All Our Relations: Native Struggles for Land and Life

by Winona LaDuke

This eagerly awaited non-fiction debut by acclaimed Native environmental activist Winona LaDuke is a thoughtful and in-depth account of Native resistance to environmental and cultural degradation. LaDuke's unique understanding of Native ideas and people is born from long years of experience, and her analysis is deepened with inspiring testimonies by local Native activists sharing the struggle for survival. On each page of this volume, LaDuke speaks forcefully for self-determination and community. Hers is a beautiful and daring vision of political, spiritual, and ecological transformation. All Our Relations features chapters on the Seminoles, the Anishinaabeg, the Innu, the Northern Cheyenne, and the Mohawks, among others. "One of the pleasures of reading All Our Relations is discovering the unique voices of Native people, especially Native women, speaking in their own Native truths."- Women's Review of Books "...as Winona LaDuke describes, in moving and often beautiful prose, [these] misdeeds are not distant history but are ongoing degradation of the cherished lands of Native Americans."- Public Citizen News "...a rare perspective on Native history and culture."- Sister to Sister/S2S "Hers is a beautiful and daring vision of political, spiritual, and ecological transformation. All Our Relations is essential reading for everyone who cares about the fate of the Earth and indigenous peoples."- Winds of Change "No ragtag remnants of lost cultures here. Strong voices of old, old cultures bravely trying to make sense of an Earth in chaos."- Whole Earth

Genres: Nonfiction, Indigenous, History, Environment, Native American, Race, Activism

243 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 1999

About the author

Writing, farming, and working in her community for more than 40 years, Winona LaDuke is one of the world’s most tireless and charismatic leaders on issues related to climate change, Indigenous and human rights, green economies, grassroots organizing, and the restoration of local food systems. A two-time Green Party vice-presidential candidate, Winona has received numerous awards and accolades, including recognition on the Forbes' first “50 Over 50—Women of Impact” list in 2021.

Winona is the author of many acclaimed articles and books, including "Recovering the Sacred: The Power of Naming and Claiming" and "To Be a Water Protector: Rise of the Wiindigoo Slayers." A Harvard-educated economist, hemp farmer, grandmother, and member of the Mississippi Band Anishinaabeg, she lives and works on the White Earth Reservation in northern Minnesota.

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has been on my shelves since the US Election Season of 2000. No, I didn't vote for either George W. Bush or Al Gore...I was a Nader-Voter (due mostly to a belief that the US needs more than two viable political parties rather than alignment with his platform). The author of 'All Our Relations', Winona LaDuke, was Ralph Nader's running mate.

I struggled to crack the book for over a decade out of a great hesitancy to encounter the very legitimate injustices that Native Americans have been dealt by my government and my predecessors.

Finally, a goodreads book challenge prompted me to brave these pages. I was right. It was a tough read - due to the conviction of the subject matter. It's never easy to be confronted with so many topics which challenge my comfortable way of life.

But the book fulfilled what I think may be its intended purpose: to challenge complacency and trigger thoughtfulness. It is well written, providing short, digestible, non-fictional snapshots of various native peoples and lands. LaDuke offers stark depictions without offering quick and easy solutions.

I'm going to have to ponder this one for a while.

[Colin Bruce Anthes · Rating 5 out of 5]

While many today recognize vital land and resources have been stolen from Indigenous peoples, that concept of theft is often confined to the crimes of early settlers. Winona LaDuke chronicles so clearly how the breaking of treaties, destruction of key ecosystems, dumping of waste on Indigenous communities, the massive cases of mercury poisoning they've been subjected to, have largely resulted from the expansion of industrial capitalism and the military industrial complex in the 19th and 20th centuries. Today, a huge amount of resources the corporations want to extract lie on Native land, while, with hardly any resources, some groups are actually restoring ecosystems trampled by reckless industrialism. Ultimately the fight she chronicles is at the very heart of contemporary questions over whether or not we build a just society, with cultural freedom for Indigenous people, and a sustainable environment for us all.

[Emily Kimball · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The lesson is that the war on nature is a war on the psyche, a war on the soul. It is seen in the faces on Pine Ridge. It is seen in the monocropped field awash with chemicals and in the blood of a slaughtered Yellowstone calf. Healing in buffalo cultures must be multi-dimensional. It is not enough to provide detox centers and job-training programs. One must courageously venture to the heart of the whole to heal the individual. To heal the soul."

