The audio on the video below was a conversation with Becky Haase, an Enbridge Stakeholders Specialist, answering questions in a phone interview regarding easements and standard requirements for pipeline construction. The video is a compilation of images and video from the occupation site. Please share this far and wide!
Nizhawendaamin Inaakiminaan (We Love Our Land) is a group of Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, joined by blockaders and solidarity activists. The encampment is located in Northern Minnesota near the town of Leonard. Tom Poorbear, vice president of the Ogalala Sioux Nation declared, “We fully support the Red Lake Nation and its members who are opposing the Enbridge pipeline to stop the flow and remove the illegal pipeline from their land.” The occupation of the Red Lake Ceded Land began Thursday, February 28.
Similar action camps around the United States have been fighting the fossil fuel industry to stop the destruction of sacred lands. Red Lake tribal members demand the immediate shutdown of the flow through the pipes and intend to remain on the land until their demand is met.
“I imagine everyone involved in the planetwide resistance to fossil fuel is watching them with thanks,” said Bill McKibben founder of 350.org and leader of the recent Forward on Climate Rally. Chief Bill Erasmus of the Dene First Nation stated,
“We fully support and are inspired by the Red Lake members and their resistance as it is stated in the Mother Earth Accord; affirming our responsibility to protect and preserve for our descendents, the inherent sovereign rights of our indigenous nations, the rights of property owners, and all inherent human rights.”
Most band members were unaware of Enbridge’s illegal activity until the encampment started. “When I was informed about the illegal trespassing of the company Enbridge on my homeland, I knew there was something I could do. I started calling as many Red Lakers as I could to try and make them aware,” said Angie Palacio who initiated the encampment with the support of the Indigenous Environmental Network.
Becky Haase (Enbridge Stakeholders Specialist) @bhaase27 #RLblockade