In an effort to exercise what they say are their treaty rights, Chippewa tribal members plan to fish on Lake Bemidji one day before the Minnesota fishing opener.
The one-day "fish-off" protest was sparked by the tribe's opposition to a new Enbridge pipeline across northern Minnesota, to be built either in a new corridor across ceded land where tribal members exercise their rights to hunt, fish and gather food, or in the existing corridor that crosses two reservations.
The idea behind the rally is to send a message to Minnesota officials that they don't have the right to "sell out our terrain, our environment, our ecosystem, our clean water, our fresh fish," said Frank Bibeau, executive director of the 1855 Treaty Authority, which represents about 25,000 Chippewa tribal members who are current beneficiaries of the 1855 Chippewa treaty with the United States.
The tribes retained the rights to hunt, fish and gather when they made the treaties, and they need a territory that sustains those things, Bibeau said. A pipeline could contaminate or jeopardize natural resources in the future, he said.
Enbridge's proposal for a new Line 3 across northern Minnesota has been winding through the regulatory process for more than three years and is expected to be decided in June by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC). Several tribes and environmental groups have opposed the need for any new oil pipeline across northern Minnesota.
Enbridge's current Line 3 transports Canadian oil to Clearbrook, Minn., through Bemidji and Grand Rapids to Superior, Wis.
The company proposes building a new Line 3, which will begin in the current corridor to Clearbrook but would then jog south to Park Rapids before heading east to the company's big terminal in Superior. The current Line 3 — built in the 1960s — is corroding and operating at just over half capacity because of safety concerns.
Last month, an administrative law judge concluded there's a need for a new pipeline but suggested it be built in the current corridor.
