Just before the Walk to Eagle Rock begins on Aug. 2, 2009, Chauncy Moran reads an Aug. 2 article on the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality's request to delay a decision on Kennecott Eagle Minerals Company's proposed reuse of the Humboldt Mill to process ore from Kennecott's proposed Eagle Mine. The mine itself is being delayed by legal challenges and pending permits. Click on photos for larger versions. (Photos by Keweenaw Now unless otherwise indicated. Please see our photo use policy under slide shows, right column.)Author's Note: This is the second part of an article on the 2009 Protect the Earth, the second annual Great Lakes Community Gathering of people opposed to metallic sulfide and uranium mining in the Upper Peninsula and nearby Great Lakes states. Part 1 of the article was posted on Aug. 5, 2009.
MARQUETTE -- The Walk to Eagle Rock, a sacred Native American site on the Yellow Dog Plains, on Sunday, Aug.2, 2009, was a community event, bringing together people of at least three, if not more, generations -- Native and non-Native -- from Michigan, neighboring Great Lakes states and even from the far West.
Protect the Earth walkers head toward Eagle Rock on Sunday, Aug. 2, 2009. More than 170 people attended the event.The two-mile walk began at a bridge over the Yellow Dog River, which, along with the Salmon Trout River, runs through the area of Kennecott-Rio Tinto's proposed Eagle Project for a nickel / copper sulfide mine that could pollute not only these and other streams in the Lake Superior watershed, but also the Big Lake itself. Many participants in the walk were from Wisconsin and Minnesota, where Kennecott has had and still has other mining interests. The walk ended at Eagle Rock, where Native Americans conducted a spiritual ceremony that they shared with other participants, asking the Creator, in the native Ojibwe language, for protection of the land and water and thanking him for many blessings, including the pleasant weather of the day.
Susan LaFernier, vice-president of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC) was the first of several community leaders and environmental activists who spoke to the crowd of more than 170 people gathered at Eagle Rock.
Susan LaFernier, KBIC vice-president, addresses the crowd at Eagle Rock. Behind her are co-organizers Teresa Bertossi of Save the Wild UP and (hidden behind LaFernier) Emily Whittaker, executive director of the Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve. At left is musician Victor McManemy. (Photo © 2009 and courtesy Gabriel Caplett)"Wasn't it a great walk?" she began -- a question answered by applause from the crowd. "It was wonderful, and it's another wonderful day. It's just beautiful," she said. "This is the annual celebration where we can be proud of the gains that we have made in protecting the natural gifts of our planet, given to us by our God and Creator. Taking care of our Earth and allowing it to take care of itself is not just a responsibility. It is a privilege bestowed upon all of us."
LaFernier has represented KBIC in contesting the Kennecott-Rio Tinto Eagle Project, even attending a Rio Tinto shareholders' meeting in London, England. -- (Click below to hear an excerpt of her talk at Eagle Rock on this videoclip.)
Susan LaFernier, KBIC vice-president, reminds the audience at Eagle Rock of the history of the Ojibwe (Chippewa) people in North America. (Videoclip by Keweenaw Now) Click here to see a slightly longer video of LaFernier's talk by Yellow Dog Summer's Gabriel Caplett, editor and publisher of the Lake Superior Mining News.
Jessica Koski, also a KBIC member and recent graduate of Michigan Tech University (MTU) in social sciences and environmental studies, spoke about rediscovering her Native American cultural heritage and doing research on environmental issues and Native American sacred sites.
Koski was born in l'Anse and, after growing up in Wisconsin, returned to Baraga to study at Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College, where, she said, she learned a lot about her cultural heritage and eventually became interested in the sulfide mining issue.
"I learned about our beautiful tribal culture and our values for the land," Koski said.
She had a research opportunity that allowed her to study about the impacts of mining, including acid mine drainage. When she returned to Michigan Tech she became acquainted with others in the community who were interested in the sulfide mining issue and its cultural impacts.*
Jessica Koski of KBIC speaks about her research on sulfide mining and on Native American sacred sites on Aug. 2, 2009, at Eagle Rock."I guess it just really lit a passion inside me," Koski noted.
