Mining Michigan Part 2: Native Americans make the stand and bear the brunt
This is the second of a three-part series . Look for Part 3 next week.
In 2005, the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community tried to lease the sacred Eagle Rock site from the State of Michigan for ceremonial use. Located in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula near Marquette, Eagle Rock and the surrounding Yellow Dog Plains are part of lands ceded to the tribe for hunting and fishing by an 1842 government treaty upheld by the courts again in 1983. The DNR declined to lease them the land because of concerns about how ceremonial use might impact this pristine wildlife habitat.
In 2007, the State of Michigan leased the land to Rio Tinto’s Kennecott Mining Company. Today, the lofty trees, endangered animal habitats and celebrated blueberry bushes surrounding Eagle Rock are just a memory. Kennecott bulldozed them, erected chain-link and razor wire fence and prepares to drill its entryway to the new mine, directly through the sacred rock. This destruction will seem miniscule when compared to the environmental devastation that will soon follow—damage that will lay waste the Yellow Dog plains, poison the Salmon Trout River, kill wildlife and impact one of the world’s most important sources of fresh drinking water, the Great Lakes.
Why would the State refuse the gentle use of the land to its indigenous peoples but allow its destruction by a corporation known for environmental destruction and human rights abuses? Well, the answer of course, is profit. Profit has always trumped the treaties our government has made with Native Americans.
Who will stand and fight? The Native American people living in the area and their few allies. From the look of the situation today, the fight is all but lost.
“Throughout the US, Native American People are fighting to protect the sacred places from development,” says Jessica Koski, Keweenaw Bay Indian Community member. “The courts have ruled that constitution isn’t strong enough to protect native people, especially when it comes in conflicts with development.”
Some environmentalists say the new Michigan mining law is to blame. Others say the law is good, but the MDNRE (formerly MDEQ) is not enforcing it. Either way, our Native peoples lose. That loss will be felt sorely by all of Michigan’s residents in the not too distant future.
Weekend gathering inspires a last stand
Last weekend, Native and non-Native people from the Marquette area and across the Great Lakes region joined together at the 3rd Annual Protect the Earth gathering.
Winona LaDuke’s Saturday morning Keynote speech emphasized the importance of creating greater resiliency and self-determination within Native communities. She urged Native peoples to strive for food and energy sovereignty in order to decrease their dependence on multinational corporations. This advice seems just as applicable for those of us living in non-native communities.
“As Anishinaabekwe (Anishinaabe women), it is our responsibility to care for the water,” Koski says “Protect the Earth and the annual walk to Eagle Rock re-energized our spirits and commitments to protecting the Yellow Dog Plains. As a people, it is our responsibility to not allow Rio Tinto the social license to mine near our freshwater and Great Lakes.”
A main focus of the gathering was Kennecott’s Eagle Mine and how to increase public awareness of sulfide and uranium mining interest throughout the Upper Peninsula. Protecting Migi zii wa sin, Eagle Rock, as a National Historic Site and Sacred Place to the Anishinaabe people was of special concern.
University of Michigan anthropologist, Stuart Kirsch, spoke near the Yellow Dog River about the detrimental effects of mining along the Ok Tedi and Fly Rivers for the Yonggom people of Papua New Guinea. Indeed, Rio Tinto/Kennecott has a record of abuses against indigenous peoples all over the world. Kirsch emphasized that it is not too late to stop sulfide mining from contaminating our rivers and watersheds here in the U.P.
We need the whole state, the public to say ‘no.’
Indeed, the Native Americans living in the UP will feel the first and greatest impact of the Kennecott Eagle mine. Like the indigenous tribes in the film Avatar, they are watching their sacred site desecrated for profit. They will feel the loss of income and an important food source as fisheries are fouled. Their stand against bulldozers and barbed wire has already resulted in overzealous police action and illegal arrests. Non-native people and those living downstate cannot afford to let them stand alone.
“We really need supporters downstate,” Koski says. “ We need the whole state, the public to say ‘no.’ We need to look at what’s happening in the Gulf of Mexico and realize the responsibility that Michigan holds to the Great Lakes. These are the biggest fresh water lakes in the world. We need to stand up and protect our water.”