CRANDON MINE
THREATENS CHIPPEWA WILD RICE BEDS

In 1806, the Mole Lake Band of Sokaogon Chippewa engaged in a fierce battle against Sioux Warriors to maintain possession of their wild rice beds. When the battle ended, over 500 Chippewa and Sioux Warriors were buried in a common mound. Today, over 200 years later, the Mole Lake Tribe is once again in grave danger of losing their wild rice beds to the perils of sulfide mining.

Indian Tribes with reservations and off-reservation harvest rights in northern Wisconsin are particularly susceptible to the negative impacts of mining. Their cultures mandate respect for Mother Earth, and humility and gratitude for the resources it provides. The development of a major sulfide mine of a scale such as the one proposed near Crandon is one of the largest single land-use alternations that humans can make to the natural environment. The proposed mine and 350-acre toxic waste dump site (to be situated at the headwaters of the pristine Wolf River) is less than two miles from the Mole Lake reservation, Rice Lake, and it's feeder stream Swamp Creek. Wild rice is critical to the Tribe both spiritually and culturally, and provides nutritional and economic benefits as well. Any changes in water levels caused by the pumping of ground water from the mine, or heavy metal pollution from sulfide mining would devastate both the rice beds and the Tribe. The Chippewa, along with other Indian nations in northern Wisconsin, already suffer a disproportionate environmental risk of illness and other health problems from mercury and other toxins. The importance of healthy ecosystems to subsistence hunting and gathering in Northern Wisconsin can be seen in the fact that 86% of Chippewa families rely on hunting and fishing for food, and over 90% rely on gardening, ricing and picking wild plants. For the Mole Lake Tribe, the unacceptable risks associated with the proposed Crandon mine and toxic waste dump threatens their traditional way of life, and indeed their very existence as a culturally distinct people.

Wild rice is also vital to the ecology of shallow water wetlands in Wisconsin. Besides the historic and contemporary use by Native Americans, wild rice is important to many species of wildlife. Waterfowl, in particular, depend upon the nutritious seeds for critical subsistence prior to fall migration. Approximately 32 acres of wetlands would be obliterated by construction of the proposed Crandon mine. In addition, the continual pumping of groundwater from the mine site will inevitably lower the water table and negatively impact area lakes, streams and the Wolf River.

We must recognize the rich cultural heritage associate with wild rice and the need to protect this vital natural resource for future generations. Wisconsin SS Ch. 132 mandates "protection for the scarcity of wetland types (e.g. fens, wild rice lakes) which are regionally scarce and possess special resource, economic and cultural significance".

To protect tribal resources and assert tribal sovereignty, the Mole Lake Chippewa have developed a multifaceted strategy that includes: (1) developing tribal water regulatory authority under the provisions of the federal Clean Water Act; (2) joining with their non-Indian neighbors in the Town of Nashville to oppose the mine and develop economic alternatives to mining jobs; and (3) developing statewide and international anti-mining alliances.