Winona LaDuke sums up the dichotomy: “Native peoples are the poorest population in North America, yet our lands are home to a wealth of resources.”

And the two-time Green Party vice presidential candidate and National Women’s Hall of Fame inductee is trying to make the most of those resources. Winona is behind many projects on the White Earth Reservation, including a wind energy project, a biodiesel ice cream truck, and the reservation's first radio station.

Winona LaDuke is founding director of White Earth Land Recovery Project, a nonprofit organization created in 1989 in order to recover land for the Anishinaabeg (Ojibwe) people. She is also program director of Honor the Earth, a national advocacy group encouraging public support and funding for native environmental groups.