Can abundant outcries across different demographics be enough to stop a billion dollar cooperation fueling the engine that is American capitalism? We’ll find out in this week's episode of Environmental Perspectives as Ojibwe Tribal Historian, Ella Moriarty, and Penokee Hills, WI local councilman, David Peirce, explore the grassroots battle against the proposed Gogebic Taconite pit mines along Wisconsin’s Penokee Hills and Bad River Watershed. Using each of their respective knowledge bases, they discuss responding to Indigenous treaty rights, environmentalism of the poor, protection of sovereign nations, and systemic collapsing of ecosystems. Most importantly, they break down how the spread of activism for this issue among both Bad River Ojibwe members and non-indigenous locals fueled a powerful resistance movement, ultimately halting the drill and extraction of the Gogebic Taconite pit mines. 

Audio Files Used: 

Transition Music: 

https://freemusicarchive.org/search?adv=1&quicksearch=chill%20nature&&Links to an external site. 

https://freesound.org/people/klankbeeld/sounds/624374/Links to an external site. 

Sources Used: 

https://ejatlas.org/conflict/iron-mining-in-the-penokee-hillsLinks to an external site.

https://www.wpr.org/economy/work-continues-close-penokee-hills-mining-siteLinks to an external site.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oeh9GJzqJKMLinks to an external site.

https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2013/related/acts/1.pdfLinks to an external site. 

https://progressive.org/magazine/tribe-s-stand-corporate-mining/Links to an external site.

https://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2015/03/03/bad-river-win-gogebic-taconite-putting-wisc-mine-hold-159434Links to an external site.

https://nelson.wisc.edu/blogs/badrivermaps/teaching-with-the-maps/Links to an external site.

https://www.sierraclub.org/wisconsin/success-storiesLinks to an external site.

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/30/opinion/sunday/the-fight-for-wisconsins-soul.html?_r=1Links to an external site. 

https://woodsperson.blogspot.com/2012/02/potential-impact-of-waste-rock-and.htmlLinks to an external site. 

https://www.wausaudailyherald.com/story/opinion/2015/03/19/gogebic-taconite-mine-never-made-sense-wisconsin/25005443/Links to an external site. 

https://millelacsband.com/home/mining-impactLinks to an external site. 

https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/Mines/Gogebic.htmlLinks to an external site.