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.

First Native American Jurist Appointed to Minnesota Supreme Court and Other News

Gov. Mark Dayton has appointed Anne McKeig to the Minnesota Supreme Court, the first Native American appointed to the state’s highest court.

The Star Tribune and other outlets report that McKeig is “a descendant of White Earth Nation.” Huh!? That seems like a bizarre way to say it. Are they trying to give the impression that while McKeig is a descendant of White Earth, she is not claiming it herself? Are they trying to say that White Earth Nation is gone, and all that are left are the descendants?

I don’t know how the “descendant of White Earth” language got rolling, but let’s go with the more straight forward description published on line from St. Catherine University, McKeig’s alma mater. “McKeig is a member of the American Indian Bar Association, and the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, White Earth Reservation.”

McKeig specialized in child protection and Indian welfare issues, according to the Star Tribune. Also, the Minnesota Supreme Court now has a majority of women for the first time since 1991.

Keep reading below for:

• Native American sue for voting rights in North Dakota
• A book review of ‘An American Genocide’
• The Washington Cathedral to remove Confederate Battle Flags from stained glass windows (think Minnesota State Capitol)
• Ancient Mexican Temple Damaged