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Public policy is lagging far behind our ability to destroy ourselves."

So says Winona LaDuke in her book detailing Indigenous peoples' history, especially in connection with the colonizers' assault on the environment. The book was published in 1999 so many of the facts and figures are outdated but the thrust of these essays remains timeless. We must take better care of our Mother Earth and all her creatures.

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

An excellent if slightly textbooky overview of Indigenous struggles in North America in the past fifty years or so to preserve traditional lifeways and national sovereignty in the face of capitalism, colonialism, and environmental degradation. Unfortunately it offers only reformist solutions to these problems

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The challenge... is to transform human laws to match natural laws, not vice versa. And to correspondingly transform wasteful production and voracious consumption. America and industrial society must move from a society based on conquest to one steeped in the practice of survival" (197).

[Abby Shade · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly important read and very sad how timely it still is ~30 years after it was written.

[Sylvester Francis Alonz · Rating 5 out of 5]

An important critical read for all people, with special attention to indigenous populations

[Adrik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though this book contains a lot of studies that are now outdated, the point remains; modern western society means devastating consequences for the planet and its health. It is disheartening to know that little has changed since this book was published in 1999. Now 20 years later in 2019, will we finally all stand up and demand true change? Change is difficult but I don't want to be part of this world where no change has occurred since I consider that the worst possibility. However it is a possibility as long as big companies and big resource projects only see the earth as theirs to take.

[JoAnna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three-line review: As a white American woman who grew up in a middle-class family, I've moved through the world blind and ignorant to Native Americans' stories, struggles, and histories. This was a stellar book broken down by conflicts and injustices Indigenous Americans have found themselves facing since the United States was "founded." This one gets four stars from me only because it was published in 1999, and so much has happened since then, so an updated version of this book would be an even more informative read.

[Ruth Bishop · Rating 4 out of 5]

Winona LaDuke (who was Ralph Nader’s running mate within the Green Party during the 2000 Presidential Election) provides a sweeping overview of the exploitation of Native Peoples’ land and rights, each chapter highlighting the histories and cultures of a different region or tribal group. Her book focuses primarily on how modern-day capitalism (both in the US and Canada) and the US military have ransacked ecosystems on reservation land, polluted Native peoples’ drinking waters and food sources, and altered their social structure and ways of life to the point of decay, while also interweaving these modern histories with colonial and US expansionist ones to demonstrate that the exploitation and killing of Native peoples and their lands continues to this day. Winona also highlights the remarkable activism and triumphs various tribal communities have had in protecting their land and way of life in the face of so many struggles. We (the white men) have much to learn from Native People in terms of constructing a country and laws that protects both people and the land, rather than one that prioritizes corporate interests. Winona’s book demonstrates why we need more Native authors telling their own histories and gets at a fundamental question we should all be pondering—how do we construct an equitable society inclusive of all and respectful towards our natural environment?

[Will · Rating 4 out of 5]

Winona LaDuke's All Our Relations is a brief look into the struggles of a handful of tribes and indigenous nations in North America. She writes with precision and deep caring on each of the tribes from the Seminole in Florida to her native White Earth Ojibwe to the struggle of native Hawai'ians. Each chapter provides an overview of the native people's struggle through colonization setting the background for their current fight over land rights, autonomy, or environmental disasters on their soil. LaDuke is frank and unsparing with her information which I found to be informative and certainly made me confront my own whiteness and legacy in Native genocide. The staying power of LaDuke's words surprised me. Though LaDuke wrote All Our Relations in 1999, her reporting and interviews rarely felt dated. Highly recommend for anyone looking to get a glimpse into contemporary struggles of Native communities with some light historical background.

[Grant Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Winona LaDuke is a hero and this book is a searing call to action. Each of the specific environmental injustices perpetrated against indigenous people and/or the corresponding inspiring resistance detailed in the book offer examples of how to fight for the liberation of the planet from the tyranny of ecological collapse and the climate crisis. While the book is from a few decades ago, it is an important inventory of resistance and can serve as historical context for movements today as well as a blueprint for the most successful interventions. A must-read book, especially in light of the IPCC's second working group's recent report (https://youtu.be/MWVGCpNDroI).

