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During her tenure at the Indigenous-led environmental protection organization Honor the Earth, Margaret Campbell worked to block construction of the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline, monitored social media accounts, met with funders and community partners, and assisted the executive director with personal matters.
She was also subjected to repeated sexual harassment from a co-worker, from which the organization — led by longtime activist and former U.S. vice presidential candidate Winona LaDuke — failed to protect her, a civil jury concluded March 30 after a brief trial in state district court in Minnesota.
The jury held that Honor the Earth should pay Campbell $750,000 for sexual harassment, mental suffering and retaliation, after Campbell reported the allegations to LaDuke and other organization leaders.
Campbell’s attorney, Christy Hall of Gender Justice, applauded Campbell for refusing to stay silent.
“She reported the harassment to her boss, but rather than protect her the organization protected her harasser at her expense,” Hall said. “But Margaret did not back down. Her lawsuit, and the jury’s findings, are an important reminder of the responsibility every employer has to end workplace harassment and abuse.” READ MORE — Richard Arlin Walker, Special to ICT
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Longtime environmental activist Winona LaDuke resigned as executive director of the nonprofit environmental justice group she founded, Honor the Earth, four days after a jury ordered the organization to pay $750,000 in a sexual harassment lawsuit.
The organization announced LaDuke’s resignation on its website Wednesday, April 5, and its new executive director, Krystal Two Bulls, Oglala Lakota/Northern Cheyenne, who joined Honor the Earth in January as co-director.
In her resignation letter, LaDuke, White Earth Ojibwe, apologized for not responding to former employee Margaret “Molly” Campbell’s sexual harassment claims “with the appropriate level of care and urgency” when Campbell reported them.
“In 2014-2015, I failed Molly Campbell,” LaDuke said in the letter. “I am sorry for the hurt caused to Ms. Campbell, and I am sorry for the broader harm that resulted, too.” READ MORE — Richard Arlin Walker, Special to ICT
Around the world: Farming colonies worsen deforestation in Paraguay, Taiwan embraces its Indigenous people, Nepali speakers labeled ‘foreigners’ by court, war memorials in Malaysia draw tourists, and artisans in Cambodia are sharing their traditional handicrafts.
PARAGUAY: Farming colony causing deforestation
A Mennonite farming community in Paraguay has led to deforestation of whole sections of land in the Mby’a Indigenous community of Pindo’i in the Upper Paraná Atlantic Forest, Mongabay reported on March 24.
Satellite data and imagery from Global Forest Watch show clearing associated with large agricultural fields has whittled away at already-fragmented tracts of primary forest in the Pindo’I Indigenous Territory over the past several years, Mongabay reported.
The data was confirmed by Cristino Benítez, district leader of the National Forest Institute, Mongabay reported. READ MORE — Deusdedit Ruhangariyo, Special to ICT
The notorious Brady Landfill has finally been shut down after workers discovered yet another body of an Indigenous woman at the Winnipeg, Canada, facility.
The landfill has been the focal point of an investigation surrounding the case of a serial killer who targeted Indigenous women in the city of Winnipeg and the target of protesters who have demanded police pause the operation to conduct a full search of the site.
The latest body was discovered Monday, April 3, by workers in an area considered an active section of the landfill and is not believed to be related to the other missing women, according to the Winnipeg Police Services.
A Winnipeg man, Jeremy Skibicki, has been charged with murder and he remains in custody in the deaths of four Indigenous women, including one woman whose partial remains were found at the Brady Landfill. READ MORE — Miles Morriesseau, ICT
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The Coalition to Stop Violence against Native Women hosted its ninth annual gathering for tribal leaders in New Mexico. The goal of the two-day meeting is to look at federal, state and tribal laws as they respond to violence in tribal communities. Tiffany Jiron is a policy and advocacy coordinator at the organization.
Sean Sherman, The Sioux Chef, is the owner of the Owamni in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The restaurant showcases Indigenous cuisine and the importance of community. ICT’s Shirley Sneve has this interview.
All eyes were on the Manhattan courthouse Tuesday as former president Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts. The charges come from alleged falsifying of business records from hush money payments to adult film actor Stormy Daniels. What has been the reaction from Native leaders? Holly Cook Macarro has more. She is an ICT regular contributor and partner with Spirit Rock Consulting.
LAS VEGAS — S.R. Tommie is the founder and president of the Redline Media Group, the largest Native American woman-owned advertising agency in the world.
She said when she says it out loud it feels like her mom is hugging her.
“I feel her hugging me so I say it driving down the road by myself just so I can feel her hug because she believed in me like she believed the sun would rise and the moon would come up on us and the stars would sparkle,” the Seminole Tribe of Florida citizen said.
Her mom Minnie Tommie couldn’t read or write until she was in her late 30s when she could write her name. Tommie said she wasn’t business savvy but always told her to appreciate who she was. That’s the advice she gives to other Native entrepreneurs as well as being organized and professional by not relying on other people to deliver what you committed to deliver. To do that is by knowing your product well and assembling a strong, knowledgeable team that can help you achieve that.
This week, like many other Native business leaders, she is in Las Vegas for the annual Reservation Economic Summit, organized by Mesa, Arizona-based National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development. READ MORE — Kalle Benallie, ICT
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