Dear friends,
I don’t do this very often, but this is a call to rally the troops.
As you likely know, folks in Michigan’s far North in the Upper Peninsula have been battling Kennecott for nearly five years now. Kennecott/Rio Tinto proposes to blast a portal to its new metallic sulfide mine through a sacred site to the Ojibwe known as Eagle Rock, Migizi Waasin. Recently, it seems, Kennecott (the same company that mined at Ladysmith and is proposing to mine in Aitkin County, Minnesota as well as in Michigan) made a big mistake and arrested a citizen for sitting on a stump with her dog on public land, close to Eagle Rock. The company has a pending lease for the property, but it is conditioned on the company first receiving all necessary permits to mine. One permit (from the EPA) has not yet been granted, so the land lease is not valid (not that it would be, really, even if they had all of their permits).
Members of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community have taken a strong stand for the land, for the water (the proposed mine site is about ten miles from the shores of Lake Superior) and the sacred site. Right now, about 5 of them are perched atop the site of the mining company’s proposed portal. They welcome visitors to the site (you do not have to trespass, you can meet them at the end of the road). They need food, blankets, prayers, spiritual support, emotional support and legal support. If you have suggestions or ideas, if you would like to come for a visit, if you need a place to stay or a little funding for gas, please email me (kettu2010@callta.com) or my friend Teresa Bertossi (teresabertossi@gmail.com).
Here’s a link to stories about the issue we face:
http://standfortheland.com/ This is a blog recently put up just for the issue.
http://miningjournal.net/page/content.detail/id/543341.html?nav=5006
I thank you from my heart for your help … in whatever form it might take.
Sincerely,
Laura Furtman
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