Table Of ContentPraise for Recovering the Sacred
2005 Gustavus Myers Book Award
Honorable Mention
Written in an accessible style, Recovering the Sacred documents the
remarkable stories of indigenous communities whose tenacity and resilience has
enabled them to reclaim their lands, resources, and life ways after enduring
centuries of incalculable loss.
—Wilma Mankiller, author, Every Day is a Good Day
Thoughtful, tough, impressively informed, Recovering the Sacred tells a
profound story. To survive, we need to listen.
—Louise Erdrich, author, Love Medicine
A fascinating read that puts Native American communities’ struggles for
justice into historical and environmental context. Winona’s fierce dedication to
the indigenous environmental and women’s movements infuses her analysis with
a first-person understanding—deep and powerful on many levels.
—Bonnie Raitt, musician/activist
Recovering the Sacred is a brilliant study of cases dealing with rights to land,
resources, culture, religion, and genetic information. LaDuke offers a much-
needed challenge to the existing ethical constructs that govern these rights
claims. This book will be a valuable resource for attorneys, scholars, and
community members alike.
—Rebecca Tsosie, author, American Indian Law: Native Nations and the
Federal System
With precision and eloquence, LaDuke makes clear not only that the theft of
all things indigenous continues to this day but that resistance to this theft is
becoming ever stronger. She makes equally clear that if we are to survive we
must stop stealing from and begin listening to those whose land we have stolen,
whose land we live on.
—Derrick Jensen, author, A Language Older than Words
A river of tears fell down my cheeks as I read Recovering the Sacred. This is
a must read for anyone who wants to know the truth about Federal Indian Policy,
past and present.
— Charon Asetoyer, editor, Indigenous Women’s Health Book: Within the
Sacred Circle
Fierce in her convictions, forceful in her analysis, and engaging in her
writing, LaDuke connects the dots between indigenous struggles, the toxic and
sacrilegious practices of multinational corporations, and the wellness of all of us
who must share our fragile planet.
—Robert Warrior, author, The People and the Word: Reading Native Nonfiction
In this powerful book, LaDuke explores issues that go way beyond the
desecration of the environment and into the heart of insidious crimes against the
very DNA of Native peoples.
—Amy Ray, musician/activist
LaDuke skillfully demonstrates why the protection of Native spiritual
practices is critical to social justice struggles and to the survival of the planet.
She weaves together a broad range of issues that all point to the impact of
European cultural and spiritual genocide on indigenous peoples. LaDuke
demonstrates again why she is one of the leading Native thinkers and activists
today.
—Andrea Smith, author, Conquest: Sexual Violence and American Indian
Genocide
Through the voices of ordinary Native Americans, writer and full-time
activist Winona LaDuke is able to transform highly complex issues into stories
that touch the heart.
—Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, author, Outlaw Woman
Winona LaDuke’s “activist scholarship” captures the essence of politicized
spirituality that [combines] “ecological integrity” with our cultural identity for
“spiritual health.” It is books such as this one that will insure the passing of
history and knowledge from one generation to the next.
—M.A. Jaimes Guerrero, editor, The State of Native America
© 2005 Winona LaDuke First published in 2005 by South End Press, Cambridge, MA.
This edition published in 2015 by Haymarket Books
PO Box 180165
Chicago, IL 60618
773-583-7884
[email protected]
www.haymarketbooks.org
ISBN: 978-160-846-662-7
Trade distribution:
In the US, through Consortium Book Sales and Distribution, www.cbsd.com
In the UK, Turnaround Publisher Services, www.turnaround-uk.com
All other countries, Publishers Group Worldwide, www.pgw.com
Special discounts are available for bulk purchases by organizations and institutions. Please contact
Haymarket Books for more information at 773-583-7884 or [email protected].
This book was published with the generous support of Lannan Foundation and the Wallace Action Fund.
Library of Congress CIP data is available 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Acknowledgements
Dedication
What is Sacred?
Part 1: Sacred Lands and Sacred Places
God, Squirrels, and the Universe
The Mt. Graham International Observatory and the University of Arizona
The Apache and the Wars
Raising Arizona
In Search of the Authentic Apaches
Salt, Water, Blood, and Coal
Mining in the Southwest
“I am as much of the clouds as they are of me.”
Asabakeshiinh, the Spider
The Mormons, the Lawyers, and the Coal
Sucking the Mother Dry
The Salt Mother Still Rests
Klamath Land and Life
The Stronghold
Unhealed Wounds of Federal Policy
Termination: The Trees and the Land
Edison Chiloquin and Tribal Restoration
A River Runs through It
Valuable Stuff
Part 2: Ancestors, Images, and Our Lives
Imperial Anthropology
The Ethics of Collecting
“I am a man”
Ishi’s Descendants
The Ethics of Collecting
Our Relatives are Poisoned
Spoils of War
Quilled Cradleboard Covers, Cultural Patrimony, and Wounded Knee
Cankpe Opi: Wounded Knee
Cante Ognaka: The Heart of Everything That Is
The Road to Wounded Knee
The Killing Fields
The Aftermath and the Medals of Honor
The Collection
The Spirits Still Linger
NAGPRA: The Homecoming Law
Healing and Reconciliation
Vampires in the New World
Blood, Academia, and Human Genetics
Captain Hook and the Biopirates
Masks in the New Millennium
The Native in the Game
The Fighting Sioux
Ralph the Nazi
In the Spirit of Crazy Horse
Defense of Spirit
Part 3: Seeds and Medicine
Three Sisters
Recovery of Traditional Agriculture at Cayuga, Mohawk, and Oneida
Communities
Cayugas Remember
Monocultures of the Mind and of the Land
Peacemaking among Neighbors
Kanatiohareke: The Mohawk’s Clean Pot
The Oneida’s Tsyunhehkwa: “It Provides Life for Us”
Wild Rice
Maps, Genes, and Patents
Manoominike: Making Wild Rice
The Price of Rice
Indian Harvest or Dutch Harvest?
Gene Hunters and the Map of the Wild Rice Genome
Patents and Biopiracy
Academic Freedom and Ethics
Pollen Drift and Those Ducks
Intellectual Property
Water Levels and Bad Development Projects
Where the Food Grows on the Water: Rice Lake and the Crandon Mine
Tribal Laws and Cultural Property Rights
Food as Medicine
The Recovery of Traditional Foods to Heal the People
Traditional Agriculture and Biodiversity
“Let Them Eat Grass”
What We Eat Makes Us Sick
They Can’t Even Eat Grass: Navajo Livestock Reduction
Genes or Colonialism?
Food as Medicine
Dream of Wild Health
Mino Miijim
The Place of the Gardens
Part 4: Relatives
Return of the Horse Nation
The Horse Nation
The Wallowa Valley Homecoming
Description:When she invites us to “recover the sacred,” well-known Native American organizer Winona LaDuke is requesting far more than the rescue of ancient bones and beaded headbands from museums. For LaDuke, only the power to define what is sacred—and access it—will enable Native American communities
