Tag: Giniw Collective

On the Anniversary of a Catastrophic Oil Spill, Water Protectors Rally Against the Line 3 Pipeline

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cross-posted from Giniw Collective

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: giniw@protonmail.com
March 3, 2021
More than 70 Peaceful Protesters Cited, 1 arrested*
On the Anniversary of a Catastrophic Oil Spill, 75 Water Protectors Rally Against the Line 3 Pipeline
(GRAND RAPIDS, MN) Today, a crowd of 75+ water protectors commemorated the 30th anniversary of the largest inland oil spill on Turtle Island (so-called North America). 30 years ago today, on March 3rd, 1991, the Line 3 pipeline ruptured spilling over 1.7 million gallons of oil near Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Water protectors are rallying against Enbridge’s Line 3 expansion to stop the pipeline and ensure that an oil spill like that never happens on Indigenous land again.
The 1991 oil spill flowed into Prairie River, a tributary of the Mississippi that flows into the river near its sensitive headwaters. Oil made it half a mile away from the Mississippi, but the thick sheet of ice covering the Prairie River stopped the oil from flowing further than that. With a changing climate and a constantly warming planet, we may not have been so lucky if the spill had occured today. Since 2002 alone, Enbridge has reported 307 oil spills to federal regulators, totaling 2.8 million gallons of oil. The 1991 spill, not included in that figure, spilled more than half as many gallons as Enbridge has reported since 2002.
Water protectors marching today stand in solidarity with the right to live and thrive for all people. As one water protector at the rally said, “with the approaching trial of Derek Chauvin, we uplift the interconnectedness of the struggle to protect treaty rights, clean waters, sacred space and Indigenous sovereignty with the right of all people to live in a world free of oppression and destruction of the earth”

Giniw Collective: Water Protectors Blockade Multiple Line 3 Worksites

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cross-posted from the Giniw Collective

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
February 24, 2021
Water Protectors Blockade Multiple Line 3 Worksites
(Savanna State Forest, MN) Wednesday morning, 3 water protectors blockaded over one dozen active Enbridge Line 3 worksites with 2 different blockades. On one side, 2 Indigenous water protectors locked into a flipped over vehicle — on the other, 1 water protector ascended nearly 40ft in the air on a bi-pod blockading the entry road.
As water protectors rallied at both sites, snow fell on the surrounding wetlands and forest slated for destruction by Enbridge’s mostly out-of-state, transplant workforce.
Non-violent resistance to Line 3 continues to grow across Anishinaabe treaty territory in northern Minnesota. The new moon, Onaabini-giizis “hard crust on snow” moon, is about to begin, signaling an end to the winter snows.
Big Wind, Northern Arapaho Tribe, “As a tribal citizen from an “oil and gas tribe”, I know we are not devoid from the societal norms that prioritizes profit over the planet. For generations, multinational corporations have douped us all with their hush money. No more. We are waking up. Our silence will not be bought.”
Danny Leclaire, Shoshone-Bannock Tribe, said, “PROTECT THE WATER, PROTECT THE MISSISSIPPI, LINE 3 WOULD RUIN THE DRINKING WATER TO MILLIONS DOWNSTREAM. WE HAVE AN OBLIGATION TO FUTURE GENERATIONS TO STOP THIS MADNESS.”
Water Protector Rose said, “I want to live in a world where we are deeply connected to the land and the water. Line 3 is a disease of greed and destruction. I am taking a risk as an act of love for the forest, the wetlands, the rivers and the lakes I grew up with. I am proud to stand with those Indigenous to this land who are fighting for all of our futures.”
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Water Protectors Lock Down Inside Line 3 Pipeline

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pics via Giniw Collective

cross-posted from the Giniw Collective

(Backus, MN) Thursday morning, water protectors locked to each other inside a Line 3 pipe segment, halting construction at an Enbridge worksite as dozens more held space.

The site is a few miles from a large Enbridge man camp operating in the township of Backus, Minnesota. Enbridge is working 24 hours per day at several worksites, as a pending injunction to halt work while tribally-led lawsuits are heard has yet to be decided.

According to several cultural site maps, numerous sacred and significant sites lie in the path of the Line 3 project.

Water Protector Abby Hornberger said, “After moving to Minnesota to attend college and study environmental science, I was excited to be in a place where people valued protecting the earth and finding a viable future. What I found, however, was a state that had formed “ambitious” climate goals yet endorsed one of the dirtiest fossil fuels, tar sands oil. I realized that indigenous ways of knowing and practicing harmony with the environment are continuously ignored. The Line 3 pipeline far outweighs all clean energy initiatives and progress being made in renewable energies. Line 3 will destroy Minnesota’s essential clean water resources for future generations and will ultimately drive us into climate doom. Education and spreading awareness is no longer enough to create meaningful change for me.”
Hornberger continued, “Enbridge’s last ditch effort to build fossil fuel infrastructure is killing people and the planet. I refuse to be complicit in settler colonialist practices, and feel that I have to put my body on the line to protect indigenous communities’ sovereignty and all of our futures. This is not just an issue relevant to some, it affects each of us on a deeper level that goes beyond our daily lives. It determines if we will have a livable future.” Continue reading

Backus, MN: Water Protectors Blockade Line 3 Pipe-yard

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pic via Giniw Collective

cross-posted from the Giniw Collective

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
December 28, 2020
Contact: giniw@protonmail.com

Water Protector Ascends Tripod Blockading Enbridge Line 3 Pipe-yard

(Backus, MN) Monday morning, a water protector bravely ascended a tripod high in the air blockading an Enbridge pipe-yard, as dozens of supporters held space below.

Since giving the final green light on November 30th for Enbridge to bulldoze through Minnesota’s watersheds for its tar sands expansion project, the Walz administration has met a series of escalating direct actions with complete silence. Actions have ranged from mass arrest, prayer walks to proposed river drilling sites, tree sits, and locking to heavy equipment.

On December 19th, a Line 3 construction worker was killed at an Enbridge worksite. After an hours-long halt, work resumed.

Before ascending into the air in front of a tar sands pipe-yard, Emma Harrison said, “I’m part of the Line 3 resistance movement because this pipeline embodies everything I believe is wrong with the world. Profits for a few are being privileged over the well-being of all communities near and far, present and future. Stopping Line 3 is a tangible way to fight for the world I want to live in.”

Live updates and photos can be found on Giniw Collective’s Facebook page.