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phenomenecology's review
5.0
This book is marvelous, inspiring, and informative. Wow. I knew that plenty of it would contain disheartening knowledge, and it does, but it contains so so so much more than sad facts about the way that capitalist-imperialism has harmed our planet. It is extremely skilled in its combination of these harsh realities with the equally important realities of possibility, of projects being built now by people who care, and of detailed ways to move forward. I highly recommend to anyone suffering from climate anxiety who may feel there is no way out or through.
juliatindell's review
This is a great and informative book! I just need to take a break from it and get it off my “currently reading” list.
hopiemelton's review
5.0
A great range of reporting, archival work, testimony from activists; only repetitive in the details when reading them back to back; essential reading to learn about Indigenous positionalities against destruction of their land
otterno11's review
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.0
In To Be a Water Protector: The Rise of the Wiindigoo Slayers, Minnesota Anishibnabe economist and activist Winona LaDuke’s collection of engaging editorials, she evokes the folklore of the windigo to describe the capitalist interests which continue to threaten indigenous lands and environmental rights, making for a very effective environmental discussion. I remembered her most as the vice presidential candidate for the Green Party back in 2000, but her work was surprisingly contemporary here, analyzing a variety of topics related to the indigenous-led opposition to the continued environmental onslaught on indigenous land from the “extreme extraction” deemed necessary to keep profit rising.
Among the numerous essays included, written in a casual and accessible tone, LaDuke has a lot of interesting things to say, though the nature of the book makes it on occasion a little repetitive as she returns to various topics. Her continued use of the windigo story, though, was a compelling lens to couch her reporting on the fights against the Canadian corporations collaborating with US states in pushing through pipelines like Standing Rock in North Dakota and Enbridge Line 3 in Minnesota. Evoking the cultural conception of the “giant murderous monster that used to rampage through the north woods, fueled by an insatiable greed and a relentless desire for human flesh” to, and using the term “Winidiigoo Economics,” that “fossil fuel era capitalism is like the Wiindigoo: a predator economics, the economics of a cannibal.”
LaDuke makes clear the rapacious nature of these entities as they violate indigenous lands once again in the name of profit, making sure that Alberta tar sands crude keeps flowing, regardless of its environmental effects, putting the well-being of the many at risk for the enrichment of the few. In the end, her discussion of divesting from fossil fuel finance and infrastructure was one of the most interesting points in To Be a Water Protector.
Among the numerous essays included, written in a casual and accessible tone, LaDuke has a lot of interesting things to say, though the nature of the book makes it on occasion a little repetitive as she returns to various topics. Her continued use of the windigo story, though, was a compelling lens to couch her reporting on the fights against the Canadian corporations collaborating with US states in pushing through pipelines like Standing Rock in North Dakota and Enbridge Line 3 in Minnesota. Evoking the cultural conception of the “giant murderous monster that used to rampage through the north woods, fueled by an insatiable greed and a relentless desire for human flesh” to, and using the term “Winidiigoo Economics,” that “fossil fuel era capitalism is like the Wiindigoo: a predator economics, the economics of a cannibal.”
LaDuke makes clear the rapacious nature of these entities as they violate indigenous lands once again in the name of profit, making sure that Alberta tar sands crude keeps flowing, regardless of its environmental effects, putting the well-being of the many at risk for the enrichment of the few. In the end, her discussion of divesting from fossil fuel finance and infrastructure was one of the most interesting points in To Be a Water Protector.
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