TEDWomen 2017
Tara Houska: The Standing Rock resistance and our fight for indigenous rights
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Still invisible and often an afterthought, indigenous peoples are uniting to protect the world's water, lands and history -- while trying to heal from genocide and ongoing inequality. Tribal attorney and Couchiching First Nation citizen Tara Houska chronicles the history of attempts by government and industry to eradicate the legitimacy of indigenous peoples' land and culture, including the months-long standoff at Standing Rock which rallied thousands around the world. "It's incredible what you can do when you stand together," Houska says. "Stand with us -- empathize, learn, grow, change the conversation."
Tara Houska - Tribal attorney and advocate
Tara Houska is an attorney who fights for indigenous rights and justice. Full bio
Tara Houska is an attorney who fights for indigenous rights and justice. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:13
[Ojibwe: Hello.
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My English name is Tara;
my Native name is Zhaabowekwe.
my Native name is Zhaabowekwe.
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I am of Couchiching First Nation;
my clan is bear.
my clan is bear.
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I was born under the Maple Sapping Moon.]
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My name is Tara Houska,
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I'm bear clan from
Couchiching First Nation,
Couchiching First Nation,
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I was born under the Maple Sapping Moon
in International Falls, Minnesota,
in International Falls, Minnesota,
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and I'm happy to be here with all of you.
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(Applause)
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Trauma of indigenous peoples
has trickled through the generations.
has trickled through the generations.
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Centuries of oppression,
of isolation, of invisibility,
of isolation, of invisibility,
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have led to a muddled understanding
of who we are today.
of who we are today.
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In 2017, we face this mixture
of Indians in headdresses
of Indians in headdresses
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going across the plains
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but also the drunk sitting on a porch
somewhere you never heard of,
somewhere you never heard of,
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living off government handouts
and casino money.
and casino money.
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(Sighs)
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It's really, really hard.
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It's very, very difficult
to be in these shoes,
to be in these shoes,
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to stand here as a product
of genocide survival, of genocide.
of genocide survival, of genocide.
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We face this constant barrage
of unteaching the accepted narrative.
of unteaching the accepted narrative.
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87 percent of references in textbooks,
children's textbooks, to Native Americans
children's textbooks, to Native Americans
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are pre-1900s.
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Only half of the US states
mention more than a single tribe,
mention more than a single tribe,
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and just four states
mention the boarding-school era,
mention the boarding-school era,
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the era that was responsible
for my grandmother
for my grandmother
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and her brothers and sisters
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having their language
and culture beaten out of them.
and culture beaten out of them.
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When you aren't viewed as real people,
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it's a lot easier to run over your rights.
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Four years ago, I moved to Washington, DC.
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I had finished school
and I was there to be a tribal attorney
and I was there to be a tribal attorney
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and represent tribes across the nation,
representing on the Hill,
representing on the Hill,
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and I saw immediately
why racist imagery matters.
why racist imagery matters.
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I moved there during
football season, of all times.
football season, of all times.
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And so it was the daily slew
of Indian heads
of Indian heads
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and this "redskin" slur everywhere,
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while my job was going up on the Hill
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and trying to lobby for hospitals,
for funding for schools,
for funding for schools,
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for basic government services,
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and being told again and again
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that Indian people were incapable
of managing our own affairs.
of managing our own affairs.
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When you aren't viewed as real people,
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it's a lot easier to run over your rights.
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And last August, I went out
to Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.
to Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.
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I saw resistance happening.
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We were standing up.
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There were youth that had run
2,000 miles from Cannonball, North Dakota
2,000 miles from Cannonball, North Dakota
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all the way out to Washington, DC,
with a message for President Obama:
with a message for President Obama:
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"Please intervene.
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Please do something.
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Help us."
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And I went out, and I heard the call,
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and so did thousands
of people around the world.
of people around the world.
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Why did this resonate with so many people?
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Indigenous peoples are impacted
first and worst by climate change.
first and worst by climate change.
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We are impacted first and worst
by the fossil-fuel industry.
by the fossil-fuel industry.
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Here in Louisiana, the first US
climate change refugees exist.
climate change refugees exist.
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They are Native people
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being pushed off their homelands
from rising sea levels.
from rising sea levels.
