steal it from someone, and that would be probably the Indians. And so most of the initial founding fathers were, while they may have had some really nice ideas about democracy, they had a lot of issues with people of color. They had a lot of issues with people who held things that they coveted.”

PeopleIfsMenMayIdeasCountryFactsRealityWould BeFatherWhiteDemocracyIssuesNiceLandColorVoteStealingWhite ManFoundingInitialsReally NiceSpeculators
Author:Winona LaDuke
Create image

“Water 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.”

PeopleShowsWaterResponsibilityLandCreationPrayingHonorDrinkProtectEnvironmentalRelatedPoisonLive ByDisrespectWater Is Life
Book:The Winona LaDuke Reader: A Collection of Essential Writings
Create image

“Across the continent, on the shores of small tributaries, in the shadows of sacred mountains, on the vast expanse of the prairies, or in the safety of the woods, prayers are being repeated, as they have for thousands of years, and common people with uncommon courage and the whispers of their ancestors in their ears continue their struggles to protect the land and water and trees on which their very existence is based. And like small tributaries joining together to form a mighty river, their force and power grows.”

PeopleYearsTogetherFormForceGrowsWaterPrayerCommonExistenceStruggleTreeLandProtectMountainShadowRiversEarsSafetySacredEnvironmentalWoodsShoreAncestorContinentsStewardshipJoiningUncommonPrairieExpanseLand And WaterJoining TogetherForce And Power
Book:The Winona LaDuke Reader: A Collection of Essential Writings
Create image

“The insecticides kill the black flies, but also destroy much of the food chain for the bird, fish, and animal life which also inhabit those regions. The fish of the Great Lakes are laced with mercury from industrial plants, and fluoride from aluminum plants poisons the land and the people. Sewage from the population centers is mixed with PCBs and PBS in the watershed of the great lakes and the Finger Lakes, and the water is virtually nowhere safe for any living creatures.”

PeopleBlackWaterAnimalLandSafeCreaturesBirdPlantFingersEnvironmentalPopulationFishesChainsPoisonLakesRegionsPollutionLiving CreaturesMercuryAnimal LifeFood ChainAluminumSewageWatershedsPbsGreat LakesInsecticidesFluoride
Book:All Our Relations: Native Struggles for Land and Life
Create image