Line 3 is a 1,097-mile crude oil pipeline extending from Edmonton in Alberta to Superior, Wisconsin and led by Enbridge Energy, the Canadian company responsible for the largest domestic oil spills in US history. Line 3 is an indisputable environmental danger, and violates the 1842, 1854 and 1855 Indigenous treaty rights: rights guaranteed by the treaties between indigenous bands and the US government, protected by the US Constitution, and affirmed by the US Supreme Court.
Spewing the emissions equivalent of over 50 coal-powered plants and crossing more than 227 lakes and rivers, Line 3 threatens the drinking water of 18 million people and accelerates our climate emergency. Pipeline construction also increases rates of sex trafficking and violent crime, specifically against Indigenous women. Along the Line 3 route, one in three indigenous women, girls, and two-spirits is raped, murdered, or has gone missing. Over 600 protestors have been arrested, some subjected to tear gas and rubber bullets, and many abused in jail.
At this very moment, treaty rights are being violated and our waters poisoned by construction runoff from the Line 3 oil pipeline.
A report on the August 25 action in St. Paul, Minnesota
from Sarz Maxwell and Beth Burbank
Two Friends from Northside, Ji Choe and Barry Feldman, have been deeply involved with Stop Line 3 for some time and spoke eloquently of their experiences at recent Second Hours; still, it wasn’t until Monday the 23rd that Beth and I decided to just do it! We drove to St. Paul Minnesota in caravan with Barry and Daniel Lakemacher.
On August 7 a handful of indigenous water protectors embarked from Camp Firelight at the headwaters of the Mississippi. They walked for two weeks, joined at intervals by volunteers. By the time the walkers arrived in St. Paul MN on August 25 their number had swelled to over 100.
Beth and I, along with hundreds of others, joined the walkers at St Paul’s Martin Luther King Recreational Center for brief speeches, wonderful drumming, and Thunderbirds.
“The Thunderbird is a sacred force of nature found in legends of Pacific, Plains, and Northeastern tribes. In Algonquian myth, the Thunderbirds helped create the universe. The Wisconsin Menominee believe the Thunderbird is a messenger of the Great Sun, and delights in honoring great deeds. The Ojibwa version is similar; their traditions also say the Thunderbirds punish immoral humans. ”
Many marchers wore bright orange t-shirts saying “Bring Our Children Home”, referring to the boarding schools created to destroy and vilify Native culture, language, family, and spirituality. Boarding schools were the ideal instrument for absorbing people and ideologies that stood in the way of manifest destiny. There has been virtually no acknowledgment by the US Government of its complicity in boarding school abuses
As we lined up to march to the State Capitol we were asked to march in SILENT PRAYER for the children – very powerful.
It was just under two miles to the Capitol, where we found tipis on the lawn and many indigenous peoples in native dress. Well over 500 protestors were there, listening to a variety of speakers and dancing along with the drummers. [I have a brief video of Beth dancing, but am unable to upload it to our website platform. Rats!]
One of the most moving talks was about the Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women (MMIW) movement. When pipeline construction workers overrun indigenous towns, one result is a deluge of raped, murdered, and disappeared women. Along Line 3, one in three Native American women have been raped, murdered, or gone missing. No, that is not a typo. ONE IN THREE. The speaker has 3 daughters and said she constantly worries “which one will I lose?”. Every morning she dresses her daughters herself, even the 15-year-old, so she can report exactly what they’re wearing in a missing persons report. Not that a Missing Persons Report will yield much action: in 2016 the National Crime Information Center reported 5,712 cases of missing indigenous women, girls, and two-spirits. The US DOJ missing persons database reported only 116 cases.
On the Stop Line 3 website they ask all protestors to observe the seven values. It’s striking how similar these values are to the values of a transforming society that we read before each Meeting for Business, and also to our Quaker Testimonies:
THE SEVEN VALUES
GWAYAKWAADIZIWIN (HONESTY) To achieve honesty within yourself is to recognize who and what you are. Do this and you can be honest with all others.
DABAADENDIZIWIN (HUMILITY) Humble yourself and recognize that no matter how much you think you know, you know very little.
DEBWEWIN (TRUTH) To learn Truth, to live Truth, to walk Truth, and to speak Truth.
NIBWAAKAAWIN (WISDOM) To have Wisdom is to know the difference between good and bad and to know the result of your actions.
ZAAGI’IDIWIN (LOVE/COMPASSION) Unconditional love and compassion is to know that when people are weak, they need your love and compassion the most.
MANAADENDAMOWIN (RESPECT) Respect others, their beliefs. Respect yourself. When you practice respect, respect will be given back to you.
AAKWADE’EWIN (BRAVERY/COURAGE) Have bravery and courage in doing things right even though it may hurt you physically and mentally.
You can learn more about Line 3, including ideas for various actions you might take, at:
Water is Life … Life is Sacred … All Life Matters
Honor the Ancestors … Live for our Children’s Children