Newsweek: To Protect Their 'Sacred Water,' Tribal Nations Take On an Oil Giant

9/23/2021

Newsweek captures the Anishinaabe people and their fight to protect the waters of Minnesota in “To Protect Their 'Sacred Water,' Tribal Nations Take On an Oil Giant”. The White Earth Nation Tribal Band recently filed a lawsuit in tribal court against Enbridge and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. This lawsuit is the first rights-of-nature case to be filed in tribal court and is making its way to the federal court system.

The DNR recently permitted Enbridge to remove 5 billion gallons of water from the wetlands in northern Minnesota, next to the Canadian border. These water resources are vital to the growth and cultivation of wild rice, which is a staple to the Indigenous identity and culture. Environmental activists such as Winona LaDuke and the Giniw Collective provided an important understanding of the tribal system and the importance of the rights of nature legal framework in codifying water protections. The full article is available here.