We bring you a special interview with Sierra Club’s Bonnie Rice and the Executive Director of the Global Indigenous Council Rain Bear Stands Last. We spend a fascinating hour not only addressing grey wolves in the Americas, but also how conservation intertwines with the rights of indigenous peoples. This is a new take for us on conservation and a critical one. As we all work together around the globe to save our environment and all the species that inhabit it, we also need to respect and engage those living in these areas. We are so grateful to the Sierra Club and Global Indigenous Council for their keen insight.
Sierra Club Bonnie Rice
Bonnie Rice is currently the Senior Campaign Representative for the Sierra Club on national Endangered Species issues, and also directs Sierra Club advocacy efforts on wildlife and public lands conservation in the Greater Yellowstone and Northern Rockies regions. She has nearly 30 years of experience working to promote strong federal and state policies to protect wildlife, public lands, wild rivers and human health in the U.S., including with Greenpeace and American Rivers.
Global Indigenous Council Rain Bear Stands Last
Taken from the GIC website which can be accessed HERE
For many years there has been discussion among our First Nations that we, as stewards of the land and the First People of the Earth, need to unite in common cause, heart and spirit, and create an advocacy organization that brings us together from the Four Directions. For too long, associations originally formed to represent us have sacrificed that responsibility for political favor. Due to the critical nature of these perilous times, by a resolution passed in January 2018, the Great Plains Tribal Chairman’s Association (GPTCA) supported the founding of the Global Indigenous Council (GIC).
GIC is to be an international body for all First Nations. This can be the spark to light the fire to rekindle the universal knowledge shared by so many tribal nations around the world. It could also be the last best hope for the planet, given the environmental catastrophes the changing climate portends, and the rapacious greed for dollars and authority that motivates some in high office. Here, what there was of “a shining city on a hill” is being dismantled. We must become not only the change but also the leaders we seek. GIC will be headquartered at Wakpa Sica, a historic location near Fort Pierre, in the heart of the Great Sioux Nation. It was in this area that our ancestors engaged in geopolitical economics, diplomacy and leadership, and provided the blueprint for us to follow today.