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That's our reality, that's what we live.
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And with these projects
comes a slew of human costs
comes a slew of human costs
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that people don't think about:
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thousands of workers influxing
to build these pipelines,
to build these pipelines,
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to build and extract from the earth,
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bringing crime and sex trafficking
and violence with them.
and violence with them.
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Missing and murdered
indigenous women in Canada
indigenous women in Canada
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has become so significant
it's spawned a movement
it's spawned a movement
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and a national inquiry.
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Thousands of Native women
who have disappeared,
who have disappeared,
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who have been murdered.
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And here in the US,
we don't even track that.
we don't even track that.
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We are instead left with an understanding
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that our Supreme Court,
the United States Supreme Court,
the United States Supreme Court,
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stripped us, in 1978, of the right
to prosecute at the same rate
to prosecute at the same rate
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as anywhere else in the United States.
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So as a non-Native person you can walk
onto a reservation and rape someone
onto a reservation and rape someone
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and that tribe is without the same level
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of prosecutorial ability
as everywhere else,
as everywhere else,
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and the Federal Government declines
these cases 40 percent of the time.
these cases 40 percent of the time.
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It used to be 76 percent of the time.
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One in three Native women
are raped in her lifetime.
are raped in her lifetime.
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One in three.
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But in Standing Rock,
you could feel the energy in the air.
you could feel the energy in the air.
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You could feel the resistance happening.
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People were standing and saying, "No more.
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Enough is enough.
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We will put our bodies
in front of the machines
in front of the machines
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to stop this project from happening.
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Our lives matter.
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Our children's lives matter."
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And thousands of allies came
to stand with us from around the world.
to stand with us from around the world.
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It was incredible, it was incredible
to stand together, united as one.
to stand together, united as one.
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(Applause)
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In my time there,
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I saw Natives being chased on horseback
by police officers shooting at them,
by police officers shooting at them,
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history playing out in front of my eyes.
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I myself was put into a dog kennel
when I was arrested.
when I was arrested.
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But funny story, actually,
of being put into a dog kennel.
of being put into a dog kennel.
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So we're in this big wire kennel
with all these people,
with all these people,
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and the police officers
are there and we're there,
are there and we're there,
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and we start howling like dogs.
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You're going to treat us like dogs?
We're going to act like dogs.
We're going to act like dogs.
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But that's the resilience we have.
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All these horrific images
playing out in front of us,
playing out in front of us,
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being an indigenous person
pushed off of Native lands again in 2017.
pushed off of Native lands again in 2017.
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But there was such beauty.
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On one of the days that we faced
a line of hundreds of police officers
a line of hundreds of police officers
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pushing us back, pushing us
off indigenous lands,
off indigenous lands,
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there were those teenagers
out on horseback across the plains.
out on horseback across the plains.
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They were herding hundreds
of buffalo towards us,
of buffalo towards us,
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and we were crying out, calling,
"Please turn, please turn."
"Please turn, please turn."
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And we watched the buffalo
come towards us,
come towards us,
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and for a moment, everything stopped.
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The police stopped, we stopped,
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and we just saw this beautiful,
amazing moment of remembrance.
amazing moment of remembrance.
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And we were empowered.
We were so empowered.
We were so empowered.
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I interviewed a woman
who had, on one day --
who had, on one day --
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September 2nd,
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the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation
had told the courts --
had told the courts --
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there's an ongoing lawsuit right now --
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they told the courts,
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"Here is a sacred site that's in
the direct path of the pipeline."
the direct path of the pipeline."
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On September 3rd, the following day,
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Dakota Access, LLC skipped 25 miles ahead
in its construction,
in its construction,
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to destroy that site.
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And when that happened,
the people in camp rushed up to stop this,
the people in camp rushed up to stop this,
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and they were met with attack dogs,
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people, private security officers,
wielding attack dogs in [2016].
wielding attack dogs in [2016].
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But I interviewed one of the women,
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who had been bitten on the breast
by one of these dogs,
by one of these dogs,
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and the ferocity and strength of her
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was incredible,
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and she's out right now
in another resistance camp,
in another resistance camp,
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the same resistance camp I'm part of,
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fighting Line 3, another pipeline project
in my people's homelands,
in my people's homelands,
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wanting 900,000 barrels
of tar sands per day
of tar sands per day
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through the headwaters of the Mississippi
to the shore of Lake Superior
to the shore of Lake Superior
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and through all the Treaty
territories along the way.
territories along the way.
