LaDonna Brave Bull Allard facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
LaDonna Brave Bull Allard
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
LaDonna Tamakawastewin Brave Bull Allard
June 8, 1956 Fort Yates, North Dakota, United States
|
| Died | April 10, 2021 (aged 64) Fort Yates, North Dakota, United States
|
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Historian, activist |
| Known for | Dakota Access Pipeline protests |
LaDonna Tamakawastewin (which means Good Earth Woman) Brave Bull Allard (June 8, 1956 – April 10, 2021) was an important Native American leader. She was a Dakota and Lakota historian and a genealogist, meaning she studied history and family trees. She was also a key figure in the "water protector" movement. This movement works to protect water and sacred lands.
In April 2016, LaDonna helped start the resistance camps for the Dakota Access Pipeline protests. These camps were set up to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline. The pipeline was planned near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North Dakota.
Contents
Early Life and Heritage
LaDonna Brave Bull Allard was born on June 8, 1956, in Fort Yates, North Dakota. Her parents were Valerie Lovejoy and Frank Brave Bull. Her family had deep roots in the land.
Her father's side was from the Iháŋkthuŋwaŋ (Yankton) and Pabaska (Cuthead) and Sisseton Dakota people. Her mother's side was from the Hunkpapa, Lakota Blackfoot, and Oglala Lakota people.
LaDonna was a descendant of Chief Rain-in-the-Face. He was a famous leader who fought against Custer at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. She was also related to Oyate Tawa, who was part of the largest mass execution in US history in 1862. Another ancestor was Nape Hote Win (Mary Big Moccasin), who survived the Battle of Whitestone Hill. LaDonna was an official member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.
Childhood and Sacred Lands
LaDonna spent a lot of her childhood with her grandmothers, Alice West and Eva Kuntz. As a child, she would get drinking water for her family from the Cannonball River. This river was very special.
Where the Cannonball River met the Missouri River, there was a whirlpool. This whirlpool created large, round sandstone rocks called Sacred Stones. In the 1950s, this sacred place was destroyed. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dug up the river mouth to finish the Oahe Dam.
The dam caused a lot of land to flood. This included 160,000 acres of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. It also flooded 300,000 acres of the Cheyenne River Reservation. Many Native American families, including LaDonna's, had to move from their homes by the river. They moved to new places on the plains.
LaDonna went to Standing Rock Community College and Black Hills State College. She later earned a degree in History from the University of North Dakota.
Career and Cultural Work
After college, LaDonna Brave Bull Allard worked for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. She was a cultural resource planner. This meant she helped protect and manage important cultural sites.
She also helped create the Standing Rock Tribal Historic Preservation Office. This office works to preserve the tribe's history. She also helped start the Tourism Office. She was very important in creating the Standing Rock Scenic Byway. This road passes many historic places, like where Sitting Bull was killed.
LaDonna also helped improve Sitting Bull's grave site in Fort Yates. This land was returned to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in 2007.
Documenting Indigenous History
As a historian, LaDonna worked with many groups. She helped record Native American family histories, stories, and culture. In 2009, she helped with an art show at Harvard University. It was called Wiyohpiyata: Lakota Images of the Contested West.
In 2019, she became an official representative for Indigenous Peoples at the United Nations Economic and Social Council. This meant she spoke for Native peoples on a global stage. In 2020, she was in a PBS documentary. It was about Zitkála-Šá, a Native American composer and writer. Her detailed work on tribal family trees can be found on a history website called American Tribes.
Leading the Water Protector Movement
The first resistance camp for the Dakota Access Pipeline protests was called Sacred Stone Camp. It was set up on LaDonna Brave Bull Allard's family land. This land was where the Cannon Ball River and the Missouri River meet.
At first, the camps were small. But they grew very quickly after LaDonna asked for help on social media. Her message touched many people.
Why the Protests Started
The protests aimed to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline. People were worried because the pipeline crossed lands protected by the Treaty of Fort Laramie (1851). It also threatened important sacred sites.
The pipeline was planned to run under the Lake Oahe reservoir. This lake is the main source of drinking water for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. During the pipeline's construction, workers bulldozed burial grounds. They also destroyed other ancient sites that LaDonna and others had identified.
The movement at Standing Rock brought thousands of people together. It became the largest gathering of different Native American tribes in centuries. More than 200 tribal nations joined the protests.
A Victory for Water Protectors
After years of protests, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and Native organizers won a big legal battle. On June 6, 2020, a federal judge ordered the pipeline owner to stop operations. The company had to empty the pipeline of all oil. This was ordered until an environmental review could be done.
The court said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers broke environmental laws. They had allowed the pipeline to be built under Lake Oahe without a proper environmental study.
Recognition and Awards
LaDonna Brave Bull Allard received many honors for her work. In 2017, she was on the Sierra Club's People Power List. She also represented the water protector movement to receive the DePaul University Humanities Laureate Award. She was a finalist for the MIT Disobedience Award. She also received the Rebel of the Year Award from Conservation Colorado.
In 2019, she received the Pax Natura Award. She also got the William Sloane Coffin Jr. Peacemaker Award. These awards recognized her efforts for peace and nature.
Later Life and Legacy
In 2020, LaDonna Brave Bull Allard was diagnosed with glioblastoma. This is a serious type of brain cancer. She had brain surgery.
On April 10, 2021, her family announced that she had passed away in Fort Yates, North Dakota. She was preceded in death by her son, Philip Levon Hurkes, in 2009. Her husband, Miles Dennis Allard, passed away in 2018.
After her death, North Dakota State Representative Ruth Buffalo said, "Her courage was contagious and inspiring." She added that LaDonna knew a lot about the land's history and worked to protect it. South Dakota state Senator Red Dawn Foster said, "She inspired the world with her love for the water, the land, the people."
See also
In Spanish: LaDonna Brave Bull Allard para niños
