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Canada’s National Observer: We can shut down Line 5 and still meet our energy needs
Recently, a court ruled that fossil fuel giant Enbridge must shut down a section of the Line 5 oil pipeline that runs through the territory of the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa by June 2026.
The band has been fighting a legal battle against Enbridge since 2019 to have the pipeline removed from its watershed. Enbridge has been found guilty of trespassing on Bad River Band territory since 2013.
This order is an important step toward permanently closing down this dangerous pipeline. Line 5, which is 70 years old, has had numerous safety violations and has been documented in a state of ill repair. The entire pipeline poses an immense threat to the health of the Great Lakes, especially in highly sensitive areas such as Bad River (a.k.a. Mashkiiziibii/Medicine River), an important tributary to Lake Superior, and the Straits of Mackinac, which connect Lake Huron and Lake Michigan.
Star Tribune: Every Step is a Prayer: An Ojibwe leader honors water by leading a walk around Lake Superior.
Tennis shoes brush the hem of a long ribbon skirt as a woman walks along a rural Wisconsin highway, carrying a copper pail of water. Step by millions of steps, the water makes its way around Lake Superior. Small metal cones — the same ones that adorn Ojibwe jingle dresses — dangle from the pail. They sway in sync with her stride, creating a rhythmic tinkle.
It’s Day Two of a monthlong, 1,200-mile Lake Superior Nibi Walk (nibi means water in Ojibwe). This journey isn’t like advocacy walks for, say, breast cancer or Alzheimer’s, with their masses in matching T-shirts raising money and visibility for a cause. The Nibi Walks, which began two decades ago, are Indigenous-led ceremonies that express gratitude for water and pray for its health.
On Day One, the small group dipped the copper pail into Lake Superior (Gichigami) to collect its precious cargo. Now, near Bayfield, the woman carrying the water prepares to hand the pail off to the next walker: the group’s leader, Sharon Day (Nagaamoo Ma’aingen, or Singing Wolf), who has participated in more than 20 water walks since the movement’s inception.
VIDEO: Rebecca Tsosie Keynote – First Annual Anishinaabe Law Conference
Rebecca Tsosie is a Yaqui tribal member, an attorney at law, an expert in Indigenous Law and a professor emeritus at Arizona State University. Professor Tsosie gives a passionate and informative keynote presentation on Indigenous Law at the first annual Anishinaabe Law Conference held in June of 2023 on the White Earth Indian Reservation in Minnesota.