CBC Radio: Pipeline opponents launch lawsuit against Line 3 — and the lead plaintiff is wild rice

8/11/2021

"Wild rice is the most important spiritual, central part of our culture. Wild rice is what's making us come out and protect water," shares Frank Bibeau, a treaty rights attorney for the White Earth First Nation in Minnesota, in his interview with As It Happens guest host Nil Köksal. On August 5th, a rights of nature enforcement case was filed in the White Earth Nation Tribal Court. Manoomin, or wild rice, is the lead plaintiff, along with White Earth tribal members. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is listed as the defendant.

The lawsuit also accuses the state of violating the rice's right to "exist, flourish, regenerate and evolve" — something the White Earth First Nation enshrined into its law in 2018. This enforcement case alleges Minnesota is failing to protect the state's fresh water by allowing Enbridge’s Line 3 to pump up to five billion gallons of groundwater from construction trenches spanning from Alberta, Canada, on towards North Dakota before crossing northern Minnesota before finishing in Superior, WI. A tribal court victory could lead to a U.S. federal court case and transform the landscape for rights of nature jurisprudence.

To hear more about the work of the tribal court and the history of the oil pipeline, please visit the story located here.