Prairie Island Vigil #2 Oct 12

Bruce Drew (bdrew@igc.apc.org)
Sat, 1 Oct 1994 19:58:00 PDT

As a result of clandestine arrangements between the CEO
of Northern States Power Company and some Minnesota state
senators Minnesota became the first state in the nation to
permit a permanent high-level nuclear waste dump to be built
within its borders.
Saturday, August 27, 1994 was a National Day of Protest
against this affront to the environment and against the
racism inherent in the location chosen for this dump.
Demonstrations occurred in New Mexico, Michigan, Nebraska,
North Carolina, Texas, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Nevada,
Massachusetts, Connecticut, Georgia and California on that
day.
At the Prairie Island plant more than 700 people joined
in ceremonies to disapprove the storage of nuclear waste
next to the Mdewakanton Dakota community. They joined in a
native American ceremony honoring the river, then marched to
the nuclear plant. They participated in the web of life
ceremony which covered the fence and street in front of the
plant with a dense web of yarn. Thirty-six of them were
arrested for trespassing on land claimed by the Northern
States Power Company.
Although almost 1000 persons (including the Red Wing
Police and other observors) were involved, it is notable
that no report of this action appeared in any of the Twin
Cities major newspapers, TV or radio news.
The next Vigil for Survival will occur at the NSP
Plaza, Fifth Street and the Nicollet Mall, in downtown
Minneapolis, at noon on Wednesday, October 12 1994. The
demonstration will be solar powered with speakers and
entertainment. We will weave another web of resistance.
Bring your friends and plenty of yarn.
Sponsors for this protest include, besides the
Coalition, Women against Military Madness (Minneapolis, MN),
the Downriver Alliance (Minnesota & Wisconsin), the
Indigenous Women's Network, Greenpeace, Nukewatch (Madison,
WI) and the Nuclear Information and Resource Service
(Washington, DC). Call 612/333-5807 or contact the writer
for more information.
Training in non-violent direct action will be available
at 6:30 pm on Sunday, October 9th, in the 3rd Floor
Conference room at the Sabathani Center, 310 E 38th Street
in South Minneapolis.
Bruce A Drew
4425 Abbott Av S
Minneapolis MN 55410-1444
612/927-5087
bdrew@igc.apc.org