Submitted- Logan Zakrajshek
Recently the Environmental Action Coalition hosted a film screening of “Bad River”, a film centered around the Bad River Band of Natives American’s efforts in Wisconsin to remove an oil pipeline owned by Canadian oil giant Enbridge that is likely to leak and pollute the Lake Superior watershed. However, environmentalists who watched the film were shocked by the depth of the cultural scars the tribe had endured over its history; including slurs like “spear and indian, save a walleye” spread in the 1980s as a protest to Native fishing rights by conservationists.
“I was shocked to look up and see about a dozen people crying”, said Co-President Logan Zakrajshek. “I think everyone felt how long and personal the tribes’ suffering has been, especially when you hear stories of how they were beaten in reeducation as children and the common trend of treaty rights being non-existent”.
These cultural scars go back to the inception of Enbridge’s pipeline, which was given the right to operate on Bad River Tribal land for 50 years by the Bureau of Indian affairs and not the tribe itself. “Enbridge was required and agreed to remove the pipeline and restore the land, but it is still operating” said film director Mary Mazzio.
Additionally erosion from the Bad River itself has left only 11 feet between the pipeline and the river, with a 40 foot structure of unsupported pipe also being exposed in 2019. These are strains the pipeline was not built to handle, and an environmental impact report by Enbridge itself reiterates they will likely cause a “Catastrophic oil spill”. Despite this Enbridge communications officer Mike Fernadez had this to say on the conflict, “We have a tribal community who is saying we don’t care about the millions of people who are dependent on the oil going through that pipeline”. He seemed to have forgotten the fact that Enbridge itself is responsible for the largest inland oil spills in both the U.S and Minnesota, both events resulting in 2.7 million gallons of oil pollution. Additionally Enbridge has received favorable treatment in the pipelines newest permits, as in 2024 stricter tribal environmental standards were ignored by the Wisconsin DNR for looser state standards; which again ignores to the tribes sovereign rights under the clean water act to legally set its own environmental standards.
However the Bad River Tribe is not alone in bearing the brunt of big oils costs, as although the original route for the Dakota Access Pipeline to go through the 90% WHITE town of bismarck North Dakota, it was rejected due to citizens concerns of how it would affect their drinking water supply and was moved over 40 miles North through the Standing Rock Reservation. Additionally despite Energy Transfer Partners being responsible for 500 oil spills since the start of the 2,000’s (the company building the pipeline), the Trump administration issued an executive memorandum in 2017 for the army corp of engineers to “review and approve” the pipeline as soon as possible after receiving an unrelated 250k from ETP chairman Kelsey Warren. Even the environmental review for the pipeline in 2023 was performed by the company “Environmental Resources Management”, which is a member of the American Petroleum Institution and therefore not likely to be impartial.
The consequences of an oil leak are not a hypothetical for some Native American communities however, as 5.3 million gallons of wastewater containing toxic carcinogens was released from Imperial oil’s tailing ponds directly into local waterways used by the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation in 2023. Even a decade prior to this incident cancer rates were “30% higher” than expected according to a study from the Alberta cancer board, with high levels of mercury being found in deformed pike/pickerel as well. Despite these health concerns the government took “9 months” to notify Athabasca people of the massive wastewater breach, and confidently stated “there’s no indication of adverse impacts to drinking water, fish or wildlife, though contaminants were detected in waterbodies near the site”. However many find this massive assertion unsatisfactory, as a study released this year found the Alberta Energy Regulator (which is responsible for monitoring oil pollution) fails to investigate “97 percent of reported tailing spills”, with approximately ½ of spills that are investigated showing “evidence of environmental harm”.
Between all these examples, it is clear that native peoples are still suffering the effects of systemic oppression which threaten not only sovereignty but the right to a safe clean environment. Collusion between government and the oil industry is uncomfortably tight, especially in the current EPA administration as Deputy Assistant Administrator Steven Cook was a former lawyer for the trade group “American Fuel & Petroleum Manufacturers” opposing regulation on the industry before receiving his position. However there have been some wins, as the Bad River tribe won in court to have the pipeline off their reservation by the year 2026. They, alongside every other indigenous community mentioned here have fought tooth and nail against these unfair and underlegislated oil projects, despite being minority communities with smaller populations and income than almost every U.S state. Sometimes simply knowing these victims still act with such tenacity and agency is enough to give validation and legitimacy to their struggle.
After the Bad River showing, students made a mural for the tribe expressing their support, which will be delivered directly to the Bad River Nation to emphasize that their struggle is not unknown and they aren’t alone.