Paul DeMain (Skabewis), a citizen of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin and of Ojibwe descent, will present “Indigenous People and the Future of Dirty Tar Sand Pipelines: The Great Flood Our Ancestors Warned Us About” on April 21 for the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire – Barron County “Thursdays at the U” lecture.

Paul DeMain (Skabewis)
The presentation will be from 12:30-1:30 p.m. in the Blue Hills Lecture Hall (Room 234, Ritzinger Hall) on the Rice Lake campus. A livestream will be available for those who cannot attend in person.
DeMain will speak about his involvement with the Minnesota environmental advocacy organization Honor The Earth for which he serves as board chair. Formed in 1993 as a collaboration between musicians and Native American activists, the organization has promoted awareness of Indigenous environmental and cultural issues.
Honor The Earth uses media, financial resources, music and art to reaffirm a commitment to each other and the Earth. Joining with the front lines of the Native environmental movement, the organization has supported work to defeat nuclear waste dump proposals, sulfide mining, mega dam projects and dirty tar sand pipelines. It funds programs transitioning to a fossil fuel-free future.
DeMain, who lives near Hayward on the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe Reservation, is the former editor of News from Indian Country (published from 1986-2019) and a producer for IndianCountryTV.com.
The “Thursdays at the U” weekly series is free and open to the public thanks to support from the UW-Eau Claire – Barron County Foundation. Neither seating reservations nor parking permits are needed for campus guests. Masks are encouraged but not required on UW-Eau Claire campuses, including UW-Eau Claire – Barron County.
For more information about the series, call the campus at 715-788-6244 or email Dr. Linda Tollefsrud, the series organizer, at tollefla@uwec.edu.