Time USA - 06.04.2020

78 Time April 6–13, 2020

TARA HOUSKA

A l ink b etwe en w orl ds

When b anke rs and oil-company

execs n eed a N ative A merican

perspective on infrastructure

projects a ffecting t ribal l ands,

they o ften c all u p Ta ra H ouska,

3 5, a n O jibwe l awyer and envi-

ronmental a ctivist. “ I’m t rying to

be a b ridge b etwe en t hose t wo

different w orl ds,” s he s ays.

Houska g ained p rominence

during t he 2 016–2017 p rotests

against t he D ako ta A ccess P ipe-

line ( DA PL) f or c alling o n b anks

to d ivest f rom t he p ipeline a nd

documenting i nhumane t reat-

ment o f p rotesters supporting

the S tanding R ock S ioux Tr ibe.

In M arch 2 017, s he was p art

of a d elegation o f i ndigenous

women w ho b riefed o fficials

from N orway’s $1 trillion oil

fund. T hat s ame m onth, t he

JODY WHITE

Delivering

norm alcy

As the coronavirus

outbreak has shut

down schools across

the country, it has

complicated

the lives of families

who rely on the facili-

ties for meals. Some

school districts in

states like Oregon,

South Carolina and

Georgia are trying

to make sure these

meals get delivered

to students—and

Jody White, 56,

a bus driver in

Estacada, Ore., is

one of many nation-

wide who are staying

on the road despite

closures to make

sure students on

free and reduced-

price lunch plans

still get fed. “I’m

pretty sure they look

forward to it because

when we pull up

they’re all smiles,”

White says. “This,

right now, what we’re

going through, is not

the norm for [kids],

and so when they see

a bus pull up, that’s

the norm for them,”

she says. “It helps

them a little bit, I

hope.” She has some

evidence it’s work-

ing: she’s been inun-

dated with thank-you

cards “from almost

every stop.”

—Sanya Mansoor

fund d ivested f rom DAPL, a nd

that f all, i t a nnounced i t was

considering d umping i ts o il

stocks. W hile t he ev entual s ell-

off was smaller than activists

hoped, i t r epresented a s hift i n

awareness—and Houska says

that s ince t hen, b anks s eem

more aware that indigenous-led

movements can have a r eal

impact o n t heir b ottom l ine.

Nowa days, she’s focused

on a p ipeline c loser t o h er

Minnesota h ome: t he p roposed

expansion o f L ine 3 , w hich

could t hreaten t he A nishinaabe

territory’s wild-rice production.

She l ives n ear t he p roposed

route o n a n i ndigenous w omen-

led c amp s he f ounded c alled

the G iniw C ollective. T here, she

juggles g rant w riting a nd c alls

from p olicymake rs with look-

ing f or fi rew ood, h unting a nd

fishing. At a time of crisis in the

U.S. a nd a broad, s he s ays, that

connection b etwe en t ribal a nd

nontribal l ife i s m ore i mport ant

than ever: “I hope the original

peoples o f t he l and a re l ooked

to f or w isdom a bout h ow t o b e

resilient.”—Olivia B. Waxman

TIM BOYLE

Running s trong

When T im B oyle quit

smoking i n 2 013, h e

decided t o t ake u p

running—but s taying

motivated was t ough,

especially d uring w in-

ter i n h is h ometown

of Fa rgo, N .D. T hat

is, u ntil h e h eard t hat

one way to overcome

a d isinclination t o

run i s t o r emember

those w ho w ould

love to run but can’t.

Boyle, 48, posted

about t his o n Fa ce-

book, a nd h is f riend

Michael Wasserman,

who h as D own

syndrome a nd h ip

dysplasia, s aid B oyle

could ru n f or h im a ny-

time. T his e xchange

evolved i nto I R un 4 ,

an o rganization t hat

has m atched s ome

1 7,000 ru nners with

“buddies” w ho c an-

not run or have diffi-

culty d oing s o; s ome

of t he p airs have

ended u p t raveling

halfway around the

worl d t o m eet. “ Both

people a re g etting

inspiration o ut o f i t,”

Boyle says. —K.S.

JAMIAH

HARGINS

Growing t ogether

Jamiah Hargins, a

recruiter who lives

in Los Angeles,

started gardening in

his backyard a few

years ago and soon

found himself with a

big enough harvest

to give food away to

people who live on

his street. It created

a lighter mood, he

says. He then turned

to social networks to

see if other garden-

ers had crops they’d

like to trade. About

15 people came to

the first meetup

he organized, then

20, then 30. Now

in its second year,

the gathering has

become an organiza-

tion known as Crop

Swap LA. Gardeners

meet up monthly to

exchange items like

grapes and corn, but

Hargins, 35, has also

started dreaming

bigger, talking about

turning rooftops and

yards across L.A. into

yet more sources of

local food. —K.S.

UWR.uniters.indd 78 3/25/20 4:24 PM