In modern-day Minnesota, Pipestone National Monument is the only place with sacred red pipestone, which is known among the Oceti Sakowin as “the blood of our people. ”Tribal members carry on ancient practices there, such as quarrying the stone by hand to carve ceremonial pipes, as well as sacred ceremonies, prayers, sweat lodges, and sun dances. But this sacred place is under threat: The fossil fuel corporation Magellan wants to route an oil pipeline through it.

As Iktomi Wašte Wiŋyaŋ Favel with the Brave Heart Society explained, this project “to transport gas” within and adjacent to “one of our most sacred sites” could “be extremely fatal to our Oceti Sakowin spiritual way of life.”

In partnership with the Yankton Sioux Tribe, the Brave Heart Society, and the Redstone Movement, Native Organizers Alliance Action Fund has delayed this pipeline project before by sending a flood of public comments to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission.

Last time, Minnesota Public Utility Commissioners listened -- citing the public backlash as a main reason why they rescinded their permit for the pipeline. They ordered the Magellan Corporation to center Tribes in future decision-making and coordinate with Tribes on cultural and archeological surveys of the area.

But Magellan violated these orders, excluding Tribes, the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council, and key sacred sites from their cultural survey. Their survey is unacceptable.

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission has again opened up a public comment period, inviting comments on what actions the Commission should take with the new survey, and what actions they should take regarding the permit for the proposed pipeline project.

They need to hear from you to reject the incomplete survey and to deny the project altogether. That’s what they need to do in order to protect the sacred Pipestone National Monument, Tribal sovereignty and treaty rights, cultural and spiritual continuity for hundreds of Tribes, and endangered species and ecosystems.

Minnesota’s Public Utilities Commission is currently accepting public comments on a proposed petroleum pipeline threatening the Pipestone Quarry in what we now call Southwestern Minnesota. Pipestone is sacred. The red stone quarried there carries deep cultural, spiritual, and historical meaning for Indigenous peoples and must be respected and protected for generations to come. The Rise & Repair Alliance calls for abandoning attempts to re-open this pipeline and for decision-makers to honor their responsibility to safeguard sacred land, public safety, and our collective futures.

Sept. 4, 2026, at 4:30 p.m. - Reply comment period closes

Sept. 11, 2026, at 4:30 p.m. - Supplemental comment period closes

Docket #: IP-7109/PPL-23-109