Originally Published by Duluth News Tribune
by By Lisa Kaczke

With only a few details left to paint on Friday afternoon, a jingle dress dancer looked out onto West Second Street in downtown Duluth from a mural painted on a wall high above.

The mural has been taking shape during the past month on an exterior wall of the American Indian Community Housing Organization's building in downtown Duluth.

We are changing the world.  Water protectors have carried the sacred fire from Standing Rock on to other fights.  Tribes are standing up.  Oil companies are withdrawing from the tar sands.  Major cities and banks are divesting.  

We offer this Summer Newsletter​ as a brief update on our work to protect the sacred and lead the transition to a future with clean water and respect for human rights and Mother Earth.

Read more....

On May 15, the State of Minnesota released its Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for Enbridge's proposed new Line 3 pipeline.  You can view or download the entire DEIS here.  This 5000+ page document is an attempt to analyze the potential impacts of the project on Minnesota's environment, public health, tribal resources, climate, etc, and to compare Enbridge's proposed route to several alternatives.  The MN Public Utilities Commission is supposed to use it to decide whether or not to grant Enbridge permits for the project.  

The State of MN will hold 22 public meetings in June 2017, all over Minnesota, to gather public comment on the DEIS.  In theory, they will use the public comments to make improvements before issuing the Final EIS later this year.   Click here for the detailed schedule with times and venue addresses.

Read more for background info, instructions on how to submit written comments, guidelines for writing strong comments, and a few suggested talking points based on our initial read of the document.

Join us Friday, June 2nd in LA for a night of community, music and prayer as we premier the "Salmon Will Run" documentary. All proceeds will go to the Winnemem Wintu tribe's salmon restoration project as they continue moving forward with the #Run4Salmon prayer of bringing their salmon home.

Today, community members, First Nations and US Tribal members rally together at the annual general meeting (AGM) of Enbridge Inc to demand respect of Indigenous rights, protection of water, and life. All Indigenous groups and individuals present represent a newly forming cross-border alliance to stop Enbridge's proposed Line 3 pipeline expansion project. US Tribal members will lead a water ceremony and jingle dress dance outside the Enbridge AGM starting at 12:30pm. 

In 2016, the Anishinaabeg and people of Minnesota defeated Enbridge’s proposed Sandpiper Project, and now stand ready to defeat Line 3. Similarly, the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline project was stopped by the Unistoten Clan, Yinka Dene Alliance, many First Nations and environmental organizations. This newly formed cross-border alliance to stop the Enbridge Line 3 expansion project knows that Indigenous rights can stop development projects. Similarly, Enbridge’s Line 9 reversal project is named in a Canadian Supreme Court challenge by the Chippewas of the Thames on duty to consult, which is awaiting ruling. When Free, Prior and Informed Consent is not respected, it costs companies millions of dollars in litigation, project delays, and shaky investor confidence.

Read more for details....

This blog originally appeared on humansandnature.org

I believe in place. Anishinaabe Akiing, the Land to which the people belong, that’s where I live. I live in the same area as my great-great-great-great-grandparents lived. Nimanoominike, I harvest wild rice on the same lakes, canoe to the same berry patches. I am eternally grateful to my ancestors for their consistency and their commitment to land, to ceremony, and to those who had not yet arrived, like myself. My lake, Round Lake, is where the so-called “last Indian uprising in Minnesota” occurred. And I am eternally grateful to the Skip in the Day Family for demanding justice on our Lake and for stopping the timber barons from stealing all of our great and majestic pines. In walking, riding horse, or canoeing these lakes and this place, I remember those ancestors. And I offer them food and prayers. Those are cool ancestors, great role models.

My mother is the artist Betty LaDuke, and my family on her side hails from the Ukraine. They were Jewish farmers who became union workers in New York City. My great-great-grandfather had a windmill to grind wheat, and was displaced by the burning of coal, and the progress of new mills. My grandmother worked in the garment district and my grandfather worked as a house painter. Decent people. Courageous people. Humble people. I feel that I not only remember them, but live their lives in my own way, particularly that transition of power my ancestors experienced, from their way of life working with water, working with wind, to this fossil fuels mess that I’d like to reverse.

Yesterday, April 6, 2017, hundreds of Water Protectors gathered at the State Capitol building in Saint Paul to protest the MN House Jobs and Energy Omnibus bill, including a last-minute amendment that would fast-track the Line 3 pipeline and allow Enbridge to bypass all regulation and start construction this July.  The bill also includes 2 other outrageous pipeline clauses:  one that would exempt all future gas and oil pipelines from the Certificate of Need permit (the only part of the State’s process which can actually stop a project), and one that would prohibit the regulatory agencies from considering alternative routes that don’t stop and start where the pipeline company wants.  

All 3 of these pieces of legislation were included in the bill approved by the MN House yesterday.  The Senate's version of the bill has already passed, but without any pipeline language included in it, so now the 2 different bills must be reconciled.  This will most likely happen in a conference committee, and the final version will be passed to Governor Dayton for approval.  

It is our responsibility as water protectors to stop this legislation.

How can you help?   Write to Governor Dayton and urge him to veto this bill and all of its attempts to bypass due process and let Enbridge run the show.   Read more for details....

The Honor the Earth family is very sad at this time.  This weekend, Daryl Frazier, our Chief Financial Officer, passed away unexpectedly.  We have all suffered a loss of a very good man, and we extend our condolences to his loved ones.

For us, Daryl Frazier was not only our zhooniyaa inini (our money man) but a member of our family. 

Rest in Power, Daryl.  We are very grateful for your years of hard work and dedication, and we miss you already.

ATTENTION, CALLING ALL WATER PROTECTORS

Please join us tomorrow, April 6^th, at 11am, at the MN State Capitol in St. Paul, for an emergency rally.  Enbridge and the MN Legislature are trying to push through a bill that would bypass the entire regulatory process for Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline, and shove another black snake down our throat. 

We have been fighting Line 3 for over 3 years now.   The State of Minnesota is currently writing an Environmental Impact Statement, and a permit decision is not expected until next spring, 2018.

But now the Minnesota legislature is trying to pass a law that would skip the EIS, skip the permit process, and let Enbridge start construction this July.  It would also exempt all future oil and gas pipelines from the Certificate of Need, the only part of the state’s permit process that is able to stop the project, and prohibit the regulatory agencies from considering alternative routes that don’t stop and start where Enbridge wants. 

This is a clear attempt to bypass due process and avoid the truth about Line 3 and all pipelines – that there is no need for them, and that they threaten to destroy us.  It is our responsibility as water protectors to prevent this. 

Read more for details and a fully documented briefing paper explaining our opposition.

Honor the Earth is in a period of rapid growth and momentum, and we need your help.  

Read more for an update on all the things we're working on right now, and a list of Volunteer and Research tasks that we need people to take on.  

We are looking for people able to commit to a consistent, sustained contribution of time - at least a few hours each week, for at least 2-3 months and preferably longer.  

We're a fun team to work with and there are infinite possibilities for ways to join us in our fight to #StopLine3 and lead a graceful transition to a livable future.