Winona La Duke

We are honored to have Winona LaDuke write the foreward to first and second addition.

Winona is an Indigenous environmental leader, writer, and lifelong activist dedicated to protecting land, water, and Indigenous sovereignty.

She has spent decades at the forefront of grassroots environmental movements, advocating for land rights, climate justice, and the protection of natural resources. Her work has consistently centered the relationship between people and the land — especially the defense of water as a living system.

A farmer and land steward, Winona has also been deeply involved in regenerative agriculture and hemp cultivation as part of broader efforts to restore Indigenous food systems and strengthen local economies rooted in reciprocity with the earth.

She is the author of numerous books and essays on Indigenous rights, environmental justice, and sustainable futures, and has long been a voice connecting policy, activism, and lived land-based practice.

Winona wrote the foreword to the first edition of this work and continues her contribution in this edition — bringing continuity, grounding, and perspective from decades of frontline experience in land and water protection.