Ladysmith, Wisconsin--A July 6 action near this Northern town drew 700
people against the start of site construction for a Kennecott copper
mine next to the Flambeau River. By the end of the following week, 16
arrests had taken place in what organizers dubbed "Flambeau Summer."
The movement against the mine project has developed into a dynamic
regional alliance between Native Americans, environmentalists, and
farmers. The alliance has joined an international campaign--focusing on
Kennecott's parent firm--that has become a model for coordinated global
action against a corporation.
Kennecott's New Coup After 22 years on the drawing boards, the on-
again, off-again project was given the final go- ahead by the state
Department of Natural Resources (DNR) on January 15, as the Persian
Gulf Crisis erupted into war. By giving its approval, the DNR ignored
evidence that any leakage from the copper sulphide mine would release
sulfuric acids and heavy metals into the Flambeau River, only 140 feet
from the mine's edge. The DNR also did not adequately address
information that at least five endangered or threatened species live in
the river's environment--two types of clams, two types of minnows, and
one type of dragonfly. The extinction of these species would indicate
serious water contamination.
The July 6 action was sponsored by the Flambeau Summer coalition,
including such groups as Northern Shield, the Wisconsin Resources
Protection Council (WRPC), Wisconsin Greens, Rusk County Citizens Action
Group (RCCAG), Earth First, Greenpeace, Midwest Treaty Network, and
Anishinabe Niijii (Friends of the Chippewa).
Turning the Treaties Around
Ironically, the same treaties that have set Indian and white
communities at odds over natural resources are now being used to unite
the two communities against an outside corporate threat to the same
resources. While they do not cover mineral rights, the treaties do
guarantee Chippewa access to the ceded territory's fish, game, and wild
rice--precisely the resources that would be endangered by sulphide
contamination.
The Lac Courte Oreilles Reservation (20 miles north of Ladysmith) is
taking steps to challenge the mine project in federal court, using the
treaties as legal tools. Planned oil drilling near Bad River
Reservation, and a planned Noranda zinc sulphide mine near Lac du
Flambeau Reservation, may also be impeded by the treaties. At the July
6 rally, Lac du Flambeau spearing leader Tom Maulson questioned the
anti-treaty protesters' concern for the fish resource, asking "Where
are they now?" Lac Courte Oreilles spiritual leaders Gene Begay and
Mary Ellen Baker offered words of encouragement in the fight against
Kennecott.
A Global Alliance Kennecott is famed for its copper mines from Utah to
Chile (where it played a key role in laying the groundwork for the 1973
military coup). But Kennecott, in turn, is owned by the world's largest
and most controversial metallic mining firm, the London-based Rio Tinto
Zinc (RTZ). RTZ's uranium mine in Namibia and copper mine in Papua New
Guinea have been major issues in those countries' guerrilla wars. Other
RTZ mines have been opposed by Northern Irish, Australian Aborigines,
New Zealand Maoris, Brazilian, Panamanian, and Canadian Indians,
Filipino and Indonesian tribal peoples, and their allies.
The London office of People Against Rio Tinto Zinc and Subsidiaries
(PARTiZANS) has built an sophisticated international movement focusing
on RTZ's abysmal record, and has won significant local victories
through alliances of indigenous peoples, environmentalists, and Third
World nationalists. Last year, PARTiZANS brought Lac Courte Oreilles
Chair Gaiashkibos to London to ask questions at a RTZ board meeting.
PARTiZANS has also coordinated international actions against RTZ. On
the same day as the Ladysmith action, PARTiZANS delivered a small
helicopter to RTZ headquarters in London, dressed up as an endangered
Wisconsin dragonfly. (In April, an Indian support group also rallied at
Noranda's Toronto headquarters to protest that Canadian company's
planned Wisconsin mine.)
Flambeau Summer
Organizers crafted the July 6 action as a compromise between tactics of
direct action (by planning a site occupation) and civil disobedience (by
planning to submit to arrest if confronted by police). After a rally,
marchers converged on Kennecott property, and about 30 started setting
up tents. Lac du Flambeau Chippewa Anita Koser-Thoms claimed the
property as sovereign Chippewa territory. Nearby, marchers chanted
"take back the site," as Minnesota Chippewa Bea Swanson said a prayer,
using the same drum with which she began the marathon drumming across
from the White House during the Gulf Crisis.
On July 10, nine protesters were arrested while blocking an access road
to the site, and two days later seven were arrested blocking the doors
of the Kennecott subsidiary headquarters in Ladysmith, trapping its
local director inside for hours. Organizers made clear in talks with
DNR Chief Carroll Besadny that Flambeau Summer would continue until the
mine site construction is stopped.
PARTiZANS, 218 Liverpool Rd N1 London N1 England
Wisconsin Resources Protection Council, 210 Avon St #9, LaCrosse WI 54603
Midwest Treaty Network, 731 State St., Madison WI 53703
Rusk County Citizens Action Group N3386 CTH G, Ladysmith WI 54848
Tel. (715) 868-1617 or 532-7064
P.S.
Lac Courte Oreilles tribal leader Gaiashkibos has requested that the
Wisconsin DNR reopen the mine permitting process. LCO has gone to
federal court to stop the mine. The Sierra Club has joined this suit.
On September 3 a state judge issued a 30 day restraining order to halt
the construction of the mine while the Wisconsin DNR investigates the
threats to endangered mussels and insects. Supporters are urged to call
Governor Thompson at (608) 266-1212 and the DNR at (608) 266-2121 to
urge them to reopen the permitting process.