Events

7 pm ET

Renewable energy is a new frontier for economic growth. Facing increased global pressure to curb emissions, the companies most responsible for planetary global warming are erecting wind farms, building solar panels, and expanding renewable energy infrastructure without reducing their investments in the extraction economy. These companies are not the only ones investing in the power of the sun. Building on centuries of Indigenous knowledge about the sun’s power to give life, Indigenous communities across the continent are modeling a solar energy future that breaks from the profit motive. This panel considers green energy as a site for decolonization, asking how Indigenous activists are advancing an alternative future for green energy by connecting green technology development to the grassroots movements resisting fossil fuel expansion.

MODERATOR
Judith LeBlanc (Caddo), Director, Native Organizers Alliance

SPEAKERS
Henry Red Cloud (Lakota), Founder, Lakota Solar Enterprises
Mark Tilsen (Oglala Lakota), NDN Collective and Extinction Rebellion

BIOS
Judith LeBlanc (Caddo) is Director of the Native Organizers Alliance and a board member of The Natural History Museum. The Native Organizers Alliance is a national Native training and organizing network which provides Native organizers, tribal governments and nonprofits with trainings and support for strategic campaign planning and community engagement based on Indigenous values and practices. Judith is currently working with tribal governments, traditional elders and Native community groups in South Dakota who are organizing to prevent the building of the Keystone XL Pipeline.

Henry Red Cloud (Lakota) is the founder of Lakota Solar Enterprises on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. One of the first 100% Native-owned and operated renewable energy companies in the nation, LSE employs tribal members to manufacture and install solar air heating systems for Native American families living on reservations across the Great Plains. Henry also manages the Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center, a one-of-a-kind Native educational facility where tribes from around the U.S. receive hands-on green job training in renewable energy technology and sustainable building practices. Henry’s work provides Native Americans with “a new way to honor the old ways” through sustainable energy solutions that are environmentally sound, economically beneficial, and culturally appropriate.

Mark K. Tilsen (Oglala Lakota) is a poet, educator, and activist from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. In the Dakota Access Pipeline struggle, Mark acted as a direct action trainer and police liaison, and continues to provide trainings and teach-ins about the lessons learned from Standing Rock. He has been involved with the L’eau est La Vie Camp, a Native-led prayer camp aimed at stopping the proposed Bayou Bridge Pipeline in Louisiana at the tail end of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Mark’s most recent book of poems is It Ain’t Over Til We’re Smoking Cigars on the Drill Pad: Poems From Standing Rock And The Frontlines.