Bad River

Another story showing the hypocrisy of the left.  It's okay, go ahead, feign surprise if you like.  I understand.

Before we get started, I want you to think about your vision of an Indian.  A proud Native American.  Sitting on a horse on the plains, perhaps?  Hunting in the forest?  I'll come back to this later.

Let me get to the main story.  You might not know this but there is a company, Gogebic Taconite, that his proposing to build an iron ore mine in Northern Wisconsin.  There is iron in the ground up there; the county adjacent to the county where I grew up is called Iron County for a reason.  The mines have been closed for a long time, however.  The locals want this mine for the good jobs it would provide.

The left, the Democrats, have been doing everything in their power to stop the mine from being built.  One group caught my eye more than others, though.

From the Huffington Post:
"Wisconsin Iron Mine Project Faces Challenge From Bad River Band Of Lake Superior Chippewa" by Todd Richmond
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/12/wisconsin-iron-mine_n_2672026.html

"The view you get here is the view your ancestors had," tribal chairman Mike Wiggins Jr. said as he scrolled through photos of the reservation's beaches and spectacular sunsets on his laptop. "These things really do matter."

Tribal leaders fear run-off from mine waste will poison the watershed with sulfuric acid and sulfates. Democrats and conservationists agree. A Lawrence University study conducted on behalf of the state's Chippewa tribes concluded that the waste rock could generate acidic run-off, but state officials say there hasn't been an authoritative analysis.

From the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:
"Bad River Chippewa could have say in Gogebic iron ore mine"  by Lee Bergquist
http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/bad-river-chippewa-could-have-say-in-gogebic-iron-ore-mine-ek8pstn-191612841.html

And their statement, on The Water's Edge:
"BAD RIVER BAND OF LAKE SUPERIOR CHIPPEWA INDIANS
POSITION STATEMENT ON PROPOSED GTAC IRON MINE AND PROPOSED IRON MINING LEGISLATION IN WISCONSIN"
http://www.savethewatersedge.com/bad-river-governments-state.html


Now let's take a look a look at reality.  The Bad River Chippewa Indians are HYPOCRITES.  They run a wastewater treatment plant that has violated pollution standards for years.

From Media Trackers:
"EPA Data Points to Clean Water Act Violations by Bad River Chippewa" by Brian Sikma
http://mediatrackers.org/2013/02/25/epa-data-points-to-clean-water-act-violations-by-bad-river-chippewa/

In particular, the reports indicate that the tribe has been releasing excessive amounts of E. coli, phosphorous, and suspended solids into Denomonie Creek, which, according to an issued permit, runs into the Bad River.

A 2009 investigative report by the New York Times found hundreds of facilities around the country that were in violation of Clean Water Act standards. No other facility in Wisconsin, according to that report, had more violations of the Clean Water Act than the Bad River Band’s wastewater treatment facility. The report called the facility a polluter and implied that it was contributing to lower water quality.

Now THAT is saying something.  More violations than any other wastewater plant in the state???  Remember, they're competing with Milwaukee, which dumps vast amounts of raw sewage into Lake Michigan regularly.

Listen to these lies from the Bad River Band of Chippewa:

The Bad River Band and Chairman Wiggins have consistently expressed tremendous concern over water quality in northern Wisconsin as debate over the proposed mine continues to unfold. They argue in part that diminished water quality would negatively impact the wild rice beds of the reservation. In a letter posted to a blog, Wiggins declared, “without our wild rice and Kakagon Sloughs, we won’t live.” State Rep. Nick Milroy (D), declared at one legislative hearing on the mine, “Wild rice is the Eucharist of the Ojibwa people. If we take that away from them, we take away everything that they believe in.”

I don't think we should be listening to a single word the Bad River Chippewa say.  Their words mean nothing.


As promised above, let's go back to our vision of an Indian.  What did you come up with?  Well, let me tell you about what I saw when I was growing up.

Driving through Odanah in the 70's and 80's, seeing the cars lined up at the smoke shop.  Yes, cars.  They had a drive-thru window just to buy cigarettes--by the carton--to avoid the federal cigarette taxes by buying on an Indian reservation.

Later I remember the Casino being built.  There were always cars in that parking lot.  People love to stand in there and put money in the walls.  I didn't understand it then and I don't understand it now.

And through it all, one image stays with me.  The image of the Indian walking with a six-pack in his hands from the gas station on the highway back to his trailer.

I'm not sure exactly how building an iron mine interferes with any of these traditional Indian activities.