Since time immemorial, Tribes have used the sacred area around and within what’s now known as Pipestone National Monument in present-day Minnesota. Members of all federally recognized Tribes can and do use the land for sacred ceremonies, including making ceremonial pipes from the sacred red pipestone which can only be found here.

The Pipestone National Monument is on the Yankton Sioux Tribe’s ancestral homelands, and their inherent rights were affirmed in an 1858 treaty with the U.S. government in reserving “free and unrestricted use of the red pipestone quarry.”

In violation of this treaty, the Magellan Corporation is planning to reroute a fossil fuel pipeline that would threaten these sacred lands and waters. All of the pipeline’s proposed route options are within or adjacent to the Yankton Sioux Tribe’s 1858 Treaty Lands.

We submitted thousands of public comments lifting up the Yankton Sioux Tribe’s Official Tribal stance, which called this pipeline reroute “a dangerous and destructive project” that poses a threat to “one of the most sacred resources to… many Tribal Nations across the United States.” The Tribe noted that pipeline leaks could “bring oil into the pipestone itself, which is a painful threat to Native Spirituality.”

Unfortunately, in an insufficient environmental review and approval process that failed to consult with impacted Tribes and necessary federal agencies, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission recently approved the project. The 3-2 ruling lacked necessary Tribal consultation and did not consider the proximity of the pipeline to this sacred site.

Now we only have until Tuesday, November 12 to request an appeal of this decision to approve the project. So we’re urgently seeking petition signatures between now and then.

Please add your name now to request reconsideration of the decision to approve the dangerous Magellan Pipeline reroute, which threatens the Pipestone National Monument.