As we continue to celebrate International Women’s Month, we want to uplift our Law Fellow, Summer Blaze Aubrey (Cherokee/Blackfeet), and Board Member, Pat Handlin, who published “Stop Line 3: A Call to Clear Danger to Our Water, Climate, and Land in Minnesota” in the CUNY Law Review bringing scholarship to the Line 3 frontlines and calling on President Biden to #StopLine3.
Aubrey and Handlin call on President Biden to shut down Line 3 just as previous and current presidential leadership did with the Keystone XL pipeline citing its “irreparable harm” and the importance for President Biden to “honor the treaties” with the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe. This is a first step to putting our Mother Earth, and her stewards (Indigenous communities), first.
“The pipeline’s route snakes through the wild rice fields of Minnesota, called manoomin or psίᶇ, a sacred food of the Anishinaabe, the Ojibwe and Minnesota Chippewa Tribes, and Dakota Tribes, respectively, and is at the center of their cultural identity, spiritual traditions, and physical and economic well-being.”
“Oil pipelines spill. It is not a question of if they will spill, but when and where.” Enbridge, Inc. has a history of spills that indicate the likelihood of future spills. Additionally, the construction of the Line 3 pipeline has caused irreversible environmental damage along its route.
CW: Sexual assault, MMIWG2S “Oil-producing counties in North Dakota and Montana experienced a 70% increase in aggravated assault against Indigenous women while non-oil-producing counties in those states experienced a corresponding decrease during the same time frame. More specifically, women in the oil-producing counties experienced a 54% increase in sexual assault, including heightened rates of sex trafficking of women and children and of missing and murdered Indigenous women. Increase in crimes against Indigenous women is due to the transient nature of the pipeline workers.”
The Line 3 pipeline violates treaties that have dated back to the 1800s and it has not obtained consent from Tribal Nations. Line 3 harms the land, Indigenous wxmen, and Indigenous communities and way of life. It’s time for President Biden to step up and #StopLine3.
Read the entire report here: www.waterprotectorlegal.org/stop-line-3-report. Please share and uplift the scholarship of WPLC wxmen drawing attention to the abhorrent effects of the Line 3 pipeline.
Thank you for your support, you can contribute directly to WPLC by visiting www.waterprotectorlegal.org/donate.
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