After graduating from MTU last fall, Koski added, she went to Washington, D.C., and had internships on policy and politics related to Native Americans and the environment. While participating in the Washington Internship for Native Students (WINS) program, Koski met Suzanne Harjo, a leader who advocates for Native American rights. When Harjo talked about the Native American Religious Freedom Act, Koski asked her how it relates to Eagle Rock, a sacred site to the Ojibwe.
"She (Harjo) said it doesn't have any teeth," Koski explained, "and we need stronger laws to protect our sacred sites."
During an internship with the Forest Service, Koski said she did research on sacred sites and found more examples of Native American sites threatened by development, including a site sacred to the Shoshone -- Yucca Mountain, proposed for nuclear waste; the San Francisco Peaks in California, sacred to 13 different tribes, where the Forest Service wants to put wastewater on the slopes to create snow for skiing; and a California case in 1988 involving the Forest Service and a logging road that was to go through sacred sites.
In the 1988 case, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of government land use rights over the religious freedom of Native Americans.
Koski concluded from her research that, while the First Amendment of the Constitution gives all Americans equal protection to practice their religion, Native Americans don't receive that protection.
"I think this is a major issue for Native Americans," Koski said. "I think it's difficult for people to understand because religion and culture and land are all interconnected."
The Court told plaintiffs from the tribes (in the 1988 case) that they needed to go to Congress and secure legislation that specifically protects sacred sites.
"And we've been unable to do that so far," Koski said.
She said she also learned from going to Washington, D.C. that you can't change everything there. You need to do it locally, through your state government.
Paul Campbell of Calumet, who attended the Eagle Rock event with his wife, Anita, was especially impressed by Koski's presentation.
"We appreciated all the speakers as they were all outstanding in their comments and commitments," he said. "Jessica Koski said it best in paraphrasing from The Mishomis Book by Eddie Benton-Banai: 'We will be given a choice between two roads, one road will be of a headlong rush to technology and the other will be a road to spiritualism. Could the road to technology represent a rush to destruction? The road to spirituality represents the slower path that traditional Native people have traveled and are now seeking again. The earth is not scorched on this trail.' The question is: Where does corporate greed end and common sense start? There is only one Earth."
Outdoor author Eric Hansen of Milwaukee captured the spiritual atmosphere of Eagle Rock with his poem, "A Place Where Water Sparkles": (Click on videoclip below to hear the poem.)
Eric Hansen, outdoor writer and conservation advocate, reads his poem, "A Place Where Water Sparkles" during the Aug. 2, 2009, Protect the Earth gathering at Eagle Rock. (Videoclip by Keweenaw Now)
Several other speakers from Wisconsin described their own battles to protect land and water from mining pollution.
Representatives from the Mole Lake Sokaogon Ojibwe participated in the spiritual ceremonies preceding the speakers, and some of them spoke as well about their struggle to stop the Crandon mine.
Fred Ackley (Little Bear) of the Mole Lake, Wis., Sokaogon Ojibwe, participated in the spiritual ceremonies at Eagle Rock. Ackley was one of several activists who stopped the Crandon sulfide mine on the edge of his home reservation. He spoke about honoring the strength of women and praying for the safe return of soldiers fighting overseas. Also pictured are Protect the Earth co-organizer Emily Whittaker and (behind her) Ben Kent. (Photo © 2009 and courtesy Gabriel Caplett)Jerry Burnett said he would never forget the battles they went through in Mole Lake, but warned that continual vigilance is needed.
"Even though they're done for the time being," Burnett said of those battles,"they're always there to threaten us even more. They won't ever go away, and we have to be on our toes all the time."
Jerry Burnett of the Mole Lake Sokaogon Ojibwe speaks about not giving up the fight against polluting sulfide mines. (Photo © 2009 and courtesy Gabriel Caplett)Formerly a member of Hell's Angels in California, Burnett said he gave that up when he returned home and heard the drum. Its power and strength changed him from the inside out.
