Press Release Posted on May 19, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- On May 19, 2026, five sovereign Anishinaabe Nations spanning the U.S. - Canada border signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) committing to coordinate their efforts to protect the shared waters, treaty-guaranteed resources, and cultural lifeways of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness/Rainy River/Quetico/Lac La Croix region from the threat of sulfide-ore copper-nickel mining.
The signatories are:
• Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa -- Chairman Robert Deschampe
• Bois Forte Band of Chippewa -- Chairman Carlos Hernandez
• Red Lake Nation -- Chairman Darrell G. Seki, Sr.
• Gakijiwanong Anishinaabe Nation (Canada) -- Chief Carrie Atatise-Norwegian
• Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa -- Chairman Bruce Savage
The signing took place in the office of U.S. Senator Tina Smith, a leading defender of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) and a vocal opponent of the recent congressional action to revoke federal mining protections for the region.
Canada’s Representative Marcus Powlowski, a member of Parliament representing the Thunder Bay-Rainy River region since 2019, joined the group in its Capitol Hill visits as the guest of Chief Carrie Atatise-Norwegian of the Gakijiwanong Anishinaabe Nation, with the support of Grand Council Treaty #3. Located on Lac La Croix, the First Nation is in the path of any sulfide pollution if copper-nickel mining is approved that impacts the BWCA. The National Congress of American Indians assisted with organizing the international effort.
The MOU establishes a framework for the five Nations to communicate, coordinate, and collaborate across the international boundary, including sharing scientific data, developing joint advocacy strategies, engaging with federal and state regulators on both sides of the border, and presenting a unified voice in defense of their treaty-protected homelands. The Nations’ leaders first met to plan the MOU and trip to D.C. at a meeting held on the Grand Portage Reservation on May 1, 2026.
"Our ancestors ceded these lands to the United States in the Treaty of 1854, but only on the condition that we would forever retain the right to hunt, fish, and gather on those lands. Those rights are written into federal law and affirmed by the courts. What good is the right to fish if we can’t eat what we harvest?" said Grand Portage Chairman Robert Deschampe.
Together, the Nations are standing in defense of the Boundary Waters/Rainy River/Quetico/Lac La Croix region and calling for meaningful consultation, treaty-rights analysis, and transboundary review before any mining activity advances.
"As we think about next steps for protecting the water, we know that we are stronger when we collaborate and strategize together as one, regardless of the imaginary line that separates us," said Gakijiwanong Anishinaabe Nation Chief Carrie Atatise-Norwegian. "The intricacies of international law may complicate our coordination, but we stand in unity and solidarity as Anishinaabe people to protect our water. We will use every tool at our disposal to stop any disturbance to these pristine waters."
Chairman Carlos Hernandez reiterated that Bois Forte Members have harvested manoomin (wild rice) within the BWCAW waters since time immemorial.
"Sulfide-ore copper mining threatens the wild rice, the clean water, and the way of life that defines who we are as a people," Hernandez said. "There is no remediation plan that can undo acid mine drainage in the headwaters of the Boundary Waters. Once it is gone, it is gone."
Red Lake’s Chairman Darrel Seki added, "We stand together with our relatives today because the water does not know borders, and neither does our responsibility to protect it. We take our duty to care for and fight for the health of these lands and water with utmost seriousness."
The signing comes in direct response to the enactment on April 27, 2026, of Public Law 119-85, which used the Congressional Review Act to revoke Public Land Order No. 7917, a 20-year protection for over 225,000 acres of federal land in the Rainy River headwaters that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management issued in 2023 following years of government-to-government consultation with the affected Tribal Nations. The revocation, the first-ever use of the Congressional Review Act to strike down a Public Land Order, was accomplished without any consultation with the impacted Tribal Nations and without allowing Tribal leaders to testify before Congress, despite repeated
requests.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has identified sulfide-ore copper-nickel mining as the most toxic industry in the United States. A 2022 U.S. Forest Service study concluded that this type of mining poses unacceptable and irreversible risks to the Boundary Waters watershed. No sulfide-ore copper mine has ever operated anywhere in the world without polluting surrounding waters.
The three Bands that were signatory to the Treaty of 1854 -- Grand Portage, Bois Forte and Fond du Lac -- hold federally reserved hunting, fishing, and gathering rights throughout the 1854 Ceded
Territory, which encompasses the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, the Rainy River Headwaters, and the Superior National Forest.*
Gakijiwanong Anishinaabe Nation holds rights and responsibilities under Treaty No. 3 in the Rainy River, Quetico, Lac La Croix, and Lake of the Woods region. The Red Lake Nation holds sovereign interests and reserved rights connected to the broader Rainy River region that may be affected by transboundary mining impacts.
All five Nations have affirmed that meaningful government-to-government consultation, treaty-rights analysis, cumulative-effects analysis, and transboundary review are required before any
governmental action authorizes or advances sulfide-ore copper-nickel mining that could affect their shared waters and treaty-protected resources.
The five Nations signing this Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) may be joined in solidarity by additional sovereign Indigenous Nations with shared responsibilities to protect these waters in the coming weeks.**
Editor's Notes:
* For maps and information on the Treaty of 1854, CLICK HERE.
** For more photos and information visit the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Facebook page.