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But this woman's out there
and we're all out there standing together,
and we're all out there standing together,
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because we are resilient, we are fierce,
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and we are teaching people
how to reconnect to the earth,
how to reconnect to the earth,
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remembering where we come from.
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So much of society has forgotten this.
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(Applause)
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That food you eat comes from somewhere.
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The tap water you drink
comes from somewhere.
comes from somewhere.
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We're trying to remember, teach,
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because we know, we still remember.
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It's in our plants,
in our medicines, in our lives,
in our medicines, in our lives,
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every single day.
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I brought this out to show.
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(Rattling)
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This is cultural survival.
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This is from a time that it was illegal
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to practice indigenous cultures
in the United States.
in the United States.
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This was cultural survival
hidden in plain sight.
hidden in plain sight.
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This was a baby's rattle.
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That's what they told the Indian agents
when they came in.
when they came in.
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It was a baby's rattle.
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But it's incredible what you can do
when you stand together.
when you stand together.
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It's incredible, the power
that we have when we stand together,
that we have when we stand together,
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human resistance,
people having this power,
people having this power,
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some of the most oppressed people
you can possibly imagine
you can possibly imagine
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costing this company
hundreds of millions of dollars,
hundreds of millions of dollars,
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and now our divestment efforts, focusing
on the banks behind these projects,
on the banks behind these projects,
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costing them billions of dollars.
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Five billion dollars
we've cost them so far,
we've cost them so far,
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hanging out with banks.
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(Applause)
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So what can you do?
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How can you help?
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How can you change the conversation
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for extremely oppressed
and forgotten people?
and forgotten people?
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Education is foundational.
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Education shapes our children.
It shapes the way we teach.
It shapes the way we teach.
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It shapes the way we learn.
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In Washington State,
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they've made the teaching of treaties
and modern Native people
and modern Native people
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mandatory in school curriculum.
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That is systems change.
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(Applause)
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When your elected officials
are appropriating their budgets,
are appropriating their budgets,
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ask them: Are you fulfilling
treaty obligations?
treaty obligations?
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Treaties have been broken
since the day they were signed.
since the day they were signed.
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Are you meeting those requirements?
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That would change our lives,
if treaties were actually upheld.
if treaties were actually upheld.
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Those documents were signed.
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Somehow, we live in this world
where, in 2017,
where, in 2017,
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the US Constitution is held up
as the supreme law of the land, right?
as the supreme law of the land, right?
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But when I talk about
treaty rights, I'm crazy.
treaty rights, I'm crazy.
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That's crazy.
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Treaties are the supreme law of the land,
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and that would change so much,
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if you actually asked
your representative officials
your representative officials
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to appropriate those budgets.
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And take your money out of the banks.
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That's huge. It makes a huge difference.
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Stand with us, empathize,
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learn, grow, change the conversation.
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Forty percent of Native people
are under the age of 24.
are under the age of 24.
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We are the fastest-growing demographic
in the United States.
in the United States.
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We are doctors, we are lawyers,
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we are teachers, we are scientists,
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we are engineers.
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We are medicine men,
we are medicine women,
we are medicine women,
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we are sun dancers, we are pipe carriers,
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we are traditional language speakers.
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And we are still here.
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Miigwech.
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(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Tara Houska - Tribal attorney and advocateTara Houska is an attorney who fights for indigenous rights and justice.
Why you should listen
Tara Houska (Couchiching First Nation) is a tribal attorney based in Washington, D.C., the National Campaigns Director of Honor the Earth and a former advisor on Native American affairs to Bernie Sanders. She advocates on behalf of tribal nations at the local and federal levels on a range of issues impacting indigenous peoples. She recently spent six months living and working in North Dakota fighting the Dakota Access Pipeline. She is a co-founder of Not Your Mascots, a nonprofit committed to educating the public about the harms of stereotyping and promoting positive representation of Native Americans in the public sphere.
Tara Houska | Speaker | TED.com