Honor the Earth denounces MN Supreme Court action for failing to protect indigenous rights

The Minnesota Supreme Court today declined to review a case that could have required the state to complete a traditional cultural property survey before it could permit large construction projects such as the Enbridge Line 3 crude oil pipeline.

“We are profoundly disappointed that the Minnesota Supreme Court felt more interested in siding with the rights of a Canadian corporation to proceed with a high-risk project than protecting the rights of the Minnesota Anishinabe and indigenous people and the rights of nature,” Winona LaDuke, Co-founder and Executive Director of Honor the Earth said in a statement.

News: Pine Ridge passes marriage equality; Cherokee Nation seeks Congressional delegate; and Dior’s Native American-themed ad for ‘Sauvage’ perfume stinks

In this blog:

• Pine Ridge passes marriage equality, anti-hate legislation
• Cherokee Nation tries to send its first member to Congress
• Christian Dior pulls its ad campaign for its latest fragrance: “Sauvage”

Help rename Fort Snelling; New ‘Native Lights’ podcast launches; Exhibit honoring George Morrison opens Sept. 20; MIWRC addresses pay inequity

In this blog:

• Offer your thoughts for renaming Historic Fort Snelling
• New “Native Lights” Podcast lifts up Native voices; release party Saturday at the Minnesota State Fair featuring Lt. Gov. Flanagan
• Changing Horizons: An art exhibit honoring George Morrison’s 100th birthday opens Sept. 20
• MIWRC address pay gap through title changes

News and Events: State Fair’s Indigenous Food Day; Appeals Court upholds ICWA, and more

In this blog:

• Indigenous Food Day, featuring Sioux Chef Sean Sherman Sunday, Sept. 1 at the State Fair
• Growth & Justice to host breakfast talk by MPCA Commission Laura Bishop Aug. 21 (hint: it’s an opportunity to ask about Line 3)
• Native American Journalists Association rips Washington Post over Indian mascot commentary and survey
• Appeals Courts reverses lower court, upholds constitutionality of the Indian Child Welfare Act

Native leaders applaud recommendations to reroute Indian Mounds Park trails to respect burial sites

Some neighbors push back; public meeting set for Monday

A recent cultural landscape survey of Indian Mounds Park in St. Paul indicates that burial features spread further out from the mounds than originally thought. The city of St. Paul plans to redo the existing trail system, a plan approved by indigenous leaders who want to protect and honor the sacred site. Some neighbors oppose the plan, saying they don’t want to lose the trail system’s current views.

A public meeting is planned for Monday, July 22, 5 p.m. at Marian Care Center, 200 Earl St., St. Paul. There will be a light meal from 5-5:30 p.m. followed by a listening session. “The purpose of the listening session is to understand the cultural significance of the site and build common ground for an approach toward long-term management and future land use of the park,” according to one flyer.

Reconciliation Pipeline? Efforts to stop Canada’s Trans Mountain pipeline just got really messy

A few years ago I saw the powerful indigenous-made documentary Red Power Energy. It highlighted Indian Country’s divergent views on mining and resource management. It featured Native Nations in North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado. Some Nations were mining coal and drilling oil as part of their economic development plans. Others rejected resource extraction in favor of sustainable wind farms and solar arrays.

I recalled that film when I read the latest news out of Canada on the controversial Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion. An indigenous-led group called “Project Reconciliation” is proposing to buy a majority stake in the pipeline. They are calling it the “Reconciliation Pipeline,” and using the tagline: “There’s a pipeline to reconciliation. We should take it.” According to its website:

Through majority Indigenous ownership, it [the pipeline] can improve Indigenous lives throughout the West. How? By returning profits made from shipping resources to market to the traditional owners of the land from which those resources came.

Duluth renames park in Ojibwe; Enbridge’s role in Line 3 front group exposed, and other updates

In this post:

• Duluth renames a city park in the Ojibwe language while opposition to restoring the name Bde Maka Ska continues in Minneapolis
• Enbridge’s role in Line 3 front group exposed
• Trump administration trying to crack down on pipeline protesters; protests continue in northern Minnesota
• Winona LaDuke’s excellent Op/Ed on Enbridge Line 3