{"id":13717,"date":"2022-07-06T09:00:30","date_gmt":"2022-07-06T16:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cldc.org\/?p=13717"},"modified":"2026-04-03T18:57:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T01:57:12","slug":"anishinaabe-water-protectors-cases-dismissed-on-indigenous-sovereignty-grounds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cldc.org\/hi\/firelight-victory","title":{"rendered":"Anishinaabe Water Protectors’ Cases Dismissed on Indigenous Sovereignty Grounds"},"content":{"rendered":"

ANISHINAABE WATER PROTECTORS\u2019 CASES DISMISSED ON INDIGENOUS SOVEREIGNTY GROUNDS<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<\/strong><\/p>\n

July 6, 2022<\/p>\n

Contact:<\/p>\n

Claire Glenn, Attorney-Fellow for the Line 3 Legal Defense Project<\/p>\n

(541) 687-9180 or info@cldc.org<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Three Indigenous Water Protectors have had their criminal cases dismissed in a major legal victory for Indigenous sovereignty and treaty-reserved rights.<\/p>\n

Anishinaabe Water Protectors Nancy Beaulieu, Justin Keezer, and Todd Thompson were charged with criminal trespass for their presence at the Fire Light Camp, an eight-day ceremonial camp held at the Mississippi River in June 2021.\u00a0 The Fire Light Camp was located on territory ceded to the United States by treaty, where Enbridge Energy Corporation was building its Line 3 fossil fuel pipeline to cross the river near its headwaters.<\/p>\n

Pipeline construction threatened sacred waters, including the Mississippi headwaters, as well as the concomitant ability to hunt, fish, gather, and engage in religious and cultural practices central to Anishinaabe people, and threatened the safety and wellbeing of Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirits as part of the epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives. \u00a0In the face of these threats, Indigenous Water Protectors and their invited guests lit a ceremonial fire, gathered in prayer, and camped on the matting that stretched over the Mississippi River so that Enbridge\u2019s pipeline could be built through it.<\/p>\n

Fire Light Camp participants were originally charged and prosecuted for trespass by the State of Minnesota in Clearwater County District Court.\u00a0 The cases of several Indigenous participants were subsequently transferred to White Earth Tribal Court, including the cases of Ms. Beaulieu, Mr. Keezer, and Mr. Thompson.\u00a0 Last week, White Earth Tribal Court Judge David DeGroat issued an order granting the three Water Protector\u2019s motions and dismissing their cases on grounds that their actions were lawful exercises of sovereign Indigenous rights reserved in the 1855 Treaty and protected nonviolent direct action pursuant to the White Earth Tribal Code.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a landmark case,\u201d Mr. Keezer explained.\u00a0 \u201cAs Judge DeGroat\u2019s order states, neither treaty nor federal law purports to divest Anishinaabe people from our sovereign usufructuary rights on our treaty-ceded lands, including the right to hold religious ceremonies, invite guests of our choosing to share in those experiences, and protect the water that is life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy goal was to redefine the relationship we have to nature and the way we view rights,\u201d Ms. Beaulieu stated.\u00a0 \u201cColonized courts define nature as property, property to be exploited under capitalism.\u00a0 But native people have relationships with nature and an inherent ancestral obligation to protect the land and water not only for ourselves, but for our children and grandchildren.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is simple,\u201d Mr. Thompson described.\u00a0 \u201cWe have a connection to our land.\u00a0 We are caretakers of our land.\u00a0 The land is who we are and how we take care of our families.\u00a0 We have inherent rights from the creator, and a responsibility to defend our way of life, and it doesn\u2019t get any higher than that.\u201d<\/p>\n

All three Water Protectors emphasized that this was a collective victory, one that required standing together in the face of an often-intimidating colonized legal system.\u00a0 They expressed hope that this victory will inspire others to know their rights, take action, and join them in the future.<\/p>\n

Ms. Beaulieu, Mr. Keezer, and Mr. Thompson are represented by Claire Glenn, Attorney-Fellow for the Line 3 Legal Defense Project of the Civil Liberties Defense Center and the Water Protector Legal Collective.<\/p>\n

Please join us Wednesday July 6, 2022, at 10am PT \/ 12pm CT at a press conference to review this major legal victory for Indigenous sovereignty and the right to protect sacred water and ancestral lands.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Link to join: tinyurl.com\/B72JP75S.<\/strong><\/p>\n

For more information please view the following:<\/p>\n

Order Granting Defendants\u2019 Motions to Dismiss<\/a><\/p>\n

Beaulieu Motion to Dismiss<\/a><\/p>\n

Keezer Motion to Dismiss<\/a><\/p>\n

Thompson Motion to Dismiss<\/a><\/p>\n

Exhibits to Motions to Dismiss<\/a><\/p>\n

Figures to Motions to Dismiss<\/a><\/p>\n

###<\/p>\n

The <\/em>Civil Liberties Defense Center<\/em><\/a> supports movements that seek to dismantle the political <\/em>and economic structures at the root of social inequality and environmental destruction.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ANISHINAABE WATER PROTECTORS\u2019 CASES DISMISSED ON INDIGENOUS SOVEREIGNTY GROUNDS \u00a0 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 6, 2022 Contact: Claire Glenn, Attorney-Fellow for the Line 3 Legal Defense Project (541) 687-9180 or info@cldc.org   Three Indigenous Water Protectors have had their criminal cases dismissed in a major legal victory for Indigenous sovereignty and treaty-reserved rights. Anishinaabe Water […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":13721,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,721],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cases","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cldc.org\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cldc.org\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cldc.org\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cldc.org\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/90"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cldc.org\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13717"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cldc.org\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13717\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17171,"href":"https:\/\/cldc.org\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13717\/revisions\/17171"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cldc.org\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cldc.org\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cldc.org\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cldc.org\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}