Tara Houska facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Tara Houska
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| Zhaabowekwe | |
Tara Houska in 2017
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| Organization | Not Your Mascot Giniw Collective |
| Known for | Environmental activism, indigenous activism |
Tara Houska, whose Native name is Zhaabowekwe, is an important leader from the Couchiching First Nation. She is a lawyer who works to protect the land and fight for a healthy planet. She is known as a land defender and a climate justice activist. This means she stands up for Indigenous rights and works to stop climate change.
Contents
Standing Up for What's Right
Not Your Mascots
Tara Houska helped start an organization called Not Your Mascots. This group uses social media and other ways to teach people about how Native Americans are shown in sports and media. They worked to help the Washington, D.C.'s football team change its old name, which was offensive to Native people.
Protecting the Land and Water
Tara Houska also started and leads a group called the Giniw Collective. For seven years, she and her group worked hard to stop the building of the Line 3 pipeline. This pipeline was planned to carry oil from Alberta in Canada all the way to Wisconsin in the United States.
Many Native nations have special treaty rights to hunt, fish, and gather food on the land where the pipeline was being built. This area also has important wild rice, which is a special food for these communities. Tara Houska even lived in a tent along the pipeline's path for three years, even during cold winters, to protest.
The Giniw Collective often uses peaceful ways to protest. They might stand in the way of construction or tie themselves to machines to slow down the work. Tara Houska also talked directly with politicians, like those in the Biden administration, to ask the government to stop the pipeline project. Many people see her as a main leader in the fight against new pipelines.
Before this, Tara Houska also protested against the Dakota Access Pipeline in 2016. She lived at the Standing Rock camp for six months to support that effort.
Other Important Work
Tara Houska writes articles and essays about climate and social justice. Her writings have been in magazines like Vogue and newspapers like the New York Times. She also writes for the Indian Country Media Network.
From 2016 to 2019, she was a director for Honor the Earth, an environmental group. She also advised Senator Bernie Sanders on Native American issues during his 2016 presidential campaign. She helped write his plans for Native American policies.
In 2021, Tara Houska spoke at a big meeting called the European Green Party Council. There, she talked about important topics like climate change and protecting different kinds of plants and animals, which is called biodiversity.
Awards and Recognition
Tara Houska has received several awards for her important work.
- In 2023, she won the Rose-Walters Prize for Global Environmental Activism. This award recognized her work as a lawyer, land defender, and the founder of the Giniw Collective.
- She also received the American Climate Leadership Award in 2021.
- In 2019, she was given the Rachel's Network Catalyst Award.
- In 2017, Melinda French Gates gave Tara Houska the Good Housekeeping Awesome Women award.
About Tara Houska
Tara Houska was born in International Falls, Minnesota. She grew up in a town called Ranier, Minnesota. This town is right where Rainy Lake connects to Rainy River, near the border of Canada. The Couchiching First Nation community is just across the border.
After high school, she studied law at the University of Minnesota. While in law school, she also learned the Anishinaabe language. Later, she moved to Washington, D.C., where she worked for a law firm. This firm helped different Native American tribes across the country.
In Washington, D.C., Tara Houska met Winona LaDuke, another well-known environmental activist. Tara later worked as a lawyer for LaDuke's group, Honor the Earth. Since 2019, she has focused her work on the Giniw Collective and the Stop Line 3 protests.