[Yasmin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Back in 1998 we, as the globe, were at a cross roads as to what could be done for the future of the planet vis-a-vis global warming/climate change. It's been twenty-one years since "NASA scientists met with Indigenous elders to discuss global warming and to hear the elders' suggestions on possible solutions" (197). Now we are well past the cross roads and past the point of no return. This is an amazing book to understand Indigenous fight for land back and why every citizen should fight with them and not against for Indigenous sovereignty and the return of their lands. The website is now www.honorearth.net

[Alyse · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish that all Americans would learn the truth about the relationship between Native Americans and the U.S. from a young age. I know that I, growing up in my mainly white, middle-class suburban neighborhood, was ignorant about most of the struggles and the resistance of the native people of this land. Too many lies and cover ups in all of the history books. This book was published in 1999, so it is not up to date, but from recent stories that I have read about, I know the injustices continue. The book is well written and informative.

[Natasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book shines a spotlight on the indigenous perspectives of environmental injustices that are missed not just by Americans as a whole, but by white environmentalists and environmental organisations. It’s meticulously researched, and packed full of indigenous knowledge, history, and interviews with indigenous activists. This whole book wrenches the focus away from whitewashing environmentalism and exposes the racism of, for instance, the Sierra Club, or the NPS. It’s an invaluable book, and I wish it was required reading for every environmental law class

[Jonathan]

the perspectives in this book are almost diametrically opposed to modern, white, western perspectives on technology, business, the environment… not always, and it’s not always clear what is being advocated for in more specific terms (laduke covers a variety of native american nations/peoples and their interests join together, diverge, overlap), but there is something necessary for us in one of the native american perspectives revealed in this book: the importance of the physical world we live in and its connection(s) to the spiritual world.

[Sendkathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a collection of documented government and business decisions leading to environmental atrocities that furthered the American Indian genocide in North America. Yes, a difficult read, but if you don't know Winona LaDuke, read anything she's written and watch some YouTube videos on her life as a champion of indigenous values to hold onto the God-given gifts from mother Earth. She is truly an amazing leader.

[Mark Bourdon · Rating 5 out of 5]

All Our Relations is a history lesson that really should be shared in schools. It is not just about Native people but the survival of all human beings. Laduck challenges the reader to contemplate who gets to determine the destiny of the land and the people who live on it (not just people with money). The lessons shared are the voices and actions of the Tribes before and after colonization of North America.

[Derek Weir · Rating 5 out of 5]

Obviously a bit dated as it was written 25 years ago; some things have improved, many have gotten worse, a lot has stayed the same. impressed by the variety of voices she was able to draw from, frustrated and angered by the repeated and ongoing injustices, but encouraged and hopeful at the successes of the indigenous resistance efforts. hopefully we will see more of them in the years to come. land back!

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each chapter visits a US indigenous community in crises created and sustained by poisoning the land (and the people), stealing the land (and the people), and questions our capitalist colonial framework that imagines it is just to set a "fair" price (often explicitly insultingly low) for the destruction of a way of living for all time.

[Roger Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

In an episodic fashion, LaDuke focuses on a variety of native groups and personal instances of indigos survival and ongoing presence in "The United States." Distressing yet hopeful, well documented and engaging. I wish LaDuke were president.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read most of this book seven months ago so I can’t give it a super detailed review, but I don’t remember disliking any of it. It was a very good book, though I would love to hear a follow up on all of these people, topics, and ideas since it’s been 26 years.

[Andrew Carberry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Learned so much about Native ways of living, and sadly how they have been attacked.

[Audrey Saltarelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

A required read for understanding broad Indigenous history .

[A'Llyn Ettien · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few years old now, but very positive and encouraging stories of Native peoples' work to protect their lands and cultures.

[Michaela Berger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Free the indigenous people of the world!!

[NormaJean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written, challenging, heart breaking, optimistic.

[Jbondandrews · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew First Nations were suffering but when you read about it, you feel even more disgusted.

[Korey Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great overview of the history of Indigenous resistance