"My heart is changed today," Burnett said. "I'm not the person I was 20 years ago."
However, Burnett noted with humor that some of his old life has been useful in confronting the mining companies.
"They don't like me," Burnett said. "As far as I'm concerned, there will never be a mine here, as long as I'm alive. You have to think that in your heart."
Burnett said he thought it was over at Mole Lake, but he's still traveling.
"Your fight is my fight," Burnett said. "We will defeat this. Miigwech (Thank you in Ojibwe)."
Lee Sprague, former Ogemaw of the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians and Sierra Club Clean Energy Campaign Manager, identifying himself as a citizen of territories presently occupied by the State of Michigan, said he had visited Mole Lake and learned about their issues.
Lee Sprague, former Ogemaw of the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians and Sierra Club Clean Energy Campaign Manager, talks about taking responsibility for Mother Earth. (Photo © 2009 and courtesy Gabriel Caplett)He noted the corporations talk about their "right" to get a permit to mine the minerals from the earth right here, but nobody's talking about responsibilities, though the government treats the corporations as human beings.
"The one thing that's different between us and the corporations is that we breathe -- we need clean air, water and land," Sprague said. "The corporations do not need clean air, water and land to live -- and yet they have a life. You cannot even kill a corporation. They live longer than people do."
Sprague admitted even he himself has abdicated responsibilities to corporations, letting them interact with Mother Earth, destroying things in their path.
"The fact that you are here," Sprague said to the audience, "tells me that there is an understanding of what our responsibilities are."
Sprague noted the younger generation is more informed now than he was at their age.
"That means we have accepted some of those responsibilities and that we're bringing our young ones up these good ways and that the future does look good and we don't need this current occupation by the State of Michigan," Sprague concluded.
Drumming by Summer Cloud followed his speech.
Tom Williams of Lac du Flambeau, a member of the drumming circle, said he was glad to be invited to Protect the Earth to help support this opposition against mining. He was concerned about the effects it could have on future generations, he said.
"I'm real sad to see some of these statistics that they have about the Flambeau Mine -- what the mining companies leave behind and all the lies that they tell the people," Williams said.
He added that it's important to keep educating the people and more people will join in this effort once they find out the facts.
Tom Williams of Lac du Flambeau tells the crowd mining companies can be stopped."I pray to the Great Spirit and all his helpers that you are successful in this opposition against this mine coming over and destroying this beautiful country," Williams said. "Yes, the mining companies can be stopped."
Williams used Mole Lake as an example that a mining company can be stopped if the majority of the people say "No, we don't want this," because they don't want their water and fish contaminated.
Al Gedicks, professor at the University of Wisconsin La Crosse, who, along with Laura Furtman and their organization, the Wisconsin Resources Protection Council (See Part 1 of this article) is suing Kennecott-Rio Tinto and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources because of groundwater pollution at the Flambeau Mine, said he was honored to be at the event with friends from Mole Lake, who have demonstrated that a broad-based coalition of grassroots activists can defeat the most powerful mining and energy corporations in the world.
Al Gedicks, professor at the University of Wisconsin La Crosse, who is involved in a lawsuit against Kennecott-Rio Tinto for groundwater pollution at the Flambeau Mine, relates his experiences with indigenous peoples in various countries, who have confronted mining companies and demanded their rights. (Photo © 2009 and courtesy Gabriel Caplett)"It's been done in Mole Lake; it's been done in South America; it's been done in various places where Native populations, indigenous peoples, have confronted much larger forces," Gedicks continued, "-- the corporations, the banks, the states that have conspired to seize the resources and the lands of Native peoples without their knowledge, without their consent, and tried to forcibly take those resources in the face of opposition movements all around the world. This is the legacy of colonialism. It's a dying legacy."
Gedicks noted gatherings such as Protect the Earth are a reminder that that legacy was the past, not the future.
