Minnesota tribe invokes treaty rights in fight to stop pipeline

WHITE EARTH RESERVATION, Minn. — Todd Thompson stood at the end of a handmade wooden pier, some of the planks cracked and bowed. He stared out onto the lake. Under the bright blue sky, a dozen or more fat cumulus clouds cast shadows on the water. Short green stalks of wild rice poked up from the depths, covering the surface like a thick carpet, swaying gently with each passing breeze.

Aspens lined the lake’s edge, and birds sang from their hiding places in the reeds. Mosquitoes whined in their search for fresh blood.

“It might be a good year this year,” said Thompson, referring to the upcoming wild rice harvest. “It don’t look patchy, like it’s been.”

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/6/24/minnesota-tribe-invokes-treaty-rights-in-fight-to-stop-pipeline.html