All 12 federally recognized Indigenous tribes in Michigan sent Joe Biden a letter on Friday laying out a plan for the president to shut down the Line 5 oil pipeline, which stretches 645 miles from Superior, Wisconsin, to Sarnia, Ontario, as part of Canadian pipeline giant Enbridge’s Lakehead System. The aging 3-mile section that runs under the Straits of Mackinac in particular poses a severe threat to major waterways in the area, including Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. As the coalition of organizations known as Oil and Water Don’t Mix note, “Line 5 has spilled 33 times and at least 1.1 million gallons along its length since 1968.” Sections of the pipeline were damaged in 2018 due to an anchor hitting the twin pipes under the Straits of Mackinac and additional damage in 2019 from Enbridge contractors, essentially make the pipeline a ticking time bomb for environmental disaster. “We view Line 5 as an existential threat to our treaty-protected rights, resources, and fundamental way of life as Anishinaabe people of the Great Lakes,” the tribes wrote. The 12 tribes make up the Three Fires Confederacy of the Odawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi. What the tribes propose is for the president to publicly support Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s order to shut down the Line 5 pipeline through an official statement of interest via the Justice Department. Read more