Saving the World

Sgt. Pat Herbig (USMC) suffered from PTSD after fighting in Vietnam. He went to treatment after his return to the States but didn't get healthier until he entered  the Sweat Lodge. 

Crystal Brown is a wounded healer. When she was a young woman she was shot three times by her brother. She suffered other abuses in her family. A few years ago she left a job as a psychiatric  nurse and administrator to follow her heart. Nick Vander Puy with News from the Front walks with her in a bog near the Flambeau River to connect with medicine plants. 

Walter Bresette (July 4, 1947 – February 21, 1999) was a prominent Ojibwe activist, politician, and author most notable for work on environmental issues and Ojibwe treaty rights in Northern Wisconsin and the Lake Superior region. He founded or co-founded several organizations including Witness for Nonviolence, the Midwest Treaty Network, and the Wisconsin Green Party.

Keith Secola is an Anishinaabeg musician probably best known for his upbeat song "NDN Car" Some critics say he's the native version of Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young. Nick Vander Puy from News from the Front visits with Secola after his performance at the Water is Live event August 19, 2021 in Duluth Minnesota, right near Lake Superior or Gichigami

Nick Vander Puy travels to Cass Lake, Minnesota to visit with Grandmother Anne Dunn about Enbridge building a giant pipeline to carry filthy, tar sands oil across the Minnesota ceded territory wild rice gathering district.

In early July, 2021 Nick Vander Puy visited  the Shell River Enbridge pipeline Resistance Camp southwest of Walker, Minnesota. He talked with a White Earth Anishinaabeg about Enbridge drawing down the water and impacting the wild rice. 

When Gaylord Nelson ran for and became Governor of Wisconsin in 1958 a reporter asked him, "What about jobs, what about the environment? Can we have both?" Nelson replied, "You want jobs and a tax base and more growth? Then go back to Gary, Indiana." Nelson's  benefactor Martin Hanson from Mellen heard this and never forgot the exchange. Back in the day Sandy Lyon and I were fighting the Arrowhead/Weston electric line slicing across northwestern Wisconsin, we invited Gaylord Nelson and the Mole Lake drum to hold a ceremony on the banks of the Namekagon River near Hayward, Wisconsin. Nelson and LCO Elder Buck Barber and grandson Star Man paddled down the river, followed by dozens of canoes. After the paddle Nelson spoke at the Springbrook town hall. Nick Vander Puy from the Superior Broadcast Network reports. 

Earlier this year the Town of Clover, Bayfield County, was presented with an application from Kristle KLR to withdraw, bottle, and sell artesian water from a private spring. The Town of Clover and Bayfield County Planning and Zoning Department denied the permit. The applicant appealed the decision to the Bayfield County Board of Adjustment, which heard the appeal yesterday at the Bayfield County courthouse. Nick Vander Puy from the Superior Broadcast Network visits with local nurse midwife Dana Churness who is organizing the resistance. Painting by Red Cliff Anishinaabeg artist Rabbet Before Horse Strickland.

Nick Vander Puy meets up with outdoor writer Pat Durkin at the Bob Ellis Wood Boat Classic near Winchester, Wisconsin. They reflect on the joy and happiness making, rowing and fishing from wooden boats. Photo credit: Pat Durkin

In late February, a few years ago, at  Sparky's Bar south of Washburn, Wisconsin hosted the Fourth Annual Fur Bang which is a competitive coyote killing event. 16 teams competed for prizes. Nick Vander Puy visited afterwards with animal rights activist Rod Coronado.