Last week, the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa’s tribal council had a meeting
with Gov. Scott Walker at the Capitol. The meeting concerned the
planned Gogebic Taconite mine on the Bad River Watershed, which will
blast down to the iron ore and, in the process, create a four- to
five-mile open pit mine. Open pit mining is the most primitive and
environmentally destructive form of mining that is still practiced
today, and this is only the first phase of the project.  

The
Gogebic company and its supporters have boasted about the economic
benefits the mine will bring to Wisconsin, claiming it will directly
create 700 mining jobs and indirectly create almost 3,000 jobs in the
trucking and foundry industries. The proposed mining project would bring
in hundreds of millions of dollars per year to the state. 

However,
the Bad River Band has concerns. They believe acid run-off from the
mine will destroy their watershed and ruin their traditional rice
harvests. The council feels it has been excluded from the planning
and approval process for their lands and waters, and wants to ensure it
will have control in the environmental regulation for the mine. The Band
insisted that contested case hearings, which allow citizens to contest a
mining permit before it goes to trial, should be preserved. The current
draft bill eliminates this process, giving the Native Americans no
say. 

For the Bad River Band, the proposed site of the Gogebic mine is their home.

“This is our land. This is where we live. We can’t just pack up and move,” said Frank Connors, a member of the tribal council.If
anybody has the right to determine the future of the land and resources
of the Bad River Watershed, it is the Native Americans who live there.  

Although
Walker met with the Bad River Band, he seems to be indifferent to their
requests. He said he supports the mine as long as it doesn’t harm other
business sectors in the state, such as farming and tourism. Apparently,
Walker listened to the Band’s thoughts about mining laws and then
disregarded them. The discussion about the process is moving forward. It
seems the governor wants to make good on the mantra of creating
Wisconsin jobs and won’t be dissuaded by the demands of the state’s
Native American people.  

It
is disappointing that the rights of Native Americans will once more be
trampled in the pursuit of natural resources and economic interests. The
consistent and systematic disregard for their rights to land use and
resources is one of the ugliest and most tragic aspects of American
history, and if the Gogebic Taconite mine opens up on the Bad River
watershed, it will confirm that American government still disrespects
its native people. 

Today,
Walker, lawmakers, the Gogebic Taconite company and the state of
Wisconsin have an opportunity to be leaders for the rest of the country
and set an example for the future of Native American rights, both with
regard to land and resources and as fellow citizens. Wisconsin could
show the rest of the country that it values the cultural history of the
Bad River Band and its right to a clean and healthy watershed more than
the taconite lying in the ground beneath them. 

I hope that those who will decide the
future of this taconite mine realize that Wisconsin doesn’t need jobs
and money that come at the cost of disregard for the dignity and civil
rights of the Native American people who have lived here longer than
Wisconsin itself existed.  

Charles Godfrey ([email protected]) is a sophomore majoring in math and physics.