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WHEN SHE INVITES
us to "recover the sacred," Native American
organizer Winona LaDuke is requesting far more than
the rescue of ancient bones and beaded headbands
from museums. For LaDuke, only the power to define
what is sacred-and gain access to it-will enable
Native American communities to remember who they
are and fashion their future.
Based on a wealth of
research and hundreds of interviews with indigenous
scholars and activists, LaDuke's book examines the
connections between sacred sites, sacred objects,
and the sacred bodies of her people, focusing on
the conditions under which traditional beliefs can
best be practiced. Describing the numerous gaps
between mainstream and indigenous thinking, she
probes the paradoxes that abound for peoples of the
Americas and points a way forward for Native
Americans and their allies.
WINONA LaDUKE is a
writer, teacher, and activist. She is a graduate of
Harvard University and was the Green Party
vice-presidential candidate in the 1996 U.S.
election. She lives on the White Earth Reservation
in northern Minnesota.
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