- Details
- By Darren Thompson
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, a tribal citizen of the White Earth Nation of Ojibwe, is facing pressure from the White Earth Tribal Council to stop Enbridge’s tar sands Line 3 oil pipeline.
Several organizations, including the White Earth Tribal Council, the Sierra Club, the RISE Coalition, and several members of the Minnesota State Legislature held a rally inside the Minnesota State Capital Building.
Want more Native News? Get the free daily newsletter today.
Speakers and demonstrators demanded that Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan stop the Line 3 tar sands oil pipeline in northern Minnesota and honor treaty rights.
“Peggy Flanagan, Tim Walz, President Biden, Secretary of Interior Debra Haaland—Stop Line 3!” said 13-year-old White Earth tribal citizen Silas Neeland to a crowd of approximately 200 people.
Other speakers at the demonstration included White Earth Tribal Chairman Mike Fairbanks, White Earth Tribal Secretary/Treasurer Alan Roy, several representatives of the White Earth Tribal Council, co-founders Dawn Goodwin and Nancy Beaulieu of the RISE Coalition, Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune, and several representatives of the Minnesota State Government.
“I’m disappointed that we came all this way and she didn’t even bother to show up,” said Karen Wadena, an enrolled citizen of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe from Naytahwaush, Minn., of Flanagan.
Flanagan maintains she does not have the ability as the second highest ranking elected official of the state of Minnesota to stop the controversial pipeline.
“While I cannot stop Line 3, I will continue to do what is within my power to make sure our people are seen, heard, valued and protected,” Peggy Flanagan said on a Facebook post after the demonstration. “I stand with my people in opposition to Line 3.” Flanagan is an enrolled member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe.
A request from Native News Online for comment was unanswered from Governor Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan’s press secretary as of press time.
“This is the most important fight in the country right now,” said Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune, who drove with his family to attend the demonstration in Saint Paul, Minn., from California. “This is a fight about tribal sovereignty, corporate control, air, water, climate, our democracy, and our people.”
In recent weeks protest activity has increased near the pipeline’s route and more than 500 people have been arrested or issued citations since construction began in Minnesota. Today, the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, the Red Lake Band of Chippewa, the Sierra Club, and Honor the Earth asked the Minnesota Supreme Court to overturn a lower court’s decision that approved permits granted by independent regulators. The permits allowed construction to begin last December.
President Biden could still decide to withdraw the federal permits that gives the pipeline the permission it needs for construction. Ojibwe tribes in Minnesota are concerned about the more than 200 water bodies the pipeline will cross. Leaders contend that a spill or lead could contaminate the water, affecting wild rice, which is protected by treaties.
“Treaties are the supreme law of the land,” said RISE Coalition Co-Founder Dawn Goodwin at the Minnesota State Capital.
In 2019, the White Earth Band of Ojibwe passed a Rights of Manoomin, rights of Wild Rice, Resolution, and became tribal law. The law states that its citizens must protect wild rice and argue that this right is protected under the American Indian Religious Freedom Act.
"All ceremonies and dancing, religious and cultural, including wild ricing were outlawed by the US Federal Government’s “Civilization Regulations” from the 1880s to the mid-1930s," said Cheyenne and Hodulgee Muscogee Suzan Shown Harjo to Native News Online.
“I believe they are right!” said Harjo of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe’s passing of the Rights of Manoomin. Harjo is a veteran of the Native religious freedom movement and was awarded a Medal of Freedom for her decades of service to Native people in 2014.
More Stories Like This
Charles F. “Chuck” Sams III Joins Oregon Law as Inaugural Oregon Tribes Scholar-in-ResidenceInterior Department Moves to Expand Oil and Gas Development in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve
Feds Release Final Environmental Impact Statement on Oak Flat Mine
Interior Department Announces Over $119 Million for Abandoned Coal Mine Reclamation
Osage Minerals Council Celebrates the Final Dismissal of Hayes II Litigation
Help us tell the stories that could save Native languages and food traditions
At a critical moment for Indian Country, Native News Online is embarking on our most ambitious reporting project yet: "Cultivating Culture," a three-year investigation into two forces shaping Native community survival—food sovereignty and language revitalization.
The devastating impact of COVID-19 accelerated the loss of Native elders and with them, irreplaceable cultural knowledge. Yet across tribal communities, innovative leaders are fighting back, reclaiming traditional food systems and breathing new life into Native languages. These aren't just cultural preservation efforts—they're powerful pathways to community health, healing, and resilience.
Our dedicated reporting team will spend three years documenting these stories through on-the-ground reporting in 18 tribal communities, producing over 200 in-depth stories, 18 podcast episodes, and multimedia content that amplifies Indigenous voices. We'll show policymakers, funders, and allies how cultural restoration directly impacts physical and mental wellness while celebrating successful models of sovereignty and self-determination.
This isn't corporate media parachuting into Indian Country for a quick story. This is sustained, relationship-based journalism by Native reporters who understand these communities. It's "Warrior Journalism"—fearless reporting that serves the 5.5 million readers who depend on us for news that mainstream media often ignores.
We need your help right now. While we've secured partial funding, we're still $450,000 short of our three-year budget. Our immediate goal is $25,000 this month to keep this critical work moving forward—funding reporter salaries, travel to remote communities, photography, and the deep reporting these stories deserve.
Every dollar directly supports Indigenous journalists telling Indigenous stories. Whether it's $5 or $50, your contribution ensures these vital narratives of resilience, innovation, and hope don't disappear into silence.
The stakes couldn't be higher. Native languages are being lost at an alarming rate. Food insecurity plagues many tribal communities. But solutions are emerging, and these stories need to be told.
Support independent Native journalism. Fund the stories that matter.
Levi Rickert (Potawatomi), Editor & Publisher