"What we're doing today is the future" he said. "What we're doing is re-asserting the sacredness of these lands, the power of the people and the corruption of the corporations and the states that are illegally and immorally trying to seize resources that they have no right to."
Gedicks related how he has been involved in these resource struggles involving indigenous peoples for the last 30 years -- from Mole Lake to Ecuador to El Salvador.
"In all these places people have come together to protect watersheds, to protect ecosystems and to re-assert the sacredness of these places in the face of the sacrilegious assault on these peoples and cultures by corporations, governments and banking institutions," Gedicks said. "What has united all these struggles is that there is a will -- there is a passion and determination to preserve, protect and conserve these places in the face of corporate greed."
Musician Bobby "Bullet" St. Germaine recognized several women who have fasted every month and overnight last year on Eagle Rock.
"That shows, as Fred (Ackley) was saying, that the women are very strong," St. Germaine said.
Water Ceremony
One of those strong women, another Native American leader in the Mole Lake struggle to stop the Crandon Mine, Fran Van Zile, invited participants to bring samples of water from their own areas, speak about it and pour it into a common container.
Participants at Protect the Earth hold up cups of pure water during a ceremony of appreciation and prayer for keeping the water clean. Activist Tim DeCristopher (center) from Utah, who later poured some water from Salt Lake City during the ceremony, stands between Cynthia Pryor, second from left, of the Yellowdog Watershed Preserve and Barbara Bradley (third from right), mother of Yellow Dog Summer's Gabriel Caplett, who took this photo. (Photo © 2009 and courtesy Gabriel Caplett)Tim DeChristopher, University of Utah student and conservation activist, who spoke on Saturday of his commitment to fighting climate change, brought water from Salt Lake City, where Kennecott Minerals has its headquarters.**
Tim DeChristopher pours water from Salt Lake City, Utah, during the water ceremony at Eagle Rock on Aug. 2. (Videoclip © 2009 and courtesy Gabriel Caplett of the Lake Superior Mining News.)
Don Carlson, Baraga County mining inspector, brought water from Pelkie. As a mining inspector, Carlson is not against mining, he said, but in favor of safety and following the rules. Kennecott has been challenged by scientists and mining experts who claim the Eagle Project mining application does not guarantee safety in its design.***
Don Carlson, Baraga County mining inspector, prepares to pour water from Pelkie during the water ceremony conducted by Fran Van Zile, left, of the Mole Lake Sokaogon Ojibwe."Safety is the issue," Carlson said, "as much for the workers as for the community."
Another visitor from Pelkie, Marge Krumm, had a special, personal reason for attending Protect the Earth.
"Today is my son's birthday," Marge Krumm said. "I thought this was a good way to honor him."
Her son, the late Oren Krumm, who passed away from a sudden illness in 1998, when he was a first-year student at Michigan Tech University, is known in the Keweenaw for a Brockway Mountain trail, now named for him. He built it as an Eagle Scout project.
Barbara and Bob Wheeler of Houghton brought their sons -- Leo, 9; Toby, 11; and John, 15 to the Walk.
"I totally agree with what was said today," Barbara Wheeler said. "I'm glad that a lot of people are persistent in pursuing it."
Co-organizers Teresa Bertossi and Emily Whittaker of Save the Wild UP and Gabriel Caplett of Yellow Dog Summer were pleased with the turnout at this Second Annual Protect the Earth gathering.
"This year’s Protect the Earth was yet another example of the power of everyday citizens to stand up to spineless government and greedy corporations," said Bertossi. "We must keep moving in this direction, putting our heads together with everyone we know. We no longer have time to sit by and wait for the legal system. If we are to protect our land and water for the future generations we will need action, including all the prayers, creativity and strength we can get to outwit those who have set out to destroy the last of the wild lands and clean water."
Whittaker said she believed two years of success was pretty good.
"It's really a pleasure to get everybody together, out on the plain, from the Great Lakes region and across the country," Whittaker noted.
