³This road would not be going through this area if it were a Catholic church, a synagogue or a mosque,² said Earth First! activist ³Martial Law,² ³There are no people besides the Native Americans that must prove something is sacred to them. We call on all people of faith to join the struggle to protect these sacred sites, to save the homes and to preserve the fragile ecosystem the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MNDOT) plans to pave over. We are being very reasonable and using the hunger strikes only as a defensive tactic.²
With this impassioned plea, four occupants of the Minnehaha Free State announced their intention to conduct a hunger strike until the construction of Highway 55 near Coldwater Camp is called off and the land claims of the Mendota Mdewakanton are recognized.
Since mid-August a coalition of activists from Big Woods Earth First!, the Mendota tribe and the American Indian Movement have successfully used direct action tactics to hold off bulldozers. The announcement of the hunger strike came immediately after the latest raid on the Minnehaha Free State. Activists are now preparing to spend the cold Minnesota winter defending the encampment, vowing not to give up their position on the Mississippi floodplain until the road project is canceled.
On October 14, while a ³Stop the Reroute² rally was being held on the courthouse steps in downtown Minneapolis, 60 riot police descended on the Minnehaha Free State. Bulldozers were again moved in to tear up the utility lines connected to the squatted houses. Authorities were met by a base crew that had stayed behind in anticipation of just such a surprise (not!) attack. The police closed off the streets for several surrounding blocks and formed a moving human blockade around the machinery as it went about its destructive work. Within an hour, over one hundred people had come from the rally to the free state to bear witness to the action. Eight activists were arrested as they tried to stop the bulldozers. The police applied pain compliance holds, hurting several of the nonviolent activists. Protesters quickly took up positions to attempt to block the police van containing the arrested activists; seating themselves across on the road, they chanted ³Let them go!²
Many other developments have taken place and several victories won since the occupation began three months ago. In early September, Spiderman and the Green Lantern scaled a 150-foot crane and dropped a banner that read, ³Stop the Reroute of 55-Earth First!² When the police arrived, they commented, ³We wonıt arrest you, but you canıt do this everyday.² Spidey hung underneath the banner for about five hours until the strong winds forced him to descend. No arrests took place, but the rope and banner were confiscated.
A few days after Spideyıs bit of guerrilla theater, tension in camp escalated when workers and machinery from MNDOT and Minnegasco utility company arrived on the street to tear up the utilities. Everyone in camp was alerted with whistles, and in no time people were in position for a raid. Earth First! and the Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota tribe decided long ago that we would block the progress of the road every step of the way. Just after the first front-end loader was rolled off the trailer, an activist named Special Sauce locked his neck to the hydraulic lift of the machine. Solstice then locked down to the other machine in a similarly precarious manner. The street began to fill with state trooper vehicles as well as a fire truck and Minneapolis police. Press releases were immediately sent out and soon every local TV station was on site. Amidst all of the chaos, the MNDOT foreman on the site promised that if the EF!ers would unlock, he would pack up and go home for the day. Both Solstice and Special Sauce made it clear that they were not against the workers, but that they were forced into their positions by MNDOT and that they would not unlock until the reroute was canceled.
The foreman said he understood the protest and wanted no one to be hurt. He told police that he could have a person on site in 30 minutes to dismantle the equipment but the police opted to use the ³jaws of life² instead. Despite many pleas from the activists for the police to join the protest, the locks were cut and the EF!ers, who went limp, were carried to the police cars screaming ³Earth First!² A vigil of activists sang songs outside the jail until both protesters were released on their own recognizance later that evening. Solstice and Special Sauce were charged with trespassing, disorderly conduct and failure to obey a lawful order.
The encampment hosted the Mendota Mdewakantonıs first-ever pow-wow on September 27. More than 500 people came by the protest throughout the day to witness the very spiritual celebration of the sacred trees and the cold springs, and to honor Mother Earth. After many hours of dancing and traditional tribal drumming and singing, the event ended with a giant feast. Also, a Midwest Regional Rendezvous was held at the Minnehaha Free State the second week of October.
The campaign to stop the reroute of Highway 55 will be continued until the project is canceled and all native land claims are upheld. The free state needs your help! All are welcome to join the fight to help change the way America looks at road building and Native American land rights. Contact us at Big Woods Earth First!, POB 580936, Minneapolis, MN 55458; (612) 362-3387/Minnehaha Free State (612) 728-0595; earthfirst@juno.com . If you canıt join us, you can help by contacting MNDOT Commissioner James Denn at (651) 297-1467; Representative Martin Sabo at (612) 664-8000; Commerce at The Crossings, #286 250 2nd Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55401, martin.sabo@mail.house.gov; Minneapolis Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton at (612) 673-2100, City Hall Room 331, 350 South 5th St. Minneapolis, MN 55415, mayor @ ci.minneapolismn.us. MN Attorney General Skip Humphrey at (612) 225-0726; Senator Paul Wellstone at (612) 645-0323 ; 2550 University Avenue West, Court International Building, St Paul MN 55114; senator@wellstone.senate.gov. Tell them to stop the reroute of Highway 55 and to support the Mendota land claim.