Tribal Sovereignty and Self Determination

In this episode of EcoJustice Radio, we interview two Indigenous activists from the Lakota and Sioux Nations working toward a model of Tribal sovereignty and self-determination and a brighter future for the planet through Indigenous prosperity, Manape LaMere and SunRose IronShell. This episode won First Prize in the Audio Category for the Excellence in Craft Awards 2021 from the Outdoor Writers Association of California.

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How to Protect Unceded Indigenous Lands with Manape LaMere and Sun Rose IronShell

After generations of struggle, the imperative of Indigenous tribal sovereignty over Lakota / Sioux traditional lands and waters has crystallized as a growing movement in the Americas to counter the power of multinational corporations and the governments that enable them.

Native Nation self-determination has proven an effective way to steward and protect resources and develop a sustainable way forward in an era of ecosystem collapse and runaway climate disruption.

As the Wet’suwet’en Chiefs Battle the Coastal GasLink ‘Invasion’ of their unceded lands in British Columbia, communities across Canada and the world protest and shut down trains, ports, and business-as-usual in solidarity.

Actions continue to Defund the Line 3 project – a proposal by Enbridge for a new pipeline that would cover more than 1,000 miles from Hardisty, Alberta in Canada to Superior, Wisconsin, transporting an average of almost 800,000 barrels of tar sands crude oil from Alberta each day.

Despite ongoing legal challenges from the Red Lake Nation, the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, and Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, Minnesota’s own Department of Commerce, environmental organizations, and 13 brave youth intervenors, construction on Line 3 continues.

Business as usual in this country also has the Dakota Access Pipeline ignoring the Standing Rock Sioux’s Indigenous treaty rights and environmental protections, putting construction of this pipeline, pushed by Energy Transfer Partners, in question.

What is the end game? To protect ecosystems, stop the poisoning of people and their lands and water, and rebuild a notion of Indigenous Sovereignty in a more collaborative world.

We welcome to EcoJustice Radio two people working toward a model of self-determination and a brighter future for the planet through Indigenous prosperity, Manape LaMere and SunRose IronShell. Jack Eidt, co-founder of SoCal 350 and publisher of WilderUtopia.com, does the interview.

STORY: Indigenous Legacy: Intergenerational Wisdom for our Times

My Conspiracy to be Free (excerpts)
By SunRose IronShell

I will not hold no signs or protest
against your picket line
Death squad come for me
like you’ve been trained to do
Gun me down in the Rosebud,
Gun me down like you did in Wounded Knee
Shoot me in the back at Standing Rock
Because all I want to do is be free
Drink your poison water quick
Before the soil gets too sour
Death squad, where you at?
I refuse to die by your toxic shower

TUNE IN to our discussion on Tribal Sovereignty with SunRose IronShell (Titowan, Sicangu & Oglala Lakota), Artivist, Poet, Teacher, and Designer and Manape LaMere, one of the seven headsmen of the Oceti Sakowin, or the people known as Sioux, meaning Seven Council Fires. pic.twitter.com/rhsmLS6orb

— EcoJusticeRadio (@EcoJusticeRadio) May 7, 2021

Manape LaMere, who has relinquished his U.S. citizenship and is a government representative of his treaty nation (Sioux) and a representative at the U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Manape is one of the seven headsmen of the Oceti Sakowin, which is proper name for the people commonly known as the Sioux, meaning Seven Council Fires.

SunRose IronShell, of the Sicangu and Oglala, Lakota Nations, is a designer whose point of view reaches far beyond the realms of mere clothing. Her brand Warrior Status challenges the wearer to think and live as a modern-day warrior. She was featured in the documentary, Women of the White Buffalo in 2020.

SunRose on IG https://www.instagram.com/livenwarriorstatus/

Interview by Jack Eidt
Hosted by Jessica Aldridge from SoCal 350 and Adventures in Waste
Engineer: Blake Lampkin
Executive Producer: Jack Eidt
Show Created by Mark and JP Morris
Music: Javier Kadry
Episode 52

Updated 7 February 2023