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Rights of Nature Series - Winter 2025



​Questions, Comments?  Post on our Facebook Page
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Rights of Nature Wisconsin is a movement that has grown from the work of Menikanaehkem (“Community Re-builders” – a grassroots organization on the Menominee Indian Reservation) and WISDOM (a Wisconsin network of mostly progressive faith-based groups working for social justice, which also serves as fiscal sponsor for Rights of Nature Wisconsin). ​
January 29 to February 26 2025 (every Wednesday) at 6:30-8:00 pm, via Zoom
Rights of Nature Series

Rights of Nature is an approach to environmental justice that WISDOM has embraced.  It has a spiritual dimension, which is heavily influenced by Native American spirituality and the understanding that all of life is interrelated and has inherent worth.  It also has a legal dimension, in which we believe the natural world should have the right to be protected from harm and have the right to have wrongs remedied.  The Rights of Nature team will be hosting a 5-Week Zoom training about the Rights of Nature movement. ​
​The training includes the following 5 sessions:
 
  • Key principles of Rights of Nature
  • Global Perspectives/What's happening around the world
  • Philosophical, Ethical and Religious Dimensions of Rights of Nature
  • Practical Applications and Advocacy
  • Personal, Group and Collective Action Plan
If you haven't registered, You can register here:  Rights of Nature Series
  • Session 1 Jan 29

  • Session 2 Feb 5

  • Session 3 Feb 12

  • Session 4 Feb 19

  • Session 5 Feb 26

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  • ​ Session 1: Setting the Stage – Understanding Rights of Nature 
    • Welcome and Icebreaker: Participants introduced themselves and shared one word that describes their connection to nature. 
    • Presentation: Overview of the Rights of Nature concept, its origins, key principles, and significance in the context of environmental law and ethics. 
    • Interactive Q&A: Addressed participants' initial questions and thoughts about the concept. 
    Jan 29 2025
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    ​​Recording of Session 1 (1:13:10)
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    ​Anahkwet (Guy Reiter) Reads Closing Poem: PREREQUISITES FOR PRESERVATION by Naima
  • Session  2: More in-depth into some of the Rights of Nature success stories
    ​with the White Earth Band of Ojibwe people, and in the country of Ecuador.
      

    • What has interested you so far about rights of nature?
    • Menomen - "Food that grows on water" -  wild rice
    • Creation stories
      • Seven fires  prophesy
      • Mamaceqtaw - the first people
    •  First Rights of Salmon Case Goes to Tribal Court:  ​Sauk-Suiattle Tribe v. City of Seattle
      • Menomen vs. Minnesota DNR
    • Chippewa Triple Treaties
      • 1837 Ojibwe Treaty
      • Ma-ghe-ga-bo, also known as La Trappe
    • Recent Rights of Nature Rulings​​​​
      • Rights of nature laws that have been adopted by municipal governments in the US
      • Most recent Ecuadorian constitutional court ruling
      • Enbridge pipeline project


















    Feb 5 2025
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    Recording of Session 2 (1:20:35)
    Recording of Session 2 - subtitled
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    ​Anahkwet (Guy Reiter) Reads Closing Poem: AWAKEN by Naima
     
    CDER: First Rights of Salmon Case Goes to Tribal Court,
    ​Sauk-Suiattle Tribe v. City of Seattle
    Full Webinar (57:53)  (Slide presentation starts at 22:12, ends at 37.29)
    CDER Website on Salmon case
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    ​Menomen versus the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
    Readings
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    ​A New Zealand mountain has been granted personhood.
    ​Here’s why that matters
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    Understanding the Menominee Tribal Perspective
    ​on the Back 40 Mine
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    ​An Ecuador Court Says Coastal Marine Ecosystems
    ​Have Intrinsic Value—and Legal Rights
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    ​Rights of Nature in Ecuador & Its Constitution
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    ​White Earth Nation - 
    ​Anishinaabe - Ojibwe - ​Chippewa
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    ​The New Zealand river that became a legal person
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    Bolivia's Law of the Rights of Mother Earth
  • Session 3: Philosophical and Ethical Dimensions
    Participants were grouped to discuss the ethical implications of granting legal rights to nature. 
    • What rights does Nature need to have in order to be healthy and robust?
    • How do Rights of Nature differ from other Legal Rights we have?
    • What are the potential benefits and drawbacks of implementing these rights?
    • Who would stand to lose if Rights of Nature were recognized?

    Each group discussed one of the above questions and chose a group member to summarize the discussion. After these four discussions, groups were shuffled to consider a second question.
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    Feb 12 2025
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    Session 3 Zoom recording
    Session 3 Transcript
    ​Menomen versus the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
    Understanding the Menominee Tribal Perspective
    ​on the Back 40 Mine
    Ethical implications of granting legal rights to nature...
    Question 1:  What rights does Nature need to have in order to be healthy and robust?
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    ​Natalie Brunner / Bob Karski
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    Tabitha Faber / Bob Karski
    Question 2: How do Rights of Nature differ from other Legal Rights we have?
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    Mark Shrop / Guy Reiter
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    MaryBeth / Guy Reiter
    Question 3: What are the potential benefits and drawbacks of implementing Rights of Nature?
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    ​Rose Stietz / Bill Van Lopik
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    Jean Abreu / Bill Van Lopik
    Question 4: Who would stand to lose or gain if Rights of Nature were recognized?
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    Siv Goulding / Terry Dawson
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    Nadine Van Lieshout  /Terry Dawson
  • Session 4: Panel: What they do, how they do it, why they do it, and the results they have achieved.  

