Finally, after 7 years of Indigenous-led resistance to Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline expansion (NOT replacement) project, the huge Treaty People Gathering with thousands on site broke through mainstream media silence. Media coverage helps protect people doing direct actions from police violence, informs the public about how their/our tax dollars are being misspent, and raises the interlocking issues of climate, justice, land use, Indigenous leadership, wild rice harvesting, and more.
Here are some headlines:
The New York Times finally started paying attention: Police Make Mass Arrests at Protest Against Oil Pipeline
Minneapolis daily, The Star Tribune, ran several articles including this one: Protesters maintain blockade at Minnesota oil pipeline site
(Note: this article repeats Enbridge’s propaganda that Line 3 is a replacement; it is an entirely new, and much larger, line.)
Washington Post‘s coverage, unsurprisingly, featured Enbridge talking points in the headline: Pipeline protesters seize Minnesota construction site in bid to stop $4 billion project
Alternative media offered more in-depth and Indigenous-centric coverage:
Courageous livestreamers from Unicorn Riot covered the Treaty People Gathering actions on June 7th and 8th. Unicorn Riot is a decentralized non-profit media organization which has been reporting on the Stop Line 3 struggle for years – please view these powerful videos: Rising Up to the Heat: ‘Treaty People Gathering’ Resists Line 3 Pipeline
[Unicorn Riot has also done consistently amazing work through the George Floyd uprising and Black Lives Matter movement in Minneapolis. — Ed.]
Democracy Now‘s coverage on June 8 featured organizer-attorney Tara Houska speaking to the thousands of Water Protectors and an interview with Honor The Earth Director Winona LaDuke, as well as videos of arrests and the attack by the Border Patrol helicopter: “Not Having It”: Winona LaDuke on Mass Protest by Water Protectors to Halt Line 3 Pipeline in Minnesota
Common Dreams reporter Brett Wilkins filed an excellent overview of the struggle: ‘Which Side Are You On?’: #StopLine3 Protesters Appeal to Biden on Historic Day of Action
