Honor the Earth is an advocacy group that campaigns for Native American and environmental issues. It has supported environmentalist protests against oil pipelines and promoted divestment campaigns against conventional fuel interests.

The group’s co-founder and executive director, Winona LaDuke, is a former Green Party candidate for Vice President of the United States, campaigning as Ralph Nader’s running mate in the 1996 and 2000 Presidential elections. ¹ LaDuke has called for enactment of a “Green New Deal”-based socialist planned economy that is directed by Native Americans such as herself.

History

Honor the Earth is an environmentalist organization focused on issues affecting Native Americans. The group was founded in 1993 by activist Winona LaDuke and musicians Amy Ray and Emily Saliers, who make up the folk-rock duo Indigo Girls. The group claims that industrial society is destructive and inefficient and that the “economy has reached material limits and is now resorting to extreme extraction.” The group claims it wants to help facilitate the evolution away from the current “destructive” economy to a sustainable “land-based’ economy. ²Funding

In 2016 the organization’s funding increased by an order of several magnitudes, nearly sextupling the previous year’s receipts. This funding came mostly in the form of contributions and grants. ³ In 2016, Honor the Earth received a $63,000 grant from the Tides Foundation to assist with its involvement in the Standing Rock Reservation protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline. ^{4 5}

The group has also received funding from the Taitanchi Foundation, the Kalliopeia Foundation, and the Nova Foundation. ⁶

Activities

Honor the Earth has argued against allowing permits to be issued for building the Line 3 oil pipeline proposed by Enbridge. Honor the Earth supported protestors camping out along the proposed construction route. In 2018, after the permitting process began to move forward, Native American groups were consulted on the route they would prefer the pipeline to take. Honor the Earth attorney Frank Bibeau claimed that choosing between the routes was “like that moment in Sophie’s Choice where Meryl Streep is asked which child she will send to the gas chambers.” He is referencing a scene in the movie where the main character must choose which of her children will be killed in the Auschwitz death camp. ⁷

Honor the Earth strongly opposed the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline and supported the protesters in the area. It is also aiding in the legal defense of protesters who have been charged with crimes. ⁸

The group also supports the international fossil fuel divestment campaign, which works to get banks and insurance companies to cease working with oil companies. ⁹

In addition to its activism and legal work, the group distributes grants to a number of Native American organizations focused on native agriculture, youth programs, environmentalist energy, and Native American sacred sites. ¹⁰

In 2018, Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream partnered with Honor the Earth among four other organizations with its “Resist” flavored ice cream, which included a $25,000 donation. ¹¹

Leadership

Winona LaDuke is the cofounder and executive director of Honor the Earth. She is a longtime Native American and environmentalist activist as well as a rural development economist. ¹² She was the Green Party’s vice-presidential candidate in 1996 and 2000. In 2007 she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame. She is a member of the Mississippi Band Anishinaabeg tribe. ¹³

In December of 2018 LaDuke claimed that the Green New Deal economy should be led by Native Americans. In her words, the “next economy is going to be green. That next economy is going to have people like me making decisions. I’d like to be an architect for the next economy. I didn’t like the last one.” ¹⁴

LaDuke owns Spotted Horse Coffees, a wholesale coffee roasting business. ¹⁵ In 2016 Honor the Earth purchased over $23,000 worth of Spotted Horse coffee for resale online and at events. ¹⁶

1. Feinstein, Mike. “Historic Overview.” www.gp.org, 2012. https://www.gp.org/history_overview.
2. “About Us.” HonorEarth.org. Accessed September 11, 2019. http://www.honorearth.org/about.
3. Honor the Earth, IRS (Form 990), 2016, Schedule A Part II
4. Middleton, Kimberly. “Tides Stands with Standing Rock.” Tides.org, January 10, 2017. Accessed September 11, 2019. https://www.tides.org/our-community/tides-social-ventures/tides-stands-with-standing-rock/.
5. Tides Foundation, IRS (Form 990 PF), 2016, Schedule I Part II
6. “Honor the Earth 2017 Annual Report.” Honor the Earth. Accessed September 13, 2019. Pg. 35 http://www.honorearth.org/annual_reports.
7. “Honor the Earth 2017 Annual Report.” Honor the Earth. Accessed September 13, 2019. Pg. 5-7 http://www.honorearth.org/annual_reports.
8. “Honor the Earth 2017 Annual Report.” honor the Earth. Accessed September 13, 2019. Pg. 9 http://www.honorearth.org/annual_reports.
9. “Honor the Earth 2017 Annual Report.” honor the Earth. Accessed September 13, 2019. Pg. 10 http://www.honorearth.org/annual_reports.
10. “Honor the Earth 2017 Annual Report.” honor the Earth. Accessed September 13, 2019. Pg. 16-24 http://www.honorearth.org/annual_reports.
11. Ostuni, Amanda. “Ben & Jerry’s Teams with Local Nonprofit on Mission-Driven Flavor ‘Pecan Resist.’” Twin Citied Business, November 16, 2018. Accessed September 13, 2019. http://tcbmag.com/news/articles/2018/november/ben-jerry-s-teams-with-local-nonprofit-on-mission-driven-flavor-pecan-resist.
12. “Meet the Team.” HonorEarth.org. Accessed September 12, 2019. http://www.honorearth.org/meet_the_team.
13. “Winona LaDuke.” WomenOfTheHall.org. Accessed September 13, 2019. https://www.womenofthehall.org/inductee/winona-laduke/.
14. “Winona LaDuke Calls for Indigenous-Led ‘Green New Deal’ as She Fights Minnesota Pipeline Expansion.” CommonDreams.org, December 7, 2018. https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/12/07/winona-laduke-calls-indigenous-led-green-new-deal-she-fights-minnesota-pipeline.
15. “About.” WinonaLaDuke.com, n.d. https://www.winonaladuke.com/#about-section.
16. Honor the Earth, IRS (Form 990), 2016, Schedule A Part II