Cynthia Pryor, a resident of Big Bay, Wisconsin, was recently arrested and charged with trespass near Eagle Rock, a site considered sacred by the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community.
Eagle Rock is located on land purchased by Rio Tinto mining for its Eagle Project, a plan to blast a portal through Eagle Rock and mine underneath the Salmon Trout River, a tributary of Lake Superior. Members of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community are developing plans to camp on Eagle Rock, in defiance of Rio Tinto’s “no trespassing” signs, in an effort to stop the mining project.
The protest comes as the mining industry is moving ahead with plans to open five uranium mines located on the Wisconsin/Michigan border.
Anti-mining activist Guy Wolf explains, “All are sacred sites to Tribes in the UP, all are located on critical watersheds that link them to Lake Superior and even to potential waters in Northern Wisconsin.”
The situation at Eagle Rock and the threat of a resurgence of mining in Wisconsin will be discussed at the Spring meeting of Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice, in Oneida on May 15, which will have a special focus on environmental justice issues.
Contact Guy Wolf, Coulee Progressives, 608.788.7293, wolfclan3@centurytel.net, to learn how you can help support Native American activists and others in their efforts to block these destructive mining projects.
Stand for the Land focuses on news relating to public land issues, treaty rights, and related citizen activism in the Upper Great Lakes Region. Stand for the Land will post up-to-date information regarding the on-going peaceful protest at Eagle Rock led by members of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community.
