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Swedish Youth Climate Activist Greta Thunberg to Visit the Pine Ridge and Standing Rock Reservations This Week

Pine Ridge: Youth Climate Crisis Panel to be Held Sunday, Oct. 6 at the Red Cloud Indian School Fieldhouse

Standing Rock: Climate Change Forum set for Tuesday, Oct. 8 at the Standing Rock High School Gym

Greta Thunberg is coming to Lakota Country. The 16-year-old climate activist from Sweden, famous for her school strikes advocating for more aggressive climate action, will visit Pine Ridge on Sunday and Standing Rock on Tuesday.

Thunberg will participate in a pair of panels with fellow youth climate activist and Indigenous rights advocate Tokata Iron Eyes. The two will address high-priority topics for the climate struggle in Indian Country including plans to double the oil flowing through the Dakota Access pipeline and the proposed path of the Keystone XL pipeline adjacent to tribal nations.

On Sunday, the Lakota People’s Law Project, the Oglala Sioux Tribe, Last Real Indians and Red Cloud Indian School will hold a Youth Climate Crisis Panel at the Red Cloud Indian School Fieldhouse featuring the two. Food and beverages will be provided, and the public and press are encouraged to attend.

Former North Dakota Democratic congressional candidate Chase Iron Eyes, who also serves as Lakota People’s Law Project Lead Counsel and Public Relations Director for Oglala Sioux Tribe President Julian Bear Runner, will be the Master of Ceremonies. Bear Runner will provide opening remarks.

Then, on Tuesday morning, Indigenized Energy and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe have invited Standing Rock high school students to attend a Climate Change Forum, again featuring Tokata Iron Eyes and Thunberg at the Standing Rock High School Gym in Fort Yates, N.D.

The two youthful climate warriors first came together in mid-September at George Washington University when Iron Eyes spoke at an Amnesty International event where Thunberg received an award. A friendship was formed by the two teens, who may come from very different backgrounds but nevertheless have much in common. Now Thunberg has accepted Iron Eyes' invitation to visit her homelands and address the two tribal nations.

Event Details for Sunday:

What: Youth Climate Crisis Panel

When: Sunday, Oct. 6 at 5 p.m.

Where: Red Cloud Indian School Field House — 100 Mission Drive, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, S.D. 57770

Who: Featuring youth climate activists Greta Thunberg and Tokata Iron Eyes; Master of Ceremonies Chase Iron Eyes; opening remarks by Ogala Sioux Tribe President Julian Bear Runner

Why: The climate crisis is real. Our world faces its greatest existential threat, and the younger generation that will inherit it is standing up to ask us to pay attention to the gravity of their plight.

Bios:

Tokata Iron Eyes: Born on Standing Rock Nation, Tokata Iron Eyes now makes her home at Pine Ridge with her mother, Dr. Sarah Jumping Eagle, and her father, Chase Iron Eyes. Tokata is a junior at Red Cloud Indian School, a dedicated Indigenous and environmental justice advocate and a water protector who protested against the Dakota Access pipeline at Standing Rock. She is also a sought-after speaker who has appeared on dozens of broadcasts and events around the world. She will soon appear in a Disney special.

Greta Thunberg: Born in Stockholm, Sweden, Greta Thunberg gained international recognition when she began appearing at the Swedish Parliament with signs demanding climate justice. She has since become a highly visible voice promoting progressive solutions to the climate crisis. She has organized worldwide school climate strikes and appeared on the cover of Time Magazine.

The Lakota People's Law Project is part of the nonprofit 501(c)(3) law and policy center, the Romero Institute.

 

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