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For Immediate Release

Hundreds to Mobilize Against Line 3 Tar Sands Pipeline in Minnesota in Advance of MN Court of Appeals Decision by June 20

Treaty People Gathering to build grassroots call for Biden to protect treaties, water and climate.

WASHINGTON

Indigenous leaders and climate activists will gather in Northern Minnesota from June 5th to 8th protest construction of the Line 3 oil pipeline and uphold treaty rights, with major public events on Monday June 7th.

WHO: Frontline Indigenous leaders, hundreds of water Protectors and allies resisting Line 3

WHERE: Northern MN, exact location will be announced closer to event

  • For planning/lodging: Bemidji, Detroit Lakes, and Park Rapids are examples of cities along the route.

WHEN: Monday, June 7th (Public Events)

PRESS LOGISTICS:

  • Document for traveling to Minnesota + Line 3 details and background
  • Visit StopLine3.org and treatypeoplegathering.com

Hundreds of people will travel to the frontlines of Line 3 pipeline construction to protect the land and raise awareness of the ways the tar sands expansion project threatens Indigenous lifeways and the future of the climate. Enbridge is building Line 3 through Anishinaabe treaty land and the Mississippi headwaters despite multiple tribal-led lawsuits and powerful frontlines resistance.

"We need to protect all that we have left of the sacred gifts and land. I said that I would do all that I could. And I have done all that I could in the legal system, thus far following that process. Now, they have failed us through regulatory capture and corporate financing. So now we need you," said Dawn Goodwin of the RISE Coalition.

At the start of June, as Enbridge resumes full scale construction and prepares to drill under dozens of Minnesota's rivers and lakes, hundreds of water protectors will travel to the frontlines to support the Indigenous-led resistance to construction. Those who are planning to attend vow to peacefully disrupt construction of Line 3.

Speaking about the need for this mass mobilization, Tara Houska, founder of the Giniw Collective, said, "Our Mother needs us to be brave, to give voice to the sacred and future generations. We've elevated the national profile of Line 3 through people power. Biden hears our voices, but the wetlands and wild rice need action. We cannot mitigate climate crisis and we cannot stand idly by as DAPL and Line 5 fossil fuels flow illegally, as young people chain themselves to Mountain Valley pipeline and Line 3. Stand up for what is right, stand up for those not yet born."

If completed, Line 3 will transport more than 760,000 barrels of toxic tar sands oil per day, at a cost of over $4 billion dollars. The pipeline would also cross more than 200 water bodies including under the Mississippi River twice, as well as sensitive watersheds, ecosystems and pristine landscapes in northern Minnesota.

Anishinaabe tribes and allied groups have been resisting the construction of Line 3 across Minnesota since it was proposed in 2014. Since construction began in December of last year, water protectors have delayed construction through non-violent direct action and peaceful protest. More than 250 people have already been arrested protesting construction.