Environmental Justice in Montana: Winona LaDuke, Indigo Girls, Eriel Deranger to address tar sands, coal development

Winona LaDuke of Honor the Earth as well as the Women Donors Network are hosting a cultural exchange and panel discussion on environmental justice concerns in Montana. Here is the Women Donors Network press release announcing all the details.  The environmental tour public invitation begins June 4 on the Blackfeet Reservation with a free concert featuring the Indigo Girls. The group then moves to the Flathead Reservation for a community panel discussion on issues such as the Canadian tar sands.

Eriel Deranger, an Athabasca Chipewyan from Alberta, will discuss the environmental impacts oil sand development has had on indigenous people. The Canadian tar sands is of growing concern in Montana, considering a pipeline and equipment transportation plans underway in the state to help Canada sell and move oil into the United States using Montana roads and byways. The Northern Rockies Rising Tide network has been at the forefront to educate Montana citizens about the Mammoet Kearl trucking operation across the state. Here is a link to the Rising Tide tar sand petition in opposition to moving the the tar sand equipment through the state.

Listen to an interview with LaDuke and the Indigo Girls about the Montana tour on Tribal Scene Radio, May 14 show.

Again, here is the link to press release with details on the  June 4 and June 5 activities being sponsored by the Women Donors Network and Honor the Earth.

Fact Sheet on Honor the Earth and Women Donors Network Community Events:

Friday, June 4
Buffalo Feast and Cultural Exchange
With Blackfeet Confederacy drum group, Jack Gladstone, Indigo Girls& Winona LaDuke
6:00 p.m.
Browning Elementary School,
112 First Ave. Southwest
Browning, Mont. 59417

Saturday, June 5
Environmental Justice Panel
With Eriel Tchekwie Deranger, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nations of Northern Alberta, Rainforest Action Network’s Freedom From Oil Campaigner; Gail Small, Native Action, Executive Director, Francis Auld, CSKT cultural preservation; Rich Janssen, CSKT Acting Director of Natural Resources.
Topics: Alberta tar sands oil, transportation of oil, coal extraction, coal bed methane and the connection between natural resources exploitation and poverty.
Moderated by Winona LaDuke
Short performance by Indigo Girls
1:30 p.m.
Johnny Arlee/Victor Charlo Theatre
Salish Kootenai College
58138 U.S. Highway 93 (theater first turn on right as you enter campus from south)
Pablo, Mont. 59855

For More Information:

Jodi Rave
406-396-8537
jodi.rave@buffalosfire.com

Jodi Rave