Standing Up for Water, Land and Climate: Meet 10 Indigenous Women Fighting the Line 5 Pipeline
Earlier this year, Indigenous women leaders from the Great Lakes region sent a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers citing concerns over the social and ecological impacts of a new Enbridge tar sands pipeline project, Line 5. The women noted Enbridge’s track record for oil spills and aquifer breaches, as well as concerns regarding tribal usufructuary rights, irreversible damage to local biodiverse ecosystems and waterways, and rises in gender-based violence and human trafficking—all serious issues when the same company constructed the Line 3 pipeline in Minnesota last year.
The Line 5 pipeline was originally built in 1953, and continues to operate nearly 20 years past its engineered lifespan, transporting approximately 23 million gallons of crude oil each day through northern Wisconsin, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and under the Straits of Mackinac. Already this pipeline has spilled over a million gallons of oil. Enbridge claims its new pipeline would only be a replacement project, meant to support ongoing gas needs—yet, studies show that Line 5 would have little to no effect on current gas prices.
The proposed pipeline expansion is set to route through the lands and territories of multiple tribal nations, crossing hundreds of waterways, including the Kakagon and Bad River Sloughs, vast wetlands that contain the Great Lakes’ only remaining coastal wild rice fields. These sloughs, bogs and coastal lagoons represent 40 percent of Lake Superior’s coastal wetlands. In addition, the Great Lakes hold 95 percent of the fresh surface water in the U.S., providing more than 30 million people with drinking water.
In 2019, the Bad River Tribe filed a federal lawsuit against Enbridge, demanding the company discontinue the line and remove it from their territories. Despite legal opposition from Enbridge, tribal nations and Indigenous leaders persist. In 2021, all 12 federally-recognized tribes in Michigan requested President Biden shut down the pipeline.
Over 80 percent of the biodiversity left on Earth is stewarded by Indigenous peoples, who are standing on the front lines to protect water, air, land, communities and the climate. Supporting Indigenous peoples as they lead efforts to protect biodiversity and uphold sovereign treaty rights is central to the climate and environmental crises the world is facing.
This past year we’ve seen more of the terrible realities of the climate crisis around the world. Fossil fuels lie at the root of this worsening climate disruption, accounting for over 75 percent of global emissions. But despite calls by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and International Energy Agency to end fossil fuel expansion, more than 24,000 kilometers of oil pipelines are planned for construction throughout the world. With each new project, meeting the 1.5 goal of the Paris Climate Agreement becomes almost impossible.
In 2019, the Bad River Tribe filed a federal lawsuit against Enbridge, demanding the company discontinue the line and remove it from their territories. Despite legal opposition from Enbridge, tribal nations and Indigenous leaders persist. In 2021, all 12 federally-recognized tribes in Michigan requested President Biden shut down the pipeline.
Over 80 percent of the biodiversity left on Earth is stewarded by Indigenous peoples, who are standing on the front lines to protect water, air, land, communities and the climate. Supporting Indigenous peoples as they lead efforts to protect biodiversity and uphold sovereign treaty rights is central to the climate and environmental crises the world is facing.
This past year we’ve seen more of the terrible realities of the climate crisis around the world. Fossil fuels lie at the root of this worsening climate disruption, accounting for over 75 percent of global emissions. But despite calls by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and International Energy Agency to end fossil fuel expansion, more than 24,000 kilometers of oil pipelines are planned for construction throughout the world. With each new project, meeting the 1.5 goal of the Paris Climate Agreement becomes almost impossible.
Communities continue to resist fossil fuel pipelines and infrastructure to avert the worst impacts of escalating interlocking crises. As Enbridge pushes ahead with its plans for Line 5, Indigenous women leaders and allied organizers are remaining vigilant, continuing to organize to prevent its development.
Jannan J. Cornstalk | Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, Michigan
Carrie Huff Chesnik | Oneida Nation, Wisconsin
Philomena Kebec | Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Wisconsin
Sandy Gokee | Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Anishinaabe, Wisconsin
Rene Ann Goodrich | Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Wisconsin
Jennifer Boulley | Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Wisconsin
Carolyn Gougé | Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe, Wisconsin
Gina Peltier | Black Bear Clan, Anishinaabe, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, Minnesota
Lisa Ronnquist | Fond du Lac Band and Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Minnesota\
Debra Topping | Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Minnesota