Line 3 Voices
June 6-8, 2021 thousands of allies, friends, and native people went to White Earth, Minnesota, as part of The Treaty People Gathering to ask President Joe Biden to STOP the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline. Below find a few voices from the struggle to preserve waterways, lifeways, food production, and people from oil contamination, and the earth from climate change. We have chosen to include here tweets and tiktoks that let us see and hear the testimony of those directly impacted and who want to share their stories. Find a one sheet with lots of links to Line 3 articles, videos, and resources in our one-sheet repository.
Scroll for 3 minute Informational Video with Winona LaDuke
Testimony, from the voices of social media.
Enbridge Line 3 is a 1,097-mile tar sands and crude oil pipeline extending from Edmonton, Alberta to Superior, Wisconsin.
Construction began in Minnesota in December 2020.
The pipeline path crosses 337 miles of land in Minnesota, including through Native Treaty Territories including the White Earth Reservation.
Video below Tiktok @gilwedinindizhinikaas Line 3 Feb 9 2021:
Enbridge Line 3 will cross 200 bodies of water, including pipe that will be drilled under the Mississippi River.
In the past decade, Enbridge pipelines spilled over 1.5 million gallons of crude oil in the US. -StopLine3
March 1991 Line 3 has had many leaks and spills, including a devastating 1.7 million gallons of crude oil spilled into the Prairie River in Minnesota.
Video below Tiktok by @moreperfectunion June 7, 2021
At the action about 200 water protectors were arrested and charged with trespassing by law enforcement that included officers from the Department of Homeland Security. Lawyers groups were also present, including the National Lawyers Guild. They tweeted out an article summarizing legal concerns that also includes information about Jail support and where to contribute bail funds.
While there were arrests at the Gathering, the demonstrations were peaceful and included celebrations of solidarity as native peoples, friends and allies gathered at White Earth, in Minnesota, in support of the Red Lake Nation, the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, and Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe (Anishinaabe). This solidarity extended to the dangers and harm of the pipeline, but also to tragedy of the thousands of missing and endangered Native women and girls across the country.
People of faith join with allies and indigenous peoples in singing “We are so blessed to be here, standing for indigenous rights.”
Video below from Roy Brocheau Tiktok @walks.through.hail June 7, 2021
Come Down People of Faith
Photo by MNIPL, used with permission.
The Treaty People Gathering was an opportunity for people of faith and faith leaders to show their support for the Anishinaabe people and their years-long effort to protect their land and their lives from oil and pipelines. Both GreenFaith and Interfaith Power and Light mobilized their chapters and circles across the country. Churches and denominations also organized folks to attend. And then there were the regular people of faith across spiritual and wisdom traditions and disciplines who felt called to be present.
The Minnesota Chapter of Interfaith Power and Light especially has been involved in the Line 3 struggle, with webinars and conversations to build relationships and raise awareness and speak to the injustice of risking the water and lifeways of human beings, food and ecosystems, and the planet.
Winona LaDuke addresses the gathering of Faith Leaders at the Multifaith Camp in Park Rapids prior to the march. She talked in detail about the new pipeline, noting how Enbridge is calling it a "replacement" while leaving the old, leaky pipeline in the ground, She also talked about how the age of oil is at an end and how we are in the midst of emergent, petroleum-free technologies that make the Line 3 unnecessary and obsolete, and how we all need to have our voices heard in order to protect the water and everything that relies on the water for life. After her talk, she led everyone to the shore of the lake where she waded into the water and prayed with her sacred pipe. Other faith leaders followed in offering up words of prayer and encouragement. - Treaty People Gathering participant Conne Ralls. Photo by MNIPL used with permission.
Some faith groups were not only present, but used the opportunity to amplify the work outside their organization and denomination. One example was the Unitarian Universalists, some of whom encouraged action with groups such as Stop the Money Pipeline. Stop the Money Pipeline looks at the funders and insurers of big fossil fuel projects such as Line 3 and seeks to call out those institutions for the harm they directly/indirectly perpetuate and participate in.
GreenFaith offered stalwart support of The Treaty People Gathering. GreenFaith organizers raised a call for those within their circles to attend the Gathering. They also produced a petition designed for people of faith asking President Biden to stop construction of Enbridge Line 3.
Other Pipeline Resisters: Keystone, Trans Mountain
Even as The Treaty People Gathering focused on Enbridge Line 3, concerns over pipelines, spills and climate destruction continue in US and Canada. The victory in the defeat of the Keystone XL pipeline brought joy!
Yet the struggle and lament continues for Line 3, the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL, Standing Rock) and Trans Mountain Pipelines.
I close this article by amplifying the voices of the Secwepemc Matriarchs. Video posted by @darcydeneault Darcy_Deneault · 2020-10-17
Rev. Richenda Fairhurst is here for the friendship and conversations about climate, community, and connection. She organizes the Climate Cafe Multifaith as a co-leader of Faiths4Future. Find her in real life in Southern Oregon, working as Steward of Climate with the nonprofit Circle Faith Future.