Call for Solidarity from Red Lake Nation

From: Tessa McLean <tessa.mclean22@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Apr 5, 2013 at 11:07 PM
Subject: Illegal Enbridge pipelines on Red Lake land
 
 
Boozhoo (hello) everyone,

I just wanted to share a few (3) videos about Red Lake Nation tribal members fighting illegal Enbridge pipelines on their land. It's an issue close to home because these pipelines are on Anishinaabe Akiing- Ojibwe territory, a place where the dirt and trees recognize me and I recognize them-- if you've had the chance to feel the soil where your People came/come from, I think you'd agree with me that a timeless connection exists between you and your land; your ancestors lived there for ages, hunted there, held ceremonies there... we've coexisted harmoniously with mother earth until corporations came and had their way. Inevitable oil spills can destroy that connection, they can ruin our territories and already have in many regions destroyed ecosystems and old ways of life such sustenance living.

Red Lake Tribal members have created a resistance group, named by our elder, Anna Gibbs, Nizhawendaamin Indaakiminaan --this translates to, 'We love our land.' But when you hear, 'we love our land,' it does not mean only the Ojibwe love their land, it means all of us beings love our land, the Hopi, the Dine, the Cheyenne, the Iroquois, the Lakota, imitigoozigs... we all love our land, we all want clean water, we all want a healthy and beautiful place for our future relatives. And so, Red Lake fights and defends Anishinaabe Akiing against enbridge as many Red Nations fight against coal, tar sands, fracking, etc. Red Lake tribal members have occupied these illegal pipelines to stop them from flowing with tar sands, sweet crude oil and diluted bitumen; safety clauses and laws state that pipelines must be stopped when pipeline safety has been threatened for 72 hours (occupations are 'hazardous').

Red Lake tribal members and tribal members from the White Earth Reservation, the Leech Lake Reservation, and even visitors from afar have been occupying the pipelines for over thirty days, yet nothing, oil- black gold- still flows, illegally, through Anishinaabe Akiing.

If you can take 20 minutes to watch these videos and maybe even

share them? it would be super appreciated, not only by me but by those who have been out  defending the land. Please keep this struggle in your prayers, but also, we mustn't forget the Cree First Nations who are on the front lines of the tar sands, and the Mandan-Hidatsa-Arikara nations (Three Afilliated Tribes)  who are on the front lines against fracking, or the Lakota who are challenging and resisting the existence of the keystone xl pipeline.


Mitakuye Oyasin stretches out not only to all our relations but to all our struggles as well.

Chi-miigwetch (many thanks).

Red Lake Nation Tribal Members Blockade enbridge pipelines: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=lDP51A9Njbk#!

Red Lake Direct Action to stop Illegal pipeline: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JXYe88sREc

Red Lake: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=lDP51A9Njbk#!

"When it comes to our nation, our children, and our land, and our elders, and the lake, there's really no question... we DEFEND it."

  **Nizhawendaamin Indaakiminaan**