Yellow Dog Summer's Gabriel Caplett, editor and publisher of the Lake Superior Mining News, introduces one of the speakers at Eagle Rock.Caplett, who contributed several photos for this article, said he found the level of people's commitment to be more pronounced this year -- especially activists attending the event for the second time, like Jerry Burnett of Mole Lake.
"This year they said if we ever need help they'll be here," Caplett noted.
In Memory of Fred Rydholm
Following the Protect the Earth activities at Eagle Rock, family and friends of the late Fred Rydholm, an opponent of the sulfide mine, gathered at Eagle Rock to honor him.
According to an article in the Marquette Mining Journal, Rydholm, a World War II veteran, who passed away Apr. 4, 2009, was a "local historian, author, teacher and three-term Marquette mayor" as well as a storyteller, guide and mentor to many.
Cynthia Pryor, Sulfide Mining Campaign director of the Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve, who is an active opponent of Kennecott's sulfide mine, said she read Rydholm's book during her first winter living in the Upper Peninsula.****
"From the pages of that book came Fred's spirit," Pryor said. "It transformed me."
Cynthia Pryor, right, of the Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve gives a testimonial in honor of the late Fred Rydholm during a gathering that followed the 2009 Protect the Earth event at Eagle Rock.Some of Rydholm's family members were also present. His widow, June, spoke about how Cynthia Pryor had brought some water from the Yellow Dog River to Fred's bedside, two days before his death, and Rev. Jon Magnuson was also present for a "last rites" ceremony with this water for Fred.
Rev. Magnuson, who was part of the delegation (including KBIC's Susan LaFernier and Protect the Earth co-organizer Gabriel Caplett) who went to London for the Rio Tinto shareholders' meeting earlier this year, led the group in a song, at June Rydholm's request, "The River is Flowing ...down to the sea ..."
The Rev. Jon Magnuson speaks at the memorial gathering for the late Fred Rydholm following the Protect the Earth activities at Eagle Rock on Aug. 2, 2009.In London, Magnuson presented Rio Tinto with 10,000 signatures of Upper Peninsula residents and a message from 100 community leaders opposed to the mine.
Some of the people who gave testimonials at the Aug. 2 memorial at Eagle Rock included children of Huron Mountain Club members, who spoke about childhood memories of Rydholm.
One of those who recounted such childhood memories was Dr. Robert Schreiber of Berkeley, Calif., a member of the Huron Mountain Club, who also commented on Rydholm's spirit and love of people.
"And he was a great storyteller," Schreiber said. "He was the most important person in my life. He was like an older brother, a Dad, a mentor."
Schreiber related how Rydholm took him on hikes in the woods, at night, with no flashlight and no fear.
"That was just a great adventure," he said.
He also described how he was impressed by the way Rydholm treated a disabled person, whose handicap did not reveal to most people how intelligent he was. Schreiber, a physician, now works with developmentally disabled people.
Rydholm spoke at last year's Protect the Earth Summit. A video of his speech at that August 2008 gathering is now available in two separate parts on the Lake Superior Mining News. (The Video is provided by Jeff Gibbs.)
In that speech, Rydholm notes he spoke at the first public meeting on the mine in Big Bay: "I said the only thing that I could think of that would be worse than that mine would be an atomic explosion. I still feel that way."
Editor's Notes:
* Jessica Koski also participated in MTU's Earth Week Speakers' Forum on March 19, 2009. She represented the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES), MTU Chapter, one of the sponsors of the Forum, and introduced KBIC's Doreen Blaker, who spoke about the sulfide mining. Read Keweenaw Now's article on this talk.
Learn about acid mine drainage from sulfide mining on Save the Wild UP.
** Read more about Tim DeChristopher in Part 1 of this Article.
***A report by mining expert Jack Parker of Toivola addresses the safety issue of Kennecott's proposed Eagle Mine. The report is available on Lake Superior Mining News.
**** Rydholm's book, Superior Heartland, a Backwoods History, is a two-volume chronicle of the history of the Central Upper Peninsula of Michigan. First printed in 1989, the book contains more than 1500 pages and 1300 historic photos, maps and illustrations.
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