LaDuke: Offutt and the Anishinaabe

“One thing I’ve learned the hard way is not to collect rain from the roof into my rain barrels. It turns pink, likely from fungicides. I won’t fish anymore in our local lake, which is half a mile from the nearest field, because of pesticide drift, or in the two rivers or creeks nearby — one where children swim — that run through the village. I can no longer pick sage in the prairie for ceremonial purposes. Instead, I have to go deep into the last remaining wild places where RDO doesn’t spray. I can hear them spraying from helicopters as early as 6:30 a.m.” — Evelyn Bellanger, Anishinaabe, Pine Point village

The village of Pine Point is surrounded by industrial agriculture, dominated by R.D. Offutt. On May 3, the company filed a lawsuit in federal court to stop the White Earth Band of Anishinaabe from regulating groundwater permits.

In the lawsuit, R.D. Offutt Farms claims its groundwater withdrawals “have not had, and will not have, a direct effect on the political security, economic security, or health and welfare of the White Earth Band,” according to an MPR News story on May 3.Offutt seeks a dismissal in federal court of the tribe’s ability to protect its groundwater.