Two Bulls, executive director at Honor the Earth, couldn’t have been more accurate. While only those in the front row heard her initial observation, the entire room listened attentively as she told her story. From growing up on Northern Cheyenne land to serving in the U.S. military and leading Indigenous occupation movements, organizing has been at the heart of Two Bull’s work.
“I’m not an activist, I’m an organizer,” she said proudly. “Activists address the symptoms of an issue, but organizers attack the roots.” To organize, you find those who also want to tear down the systemic roots that perpetuate human struggles. And, as more communities are impacted by issues that intersect with the climate crisis, organizing becomes not just a role, but a responsibility, she said.
It’s clear that Two Bulls is an organizer — her leadership in the LANDBACK movement exemplifying as much — but how can Hamilton be an institution of organizers? On Friday, Two Bulls and fellow organizers Anpo Jensen and Kae Spang visited Associate Professor of Environmental Studies Aaron Strong’s class on climate change to speak with his students. Jensen is Oglala Lakota and the manager of the research and ecology program at Honor the Earth. Spang is Northern Cheyenne and a campaign organizer for Honor the Earth’s department of sovereignty and self-determination.
Strong’s students have been learning how to broach difficult conversations and communicate across opinions regarding the climate crisis. One asked: “How do you work with groups that may hold different values than you?” Jensen, who organizes at the UN level, answered: “negotiating.” As a representative for the Global Indigenous Youth Caucus, Jensen has seen negotiation in action: “The only way to convince someone of something is to show them,” she said. “It’s not about what we do; it’s about how we do it.”
Another student asked how to approach the climate crisis when the realities are often so discouraging. The answer: “Leaning back on the community and knowing that there are others out there who do care,” said Spang, who works to track mining industries that operate under the guise of a green transition.
“The only way to convince someone of something is to show them. It’s not about what we do; it’s about how we do it.”
One student brought up the Mellon Foundation grant that Hamilton recently received to curate an American Indian and Indigenous Studies curriculum, and asked how the College can get the most out of this initiative. “Indigenous issues are a thread in everything: physics, English, history,” Jensen said, emphasizing the importance of intersectionality. “You’re investing in your education when you include voices beyond your own.”
Spang and Two Bulls articulated the role of reciprocity: engage in and hold your education accountable. Identify faults. Suggest improvements. Organize.
Those with suggestions or comments on the inception of Hamilton’s American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program can contact Visiting Associate Professor Brianna Burke. For more on Hamilton’s Environmental Studies Program, which helped bring last week’s speakers to campus, visit the academic program page.
