(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
We, delegates and environmentalists from around the world, are sitting in a large hall in Rapid City in South Dakota, in the middle of Paha Sápa territory, The Black Hills. We see and listen to a towering man on stage. His face is chiseled in stone, he speaks softly, his message is urgent. The plume on his head reaches to his waist. Chief Arvol Looking Horse is of the Lakota Dakota Nakota Oyate, the proud the sioux nation. He speaks to us on behalf of the Pte Oyate, the Buffalo people. Even as a boy, Arvol was given a prophetic leadership role. He speaks partly in his own language – Lakhótiyapi – and partly in English. He warns against the destruction of “Grandmother Earth” and utters words such as “nature is a source, not a resource”. The earth on which people set foot is sacred to the Buffalo people, just as all nature is sacred to them. Since humans are part of nature, protecting ‘Grandmother Earth’ also means protecting ourselves and praying for the healing of all life.
Chief Arvol Looking Horse is also an activist. He has spoken at the UN General Assembly in support of the fight against climate change and is involved in protests against environmentally harmful mining and the construction of the pipeline. Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). Here in the Black Hills we are reminded of the brutal history of the Lakota people, which is also the history of other tribes, such as the Cheyenne and the Arapaho.
Wounded Knee Massacre
Europeans arrived in the Black Hills in the 1700th century, but significant settlement did not occur until the mid-19th century. In 1868, the Fort Laramie Treaty was signed. It granted the Lakota permanent rights to the land. This changed with the discovery of gold in the area. Now the US government wanted the rights to the land back, which led to war with the Sioux. US soldiers triggered the infamous Wounded Knee Massacre when they opened fire on largely unarmed men, women, and children, killing about 200-300 of them. This marked the end of the wars against the indigenous population and became the symbol of the US authorities' final victory over it. AboriginesThey were now relegated to reservations, deprived of their rights and relegated to a miserable life, without their own language and way of life. The US Army, for its part, awarded the Medal of Honor to soldiers involved in the massacre.
We who are present in the Black Hills this fall week are listening to many stories about the struggle for healing and reclaiming our own language and our own reality. Above all, it is about emotionally charged respect and reconciliation, which is visible not least among the American organizers of the congress, national descendants of the abusers from that time. The Lakota people is hosting this gathering together with the Wild Foundation, initiator of World Wilderness Congress, and The Wilderness Foundation, South Africa.
The trees, the birds, the animals, the rivers and the insects
The story begins with a rare friendship – in the apartheid state of 1960s South Africa, where the law forbade whites and blacks from being friends. The white Ian Player and the Zulu Magqubu Ntombela both worked for the Mfolosi Game Reserve, where they patrolled on foot. This was also forbidden, which the two chose to ignore. Their friendship developed an equally unusual shift in authority. Ian held the position of chief, while the older Magqubu had by far the greatest knowledge of nature, which he intertwined with the traditions of his culture. Ian eventually accepted Magqubu as his spiritual and practical guide. He absorbed lessons such as that history is not just a series of events or people. That it er the earth, the er the trees, the birds, the animals, the rivers and the insects. That we are reflected in the landscape, and the landscape is reflected within us. Together, this eventually famous duo would save the white rhinoceros from extinction, the first large mammal to be removed from the endangered species list.
After many years, it was Magqubu who realized that the species-by-species approach to the extinction crisis might win many battles but lose the war. He proposed a large, global story – gathering – to build respect for nature and encourage greater coordination among leaders who wanted to protect the world’s intact ecosystems. His ideas led to the WILD Foundation and the World Wilderness Congress.
Since then, this flagship has organized twelve congresses in eleven countries (in Norway in 1995). Each congress has a different focus. Thus, WILD12 is a platform where the voice of the Lakota in particular is heard and respected, and at the same time it is an arena where conservationists from all corners of the world come together, inform and inspire each other.
Killing lions
Sometimes such meetings culminate in collaborative projects with significant impact, such as the work to put an end to South Africa's 'canned hunting', a particularly heinous way of killing lions. This became widely known through the documentary film Blood lions (bloodlions.org, 2023). A leading figure behind the film is an activist and journalist Ian Michler, who presents his work to us during WILD12 in Dakota. The documentary follows him and an (apparently) American tourist, revealing how thousands of lions are held in captivity in deplorable conditions. The tourist pretends to be a trophy hunter and buys the right to shoot a promise. These are animals that have spent their lives in captivity. As cubs, they are removed from their mothers after a few days, and lion farmers offer tourists the opportunity to pet the cubs. Some come from far away and pay money to contribute to what they believe is environmental protection work. The film shows, among others, students from Norway.
When the lions are no longer small and cute, they are offered as 'hiking companions'
– you walk with a tame, abused and often drugged lion. In the next phase, they are offered to trophy hunters for sky-high sums. They are released into a fenced area, where they become easy prey for the hunters' bullets. Ultimately, those lions that no longer meet the tourists' needs are killed and skinned, their skeleton parts are either sold and exported or powdered and sent to Asia, where they are offered as medicine or as an ingredient in "tiger wine". All in all – the king of beasts, bred for the bullet.
Ian Michler reminds us that this animal cruelty originated during the apartheid regime in South Africa. He clarifies: "These are racists who had zero empathy for a majority of oppressed people in their own country. How can you expect them to have any feelings for some lucrative four-legged friend?" Now the criticism and public attention have certainly made the breeders more suspicious – and aggressive. Of course, the 'tourist' never intended to shoot any lions. It never got that far anyway. When Michler showed up with a camera crew, they were physically attacked and chased away.
In South Africa, there are between 8000 and 10 lions bred in captivity. The number of wild lions is up to 000. At this point in the story, Ian Michler hands the microphone to a collaborator. Andrew Muir is CEO of the Wilderness Foundation, South Africa, a jovial, burly man and direct heir to the pioneer Ian Player. He leads the fight: “We have come a long way, but we still have a long way to go.” canned hunting"The practice is legal. We are now working at the political level to change this. In 2021, we achieved a major victory, when the South African government announced its recommendation to end the farming of wild animals."
A whole life
International conferences can be demanding. I go in and out, alternating between the baking sun and freezing air conditioning. I listen to stories of efforts for nature and people that have taken a lifetime to dedicate themselves to, without it making the enthusiasts either rich or famous. Then there are also completely different rewards that the WILD team is interested in.
