rich 1.0 Action Network https://actionnetwork.org <link href='https://actionnetwork.org/css/style-embed-v3.css' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' /><script src='https://actionnetwork.org/widgets/v6/form/protect-pipestone?format=js&source=widget'></script><div id='can-form-area-protect-pipestone' style='width: 100%'><!-- this div is the target for our HTML insertion --></div> Native Organizers Alliance Action Fund https://actionnetwork.org/groups/native-organizers-alliance https://can2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/groups/default_facebook_images/000/022/886/original/NOA_ActionFundBanner2.png?1668645803 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. Now we need to speak up again to fully stop it. Last time, Minnesota Public Utility Commissioners listened -- citing the public backlash as a main reason why they rescinded their permit for the pipeline.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. Please sign now to submit the below public comment to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (and customize by adding your thoughts in the optional text box): “I urge you to reject this inadequate, inaccurate, and incomplete cultural survey — which excluded Tribes, the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council, and important sacred sites. Please support the No Build alternative and deny the permit for this destructive pipeline reroute project (Docket No. IP-7109/PPL-23-109). The proposed Magellan pipeline reroute threatens rare and endangered species as well as the spirituality and cultural continuity of hundreds of Tribal Nations. It would violate Tribal sovereignty and treaty rights, and could harm the health of the local community and the health of the largest aquifer in the U.S., which 74 percent of people in South Dakota rely on for drinking water. Please act now to protect the sacred Pipestone National Monument and its adjacent lands and waters.” Please sign to submit your public comment, and add additional information in the optional text box to customize your comment. https://actionnetwork.org/forms/protect-pipestone