Comment period closing soon on proposed pipeline next to the Pipestone National Monument

Pipestone National Monument. Image: Carolschmidt333

Pipestone National Monument protects a sacred site to Indigenous people of many nations who have visited it for thousands of years to quarry the soft red stone for pipemaking. Indigenous people still quarry pipestone today. 

The Magellan Pipeline Company proposes “to relocate approximately 0.74 miles of an existing eight-inch petroleum pipeline from federal lands managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service to private property,” the Minnesota Department of Commerce says.

Several Native Nations oppose the project.

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) will accept public comments up to 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

Here’s how to submit comments.

Morrison County fights Mille Lacs Band’s efforts to put land into federal (tax exempt) trust status

The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe is in a land dispute with Morrison County and two of its townships that has dragged on for years.

In two separate purchases, in 1994 and 2001, the Band bought five square miles of land adjoining its historical reservation boundaries. The land is undeveloped and has no building, according to court filings made available by the Turtle Talk blog. The Band uses the land for hunting and gathering.

The Band applied to the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to transfer the land from “fee status” to federal “trust status”. That means the Band would not have to pay property taxes.

And there’s the rub.

News: Federal rules eases Tribes’ ability to reacquire stolen lands, Native American films to check out, and more

• Federal reforms make it easier for Tribal Nations to reacquire stolen and lost lands
• Native written, produced, or directed shows and films you can watch this winter
• EPA $50 million environmental Justice fund for Great Lakes region
• Tribes sue to reverse permit for Enbridge’s Line 5 tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac

Minneapolis names 3 finalists to evaluate its progress on police misconduct consent decree; community meetings set

In this post:

• Minneapolis names finalists to evaluate city’s progress on police misconduct Consent Decree
• U.S. Forest Service denies permit for Lutsen Mountains Ski Area Expansion Project
• Oceti Sakowin (Great Sioux Nation) Treaty Council passes sweeping measure supporting Palestinians in Gaza

Updates on Line 5 and DAPL, Justice O’Connor’s legacy in Indian Country, and a head slapper

In this post:

• New reasons emerge to worry about DAPL’s safety
• New Enbridge Line 5 video and Stop Line 5 petition
• Sandra Day O’Connor’s legacy in Indian Country
• Huh? Native group argues for returning Reds*ins name to Washington football team

News: Step forward in protecting Indigenous intellectual property rights, and more

• U.S. Patent Offices seeks comments on proposed rule to consult with Tribes on intellectual property
• State of Wisconsin playing politics with Tribal grants
• Efforts to update the Massachusetts state seal — and its depiction of an Indian man — moving slowly
• Indigenous voting rights win in North Dakota
• Big oil succeeds in stifling protest

Feds hold bogus public meeting on DAPL’s long awaited and deeply flawed environmental impact statement

Welcome to Bismarck! (We’re watching you.)

Army Corps of Engineers held sham public hearings in Bismarck, North Dakota last week to take public comments on the Dakota Access Pipeline’s (DAPL’s) very belated environmental impact statement (EIS).

The sign outside the Radisson Hotel where the event was held said “WELCOME”. The event itself did not. For starters, they had a Bismarck police car parked prominently in front of the hotel. Inside the hearing room, there was always one or two police officers stationed near the front.

It sent a message to participants, many of whom were Native American: “We don’t trust you. You are dangerous.”

Those of us who showed up were told that we couldn’t make our comments in a public setting; we would go behind curtains and speak to a transcriber who would record our words.

Many of us found the format disempowering. People go to these meetings to make statements, preferably to those in power who are going to make decisions. This was the opposite of that.

Speaking for myself, it felt like the Corps was just going through the motions, an uncomfortable process that staff had to get through.

Action opportunity: Support Standing Rock in its ongoing effort to shut down DAPL

The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) has been operational since June, 2017 but efforts to shut it down have never stopped.

A bus is being organized to go from the Twin Cities to Bismarck, ND Wednesday to challenge the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ flawed and biased draft environmental impact statement (EIS).

Participants will take the bus in the morning and participate in a public hearing that evening, asking for the draft EIS to be redone. They will take the red eye bus back that night. Full price for the bus is $150, but it’s pay as you can. More bus information here.

Can’t make the trip? There’s an opportunity to submit comments online, with a Nov. 13 deadline.

• Click here to submit a comment through the Standing Rock Sioux Nation
• Click here to submit a comment through the Indigenous Environmental Network
• Click here to submit comment directly to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

For more on why the draft EIS is problematic, keep reading.

MN’s legal system too late to protect the environment and water protectors’ rights, the damage is done

Court dismisses charges against LaDuke, Aubid, and Goodwin

Many people are rightfully celebrating a decision by a Minnesota District Court Judge Thursday to dismiss charges against three Indigenous woman for their resistance to the Enbridge Line 3 tar sands pipeline.

Winona LaDuke, Tania Aubid, and Dawn Goodwin faced several charges for “disrupting” pipeline construction in 2021 on the banks of the Mississippi River at a Line 3 construction site in Aitkin County.

Judge Leslie Metzen made a powerful statement in dismissing the charges.

“In the interests of justice the charges against these three individuals who were exercising their rights to free speech and to freely express their spiritual beliefs should be dismissed,” the order said. “To criminalize their behavior would be the crime.”

Yes, that’s a good thing to acknowledge. Yet let’s not lose sight of the bigger picture: Line 3 construction did extensive environmental damage and Enbridge has faced much less scrutiny than the water protectors who were trying to prevent the damage.

UN Report: Line 5 rebuild needs consent of Indigenous peoples; Sacred Red Rock returned to Dakota people, and more

In this post:

• U.N. Report: Line 5 rebuild needs consent of Indigenous peoples
• Sacred Red Rock returned to Dakota people
• EPNI gets fundraising deadline extension
• MPD’s new leadership team raises questions about the department’s commitment to change