From ABS News.
Stupak Says EPA Decided Not to Require Federal Permit at Kennecott Mine
From ABS News.
Keweenaw Bay Indian Community
EPA Visits Eagle Rock
BIG BAY, Mich. – As the top government official who oversees Great Lakes water quality stood on the edge of sacred Eagle Rock, overlooking a pristine expanse of the Yellow Dog Plains, she gained a better understanding about why the state-owned land is sacred to Michigan’s Ojibwa.
“I very much understand what their concerns are – and that is one of the things we are considering as we moved forward on this,” said Tinka Hyde, Water Division director for Environmental Protection Region 5. “We realize that Eagle Rock is of cultural and religious importance to the tribe.”
Hyde was one of three EPA regional bosses from Chicago and the agency’s tribal liaison for Michigan who were given a tour of the area May 13 by officials from the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community during a two-day visit to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Members of numerous tribes including Ojibwa, Cherokee and Lakota had been camping at the base of Eagle Rock since April 23 in hopes of preventing Kennecott Eagle Minerals from building a nickel and copper sulfide mine – named the Eagle Project. At the company’s request, state and local police officers raided the encampment May 27 arresting two campers.
Under federal treaties, Ojibwa have rights to hunt, fish and gather on the state of Michigan owned land. The state leased the land to Kennecott with the understanding that all permits must be approved.
Hyde said any ruling the EPA makes about the withdrawal of state and federal permit applications by Kennecott subsidiaries will be based solely on environmental protection laws, primarily the 1974 Safe Drinking Water Act.
IPR on Eagle Rock Controversy
From IPR:
Listen
Photo courtesy of Yellow Dog Summer
Protestors of Michigan’s decision to permit underground mining at Eagle Rock near Marquette took petitions to the state capitol Thursday. Members of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community say Eagle Rock is a sacred site to them, and a mine dug into the face of the rock will destroy it.
Eagle Rock is located on state land leased to Kennecott Minerals.
State law says mining operations have to take into consideration impacts to places of worship. But state officials ruled that places of worship means those located in a building such as a church.
Matthew Fletcher is an American Indian and professor of law at Michigan State University. He says any appeal of the state’s ruling about sacred places may not be a sure winner.
Listen to Bob Allen’s chat with Fletcher by playing the audio above.
Interlochen Public Radio Points North Rebroadcast on Eagle Mine–Friday at 7Pm Eastern
Here.
We’ll post it here as well when it is archived.
More News Coverage of Eagle Rock Protest
KBIC, Kennecott to talk – From Mining Journal
http://www.miningjournal.net/page/content.detail/id/543915.html?nav=5006
Article in the Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cynthia-pryor/a-sacred-fire-is-burning_b_567652.html
Miigwetch to A.K.
ICT Coverage of Eagle Rock Protest
From ICT:
As the spirits whispered through the towering pines on 40 mile per hour winds atop sacred Eagle Rock, American Indian warrior Levi Tadgerson said, “you can feel our relatives and the spirits with us.”
He stood on the cliff’s edge looking out upon northern Michigan’s Yellow Dog Plains for another approaching storm – literally and figuratively – as Tadgerson’s fellow warriors are trying to stop an international mining giant from destroying the site where Ojibwa ceremonies have taken place as long as elders can remember.
In late April, Kennecott Eagle Minerals began site preparation work for its sulfide mine called the Eagle Project. The entrance to the nickel and copper mine will be built at sacred Eagle Rock.
“We are defending the water, we are defending our treaty rights and our right to practice our culture,” said Tadgerson, who describes himself as “an Anishinaabe man who loves and respects the environment.
“We’re defending our right to live a healthy life and have our kids live a healthy life.”
The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community and numerous environment groups are worried because sulfuric acid is a byproduct of sulfide mining plus several companies have announced plans for dozens of similar mines.
Kennecott says environmental protection is a major concern, but opponents say the way the company has operated other mines doesn’t show it.
Eagle Rock News Coverage
Freep Editorial on the Kennecott Mine and Its Impact on Indian Sacred Sites
From the Freep:
UP mine threatens sacred tribal rights
BY JESSICA L. KOSKI
For far too long, the voices of affected and concerned Ojibwa people have been ignored in the midst of Kennecott’s proposed Eagle Mine in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
I am a member of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, and we did not invite Kennecott, a subsidiary of multinational mining giant Rio Tinto, to come into our ceded homelands and reservation territory to explore for minerals, blast into our sacred site, and leave behind a dying legacy of colonialism.
Indigenous peoples throughout the world are on the front lines of similar pressures to develop resources within their homelands, with little regard for their aboriginal rights. There is little mainstream media attention bringing awareness to these issues, despite a global movement for indigenous rights and numerous case studies on the impacts of mining and other extractive industries on indigenous communities.
In addition to the proposed Eagle Mine, Rio Tinto’s intentions to open up six additional mine sites, and increasing mineral exploration throughout the entire Lake Superior basin, are threatening Ojibwa treaty rights. Through treaties with the federal government, Ojibwa leaders ensured permanent reservations and retained rights to hunt, fish and gather on ceded lands. If the water and land are polluted from harmful mining, how will our treaty rights and cultural values be honored and continue into the future?
Geroux v. Assurant: Federal Court Remand to Tribal Court Reconsideration Denied
Materials here:
DCT Order on Motion to Reconsider
Union Security Insurance Motion for Reconsideration
Geroux Brief in Opposition to Reconsideration
Earlier materials in this interesting case are here.
Turtle Talk 
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