    • Panel comprised of local activists and legal experts discussing practical steps for implementing Rights of Nature in various contexts. 
    • Q&A Session: Participants asking questions and seeking advice from the panelists. 
    Our Panel
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    Frank Bibeau
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    Rep. Darrin Madison
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    Mari Margil
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    Ahnekwet
    Frank Bibeau is an enrolled member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe and has spent most of his life on Leech Lake Reservation in Ball Club, Minnesota.  Frank is a Tribal Attorney working extensively with Chippewa treaty rights, civil rights and sovereignty, on and off reservation.  Frank also processes wild rice and smokes whitefish in Ball Club.  Frank serves as Executive Director for the 1855 Treaty Authority.
    Frank has developed several legal defense strategies based on the Rights of Manoomin and represented Manoomin (wild rice) and the White Earth Band of Ojibwe in Manoomin v DNR in White Earth Tribal Court and DNR v White Earth Band of Ojibwe and Chief Judge DeGroat in Minnesota District Court and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals (2021-2022).  Frank’s legal work focuses on the Treaty rights of tribes and members to help protect the natural resources for future generations. 
    “We have perpetual rights to enjoy and spiritual duty and responsibility to protect the gifts from the Creator,” says Frank Bibeau, citizen of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe and the attorney representing White Earth Band’s case. “Our quality of life is directly dependent on and connected to the quality of lives of our relations—the water (“nibi”), wild rice (“manoomin”), fish, birds, four legged animals and plants. We cannot live without them.”
    As a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, Darrin Madison serves on several committees, including Children and Families, Corrections, Criminal Justice and Public Safety, and Workforce Development and Economic Opportunity. He is committed to building an equitable society grounded in social, environmental, and economic justice.
    Madison is also recognized as a Gen Z lawmaker and has been involved in various fellowships and awards, including being selected as a Fair Fight Fellow with Fair Fight Action in 2023.
    Mari Margil serves as the Executive Director of the Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights and program manager for CDER’s International Center for the Rights of Nature. Margil previously served as the Associate Director of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF). In 2008, she served as a consultant to Ecuador’s national Constituent Assembly, helping to draft the world’s first Rights of Nature constitutional provisions. Margil is widely viewed as one of the leading global voices for the recognition of legally enforceable rights of ecosystems and nature.
    In her role with CDER, Margil works with national, state, and local governments, tribal nations, and indigenous communities in Australia, Sweden, the Philippines, Nepal, and elsewhere, to advance legal and policy frameworks regarding Rights of Nature. She has served as the primary drafter of a “Himalayas Bill of Rights” (Nepal) and other groundbreaking legislation.
    Margil has presented at conferences around the world, including the Bioneers Conference (California), as well as in Bolivia, Ecuador, Canada, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Australia, and Nepal. Her writing has been featured in The Guardian, YES! Magazine, Earth Island Journal, Democracy Journal, World Policy Journal, In These Times, and Common Dreams.
    Margil received her Master’s degree from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and is a co-author of The Bottom Line or Public Health (Oxford University Press 2010), Exploring Wild Law: The Philosophy of Earth Jurisprudence (Wakefield Press 2011), and Bearing Witness: The Human Rights Case Against Fracking and Climate Change (Oregon State University Press 2021). She was a co-host of Democracy Matters, a syndicated public affairs radio show broadcast from KYRS in Spokane, Washington.
    ​​Anahkwet (Guy Reiter) is a traditional Menominee who resides on the Menominee Reservation. He’s the executive Director of a Menominee Indian community organization called Menikahnaehkem. He's also a Community organizer, activist, author, amateur archaeologist and lecturer. Anahkwet has organized a lot of events that have uplifted the human condition and demonstrated how enriching the Menominee culture is. He's lectured at Universities on the connection Menominee Indians have to the Menominee River. He's also written articles for Environmental Health News and others. When Anahkwet isn't working you'll find him enjoying time with his partner and there children. Anahkwet is an advocate for indigenous people everywhere
    Feb 19 2025
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    ​Session 4 Zoom recording
    Session 4 Transcript
  • Session 5: Collective Action Plans
    • Reflection Exercise: Participants reflect on what they have learned and how it has influenced their view of nature.
    • Action Planning: Participants form into regional groups to discuss ideas and plans to extend knowledge and participation in Rights of Nature movement.
    • Personal Planning: Participants discuss plans to incorporate the Rights of Nature in their daily lives and communities.
    • Group Sharing: Regional Groups share their action plans and commit to moving forward, including establishing a convener, communications structure, and initial planning..
    Feb 26 2025
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    ​Session 5 Zoom Recording    (CC available)





    ​​Anahkwet (Guy Reiter) Reads Closing Poem: Open Your Eyes

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