Dramatic times for sure. And more drama made by our own community. The resignation of Sen. Al Franken is a tragedy for many of us; and for some, a moral shift in what is acceptable. The problem is that this standard is not applied evenly.

In turn, the White Earth people, have been focused on a tribal council which battles internally, while people need strong and clear defense of our tribe, not confusion; and support for all of us to make our communities a better place. Now is not the time to take down our champions; nor is it the time to fight amongst ourselves, with our own small axes to grind, or PTSD to act out.

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Now is the time, in the words of Sitting Bull, …”to put our minds together to see what kind of future we will make for our children…”

Let’s think about Al Franken. “Franken has resigned, leaving a massive gap of progressive values in Congress. None of the victims who stepped forward called for his resignation. His decision to step down speaks volumes of his character and recognition of the bigger picture,” said Tara Houska, Honor the Earth’s national campaigns director.

“Unless a suitable replacement who can fill his seat on Indian Affairs, Energy and Natural Resources, Judiciary, and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions with a proven record of taking difficult stances, who will provide a voice for the voiceless, who will stand up for all Minnesotans and champion progressive values, the Democrats just threw out the baby with the bathwater.”

So, just when we really needed him; we’ve been part of the pushing of him out.

In the meantime, impeachable offences committed by President Trump outnumber the charges that caused Richard Nixon to resign. “Watergate” or the bugging of the Democratic National Committee Offices by Committee to Re-elect the President (CREEP) are somewhat less severe than colluding with the Russians to secure an election.

Perhaps we may want to add to that tally, accusations against Trump for sexual assault, by models who say he looked up their dresses, those who say he groped them, and those by his ex wife Ivanka who at one point (before the “ gag order” in the massive divorce) said Donald Trump raped her.

All the while, we were all looking at how Al acted when he was a comedian, on a USO tour, and as a stupid man, we missed a few things. Obamacare has been replaced with No Care, and the largest billionaires in the country have just received a tax break. The sacred site of many Native people, Bear’s Ears National Monument, was diminished in size by 85 percent, and Germany and a few other European nations just disavowed the US; as a so called “world leader.”

A couple of more notes on that: as Reuters would write, “Without the (Obama) mandate, health insurance premiums would rise 10 percent in most years over the next decade on the individual market and 13 million people would lose coverage by 2027, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said in a report….”

Now, that is going to hurt. And, the tax bill was passed, despite that more than 400 American millionaires and billionaires signed a letter urging Congress to raise, rather than cut, their taxes. The signatories ask Congress not to pass a tax bill which “further exacerbates inequality” and adds to the national debt.

Finally, as we watch Trump destroy environmental regulations, re-arm civilian police forces with military equipment (think Standing Rock), cut basic food access to millions of children; we also see that he targeted our sacred places.

Bears Ears is the first National monument created by Native people with federal agencies, and is central to Zuni, Dine, Ute and Hopi peoples. Trump shrank the monument by 85 percent to open it up to oil fracking; the largest monument reduction in US history. The tribes intend to face the administration in court.

Meanwhile… back on White Earth, a few more people got diagnosed with cancer, at least two of our people overdosed on drugs, some more children lost hope in their parents, and we all watched our tribal government fight amongst themselves in full view; and in almost complete confusion. All the while, financial overspending continues, and we are looking down the barrel of the biggest tar sands pipeline in the world.

Winter is upon us. Yes winter, biiboon bi dagoshin omaa. That is the time, when we as a people should be ready for a long time of challenges. It is the time of the Wiindigoo, and we must be prepared; as the Wiindigoo is here. The Wiindigoo is the Cannibal. We should fight the cannibal, not be the cannibal.

We would be ready, if we would stay focused on what is important to our people, and our future generations. We should ask ourselves if Al Franken redeemed himself by his actions, and in our tribal politic we should ask how we can work together, not how we should divide each other.

In my thinking, this is true, not only for the people of White Earth, but the people who live here in northern Minnesota, or what we call Anishinaabe Akiing; the land to which the people belong. It is time to quit bickering and be awake.

Winona LaDuke is an environmentalist, economist, and writer, known for her work on tribal land claims and preservation, as well as sustainable development