Hunting, fishing and blueberry gathering have already been hampered because development has gobbled up prime land, Koski said.

“Right now it’s an access issue, with the complete bulldozing,” Koski said. “If and when the mine opens, it will be pollution impacting wildlife and treaty-protected resources."

“It is still very sacred to us.”
One company compromise – providing access to Eagle Rock – hasn’t mollified tensions. Eagle Rock is a spiritual gathering place.

“We went there early afternoon on a Saturday, had to show our ID’s … show our tribal cards,” Koski said. “We had to put on bright green and red vests, wear safety goggles … there were cranes everywhere … we were escorted by two company officials.”

Blondeau said the state requires the company to protect the rock’s surface and prohibits any mining activities on the rock. But to the Keweenaw Bay community, these requirements haven’t protected the rock’s essence.

“We used to drive up freely without permission or being escorted, now there is a high berm and a barbed wire fence,” Koski said. “We aren’t able to stay the night or do any traditional fasting. The whole integrity of the site is disturbed. But it is still very sacred to us.”

Fitch said that Kennecott has provided adequate access. He referred to the site as “the so-called Eagle Rock.”

“It never had that name before the project, but I guess there’s an oral tradition,” Fitch said.

It’s these kinds of communication breakdowns that are at the heart of persistent Native American environmental justice issues across the country, Whyte said.

“When a tribe expresses its own knowledge and conceptions of things like the environment to companies or officials, and it is respected, justice issues like being able to protect sacred sites and clean water are often handled in a fair way,” Whyte said.

He said the state and federal government has a mixed record on handling Native American issues, and he wasn’t so sure that this open communication was happening in the upper reaches of Michigan – especially over Eagle Rock.

“I think it’s fair to question whether the company, federal and state governments are truly respecting the unique caretaking practices of the tribe for that space,” Whyte said.

Littered with litigation
The only federal regulatory hurdle Kennecott faced was approval of the Environmental Protection Agency’s underground injection control program. After reviewing the treatment plans, the EPA determined a federal permit wasn’t necessary.

The Keweenaw community initially reached out to the EPA but did not get very far, Koski said. The EPA acknowledges that environmental justice issues persist in Native American communities, even accepting some blame.

“The environmental justice issues facing Native American communities range from direct environmental, public health, cultural and sacred sites impacts, to lack of meaningful involvement and fair treatment in the governmental decision-making processes,” according to an emailed response by the EPA’s press office.

The EPA did not comment on relations with the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community.

Fitch said the state has included the tribe every step of the way.

“They were there when we went over the rules and didn’t say much. We had meetings at the governor’s office with them and they didn’t say much,” Fitch said. “Now they come out and they’re critical, and that bothers me.”

Koski said the tribe has opposed the mine since talks began. Failing to make much progress at the state or federal level, the Keweenaw Bay community has reached out to the United Nations, meeting with James Anaya, the UN's special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples.

4 Comments

1. 1. dbtinc 03:53 PM 6/12/12

   It's time for all this silly religionist nonsense to be relegated to the dump. Great spirits, god, magic sky people ... it's all the same.

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2. 2. marclevesque in reply to dbtinc 05:16 PM 6/12/12

   "It's time for all this silly religionist nonsense to be relegated to the dump. Great spirits, god, magic sky people ... it's all the same"
   
   Instead, I suggest it's time for less corporative chatter about "the great chief economist and his invisible hand", "socio-economic law", and "free market utopias".

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3. 3. notslic 06:46 PM 6/12/12

   While I tend to agree with anything that is anti-religion, the concept of worshiping the sun, the water, the animals and the land...the things that we need for life...makes sense. dbtinc obviously lives in the city; he goes to the market to get food, turns on the tap to get water. The concept of thanking the water for giving you fish, thanking the sun for growing your crops, thanking the sky for giving you rain, is beyond his little empty mind.
   
   Native worship is about and being thankful for LIFE.

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4. 4. Rockchips 05:59 PM 6/18/12

   What is this article doing in a scientific magazine?.

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