Our show is about the struggles of Indigenous peoples, one that has been fairly well publicized in the United States, at least in the alternative media – Standing Rock, and one not so well-known in New Zealand. They are current examples of how indigenous communities are mobilizing to protect and preserve their lands, resources, and cultures from exploitation globally by the dominant culture.
Our two guests are: Wendy Johnson is an ordained Zen Buddhist priest. For more than thirty years, Wendy has been meditating and gardening at the Green Gulch Farm Zen Center. She is one of the founders of the Organic Farm and Garden Program at Green Gulch, and author of Gardening at the Dragon's Gate: At Work in the Wild and Cultivated World. Two weeks ago, she was called to participate at Standing Rock with over 500 clergy of all faiths to be non-violent witnesses and be physically present in solidarity with the thousands of water protectors who have gathered from all over the country to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline that is crossing through the Standing Rock Sioux reservation near Cannonball, North Dakota.
Pennie Opal Plant is of mixed Indigenous ancestry and is co-founder of Movement Rights Pennie has been an activist for over 30 years on anti-nuclear, environmental and indigenous rights. Pennie was just recently in New Zealand working with Movement Rights and the Maori people on their process of working with the government to recognize the rights of Te Urewera (formerly a national park) and the Whanganui River, which now have more rights and standing under the law than human persons. She has been in close contact with friends and relatives at Standing Rock and familiar with the situation there.