When the Chippewas Are Down

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Posted by Grist at 12:00 PM on 23 Mar 2006

Three years ago, the Sokaogon Chippewa tribe of Northern Wisconsin bought the nearby site of a proposed mine, winning a 30-year battle to preserve their land and community. But this April, the mortgage comes due, and the tribe is still struggling to raise money to pay it off. Tribe member Tina Van Zile leads a virtual walking tour of her community, reflecting on the past fight for justice, her present frustrations, and her hopes for future generations.

new in Main Dish: When the Chippewas Are Down

see also, in Grist: Poverty & the Environment, a special series

For story: When the Chippewas Are Down
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When the Chippewas are down

I work for another Ojibwe tribe, and we all cheered for Mole Lake when they were able to buy out the mine they had fought for so many years. So much effort went into building a case for protecting their way of life. And it's happening again, today, in northern Minnesota. There's been a sudden, recent explosion in mining re-starts and new start-ups, with unknown impacts to the natural resources that tribal members have relied upon for centuries. We shouldn't have to keep fighting this battle; the mining companies need to bear the true costs of what they profit from, or they shouldn't be allowed to do business.

by boozhoo at 6:55 PM on 23 Mar 2006

website

Your home page is the only page I could access. I'm interested in the commemorative mine borings. Any chance they'll be available again?

by psradd at 7:05 PM on 23 Mar 2006

Wisconsin's victory over the Crandon mine

The defeat of the proposed Crandon mine is 2003 was the result of a 28-year battle that brought together Native American nations with white sportfishing groups (who had earlier fought the tribes over treaty rights), environmentalists with unionists, and local rural residents with urban students. You can learn more about the historic grassroots alliance from the Midwest Treaty Network at http://www.alphacdc.com/treaty/content.html and the book chapter "Defending a Common Home" at http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-64531-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html But the final victory of "people power" over the mining multinationals (such as Exxon, Rio Algom and BHP Billiton) will only come when Mole Lake is able to settle its purchase debt, and together with the Forest County Potawatomi can begin to manage the site's natural and cultural resources for future generations.

by Zoltan at 1:59 PM on 24 Mar 2006

When the Chippewas Are Down

I took the "Virtual Walking Tour" hoping to become better informed. The audio was so woefully bad that I could hardly understand a thing that was said. Yes, I did turn up the volume, and yes, my first language is English.

Luckily, the text was readable, so it wasn't entirely a waste of time watching.

by Yoyo at 5:11 PM on 28 Mar 2006

ADVERTISING POLICY

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