Since construction started last November, Indigenous water protectors and allies on the frontlines have been putting their bodies in the way of Enbridge’s Line 3. An enormous tar sands pipeline, Line 3 would violate the 1842, 1854, and 1855 treaty rights of the Anishinaabe people, threaten the headwaters of the Mississippi river, and commit us to fossil fuel dependency for years to come.
Even the International Energy Agency, hardly a bold climate advocate, recently called for no investment in new fossil fuel projects, but many of us have known for a long time how costly, unsustainable, and dangerous pipelines are. In the face of this knowledge, Enbridge’s choice to build not just any pipeline, but an absolutely enormous tar sands pipeline routed through Anishinaabe treaty territory, is particularly egregious. Little is known about how to clean up spills, for which Enbridge has an alarming record. Beyond that, the tar sands industry is entrenched in environmental racism at every stage. Line 3 gets its start as “extreme extraction” in Northern Alberta, where First Nations communities face severe health impacts and an epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives (MMIR). The fuel it carries is intended for refineries like the one in Boynton, Detroit: a mostly-Black neighborhood that bears the brunt of emissions. Along the pipeline route in between, Indigenous Ojibwe and Chippewa communities are fighting to defend their own water, food, culture, and future from the pipeline and the extreme violence that comes with it’s construction.
Starting this winter, many folks from No Coal No Gas have joined the calls for direct action and traveled to Minnesota. The first weekend in June, a mass gathering was planned to defend the Anishinaabe treaty rights, block construction, and call on President Biden to directly stop Line 3. Over 70 people headed out to the Treaty People Gathering through No Coal No Gas, backed by a huge team of remote support.
“Part of the reason I went,” said Reverend Kendra Ford, of the Seacoast Affinity Group, “is because the grandmothers of the Anishinaabe people invited us to be part of this Treaty People Gathering and to understand that I as a citizen of the United States am in a treaty agreement with the sovereign Anishinaabe people and that that agreement means taking care of the earth together.”
Although the U.S. Constitution recognizes treaties as the “supreme law of the land,” history shows that this country consistently chooses white supremacy, ongoing colonization, and profit even over following its own laws. Right now, the United States is refusing to honor its treaties as the most basic step towards respecting sovereign Indigenous nations like the Anishinaabe, let alone to return stolen land. Still, we as individuals can uphold those treaties through direct action.
Leif Taranta, who served as a medic at Fire Light Camp, explained, “While we were arrested for ‘trespassing,’ it is actually Enbridge that is trespassing on Indigenous land. We were the ones following the law, according to the 1855 Treaty and the Sixth Article of the United States Constitution. It was an honor to help water protectors stay hydrated and healthy, and I’m so excited to take our case to court as we continue to uphold our treaty obligations.”
Out of the over 2,000 people who came to the Treaty People Gathering, more than 200 were arrested or cited on charges of trespassing on pipeline property. Approximately 50 more were arrested a week later at the close of Fire Light Camp, which was established during the Treaty People Gathering. Located on 1855 Treaty Territory at the pipeline easement that crosses the Mississippi Headwaters, Fire Light Camp blocked construction for 8 days with a ceremony honoring the land, water, and sacred relatives.
Abby Mnookin, who came from Vermont, was part of the action that established Fire Light Camp. When asked why they traveled to Minnesota, they said, “I believe that water is life, that we need to keep fossil fuels in the ground, and that my children, and all children, the next seven generations, deserve a future filled with wondrous possibilities, and I am trying to do my part to help make that happen.”
Another way Line 3 threatens the futures of the Anishinaabe people is through the man camps that accompany pipeline construction. Bringing extreme rates of sexual violence, man camps fuel the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives. Although this issue is always underreported, impacts are starting to be documented in Minnesota—and even one more case in this ongoing cycle of trauma would’ve been too many.
In the world as it is, corporations and systems pack so many cycles of trauma into their everyday ways of doing business. But as Kai Parlett, who took on an intensive on-site jail support role at the gathering, explained, “The fossil fuel industry operating in a ‘status quo’ fashion and continuing their path of destruction is propped up by public consent. When masses of people withdraw their consent from the system, that’s when real change happens. The fossil fuel industry cannot continue to burn our future if we refuse to let it, if we put our bodies in the way and actively work to change the status quo.”
The Line 3 pipeline still threatens the lands, waters, and lives of the Anishinaabe people, as well as everyone downstream and around the globe. The more we allow pipeline projects like these to go ahead, the worse climate change will get. But a better choice is possible! Throughout the summer, people will be out in Minnesota in the coming months to stop Enbridge from destroying sacred lands, wild rice, and waterways.
Enbridge is trying to speed up construction, so now is the time to get involved. If you are interested in participating in the Line 3 Struggle by donating or traveling to the frontlines, check out stopline3.org. If you’d like to help with remote support, you can email marla@climatedisobedience.org. To plug in to upcoming solidarity actions in New England, email leif.taranta@gmail.com.
Working together and in solidarity with Indigenous leaders, we can build a future free from environmental racism and climate catastrophe. It’s time to repair the harms of fossil fuels and colonization, and that means it’s time to stop Line 3.
