No shutdown, but Line 5 demonstrations go on

May 14—MACKINAW CITY — An eviction notice taped to Enbridge's gate at its Line 5 pipeline facility near McGulpin Point served as a continuing reminder that the petrochemical pipeline is at the center of a fierce battle.

Sean McBrearty, Oil & Water Don't Mix's coordinator, read aloud a litany of allegations concerning the pipeline and its crossing under the Straits of Mackinac: flaunting Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's order to shut down the pipeline by Wednesday, violating Native American treaty rights, threatening the Great Lakes and more. A circle of cheering demonstrators listened as they gathered on Headlands Road in the facility's driveway Thursday.

Enbridge vowed to defy the governor's Wednesday deadline, arguing that only the federal government has the authority. Litigation between the state and company continues as Enbridge contests the governor's revocation of a bottomlands lease where Line 5 crosses the Straits of Mackinac.

"We're here today to tell Enbridge enough is enough, it's time to pack up and go home," McBrearty said.

Indigenous people from tribes across Michigan were among the 150 or more to march or ride from pipe and water ceremonies in Mackinaw City to more ceremonies by McGulpin Point for the second day of a two-day event. A group of women water protectors performed Ojibwe jingle dress and water ceremonies, just before organizer Nathan Wright and three other men waded out to a massive boulder.

The waters there are deeply sacred to the Anishinaabe people, said Wright, founder of Indigenous water rights group MackinawOde and a Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians citizen — he put them on the order of Jerusalem.

"We can tell you that this is our most sacred area but I want to show you why it's sacred to us," he said. "I want people to ask, 'Why are they doing this?'"

His aim for the day was to serve as a reminder of the waters' importance, and help people keep that in perspective amid the battle involving so many issues, from global warming and environmental concerns to tribal sovereignty.

It was also a show of solidarity to Bay Mills Indian Community, which days earlier adopted a resolution banishing the pipeline from any land or water ceded in an 1836 treaty by the tribe and four others — Grand Traverse of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians among them.

Beatrice Menasé Kwe Jackson, a spiritual healing consultant from Cedarville and Grandmother of the Three Fires Midewewin Lodge, explained the water ceremony and jingle dress dance, as well as how women came to be water protectors. As they care for the water, it cares for them, and clean water means women can have healthy babies.

She saw being there and taking part as doing her job.

"If you are here, you're doing your job as a human being, I don't care what race you are, you're doing your job to protect the water and stand up for the water," Jackson said.

Indigenous communities around the world are threatened by oil pipelines, and their women are in danger of sexual assault and human trafficking, said Holly T. Bird, a Pueblo, Yaqui, and Apache attorney from Traverse City. She referenced reports of sexual assault by workers on Line 3, another Enbridge pipeline being replaced in Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Numerous hands went up when Bird asked if anyone knew a survivor of sexual assault, with a few saying they knew more than one.

Linda Nockinendeh later identified herself as one, and the Oneida Nation resident said she takes part in the ceremony on behalf of others with a dress that was gifted to her.

Bird and others that day had another demand, one that touches on a nationwide tragedy still taking place: No more missing or murdered Indigenous women.

Enbridge doesn't tolerate illegal or exploitive behavior, and the company worked with Minnesota and area tribes on a human trafficking prevention plan, company spokesman Ryan Duffy said in an email. That plan included creating a human trafficking reporting hotline.

Enbridge insists the pipelines are safe and in good condition, and recent changes like warning buoys and automated messages make the risks of future anchor strikes even lower. The company and pipeline supporters say it's a vital transportation route for oil and propane to the Upper Peninsula, and a planned tunnel to replace it will provide numerous jobs, as previously reported.

But a past strike and other damage done to the pipeline, including some by company contractors, are among the reasons critics of the crossing and others fear a devastating spill.

Duffy in the email said the company values engagement with indigenous people and works with them in a way that respects their rights.

"We are open to discussions with Michigan Tribes anytime, anywhere," he said.

Similar claims from the company ring hollow to Bay Mills Indian Community President Whitney Gravelle, she said, pointing to the company's disregard to calls from tribes around the state to cease operating Line 5. Past leaks elsewhere along the line already have harmed treaty rights, she said.

Gravelle told a crowd that gathered back in Mackinaw City after the morning's activities that the tribes that gave up millions of acres of land and water knew they had a sacred duty to preserve their peoples' way of life seven generations into the future.

"It is our duty as tribal nations to not only look at treaties as a thing of the past but something that should be honored into the future as well," she said. "And we need to continue to remind our state and federal agencies that it's not just a written document, it's something that they have an obligation to honor, to preserve and to protect for the rest of time."

Earlier that day, Wright turned and raised a fist to the crowd who had gathered on the shore to watch as he and three others waded to a big boulder. It wasn't long after many raised fists on the driveway of Enbridge's facility.

His wade to a boulder he called a grandfather was a shortened version of a ceremony making an offering to Mishiibizhiw, a horned underwater panther in Anishinaabe legend who keeps balance in the water. The constant battle between Mishiibizhiw and another legendary creature, the Thunderbird or Animikii, maintains another kind of order.

"It is our reminder that sometimes we have conflict, but through that conflict we can become better people," he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.