Above: The “Sled Dogs to St. Paul” rally in Grand Marais Harbor Park included words from John Morrin of Grand Portage, vicechairman of the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Inset right: Marco Good and Yvonne Mills sang two songs. They encouraged the crowd to sing along. Upper right: Especially meaningful was the participation of the Stonebridge Singers of Grand Portage. Lower right: A kiss for luck. Sherrie Moe gives her husband Frank Moe a kiss just before he takes off on his almost 400-mile journey to St. Paul.
Over 100 people gathered in Harbor Park in downtown Grand Marais on Thursday, March 1. Some came specifically to take part in the Sled Dogs to St. Paul rally to stop non-ferrous mining in Northern Minnesota. Some were drawn by the song of the Grand Portage Stonebridge Singers drum or by the barking of excited sled dogs. No matter why they came, all stayed to listen.
Marco Good of Grand Marais welcomed the crowd and said, “This is not about mining and jobs, it’s about protecting our natural resources!”
He introduced John Morrin of Grand Portage, vice-chairman of the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Morrin spoke of his community’s ties to the land. “The Grand Portage Band is concerned about the impact of mining on wild rice—on our surface and ground water. It is imperative to stand up to protect the land that our tribe has subsisted on for thousands of years.”
Good echoed Morrin’s words, noting that this region is the only place in the world where wild rice grows. He said research shows that sulfates, a by-product of non-ferrous metals mining, is harmful to wild rice.
Good introduced Bill Hansen of Sawbill Outfitters in Tofte who said some of the most powerful words in history are: “We hold these truths to be self-evident…” Hansen then read his own list of truths, of concerns about sulfide mining, stating that there is no evidence that mining for copper, nickel, and other non-ferrous (non-iron) metals from sulfide rock in Northern Minnesota can be done without harming Minnesota’s natural resources.
Marco Good picked up his guitar and returned to the microphone. He explained that folksinger Larry Long had written a song just to commemorate Sled Dogs to St. Paul. “He wrote this just for Frank Moe, for this trip—a trip that would not have been possible until this storm,” said Good, gesturing to the snow banks in Harbor Park.
Yvonne Mills joined him and they played and sang the very poetic Generations to Come, calling on the crowd to sing along.
“What really scares me,” said Good as the song ended, “is that all our politicians, DFL and Republican, agree…They all agree that there will be sulfide mining in Northeastern MN. We need to tell them that the people don’t want this!”
Good and Mills performed another song, written by Duluth songwriter Sara Thomsen, Precious Waters—We Don’t Want Your Mine.
Finally, the man of the hour, former State Representative and Colvill musher Frank Moe, who was heading off on a dog sled journey to take petitions with signatures to the Minnesota State Capitol, spoke. He thanked all of the people who made the idea of running a team of dogs from Grand Marais to St. Paul possible. He thanked the people who worked to put together the rally at Harbor Park, which included the music, signs, and animal masks. “Thanks to all of you. Otherwise I’d be running the dog sled without anyone knowing about it.”
“We all depend on clean water,” said Moe. “It’s the lifeblood of our community.”
Moe said he wouldn’t go into detail about his concerns about mining. He encouraged people to go to www.sleddogstostpaul.org for more information. He encouraged audience members to sign one of the petition he and his dogs were taking to the Capitol. He encouraged the audience not to be discouraged. He noted that Minnesota was one of the first states to pass legislation against genetically modified organisms (GMO) because of concerns on how it would affect Minnesota’s fishery. “We fought Monsanto,” said Moe. “No one thought we could win that fight, and we did. It was the same coalition we have now—sportsmen, fisherman, Native Americans—people who care about our natural resources!”
Moe thanked the crowd again and headed to his dog sled. With a kiss for luck from his wife, Sherrie Moe, he took off, escorted on snowmobile by mushing colleague Odin Jorgenson. Traffic stopped and bystanders stared at the sight of a dog team heading down Wisconsin Street, to Broadway and out of Grand Marais on the North Shore State Snowmobile Trail.
As the sound of the runners on the road and the barking of the dogs faded, the Stonebridge Singers drummed a travel song to send Moe on his way.
At press time, Moe had covered 300 miles and was about 45 miles from the State Capitol. The trip included a stop in Finland where he met up with Dave and Amy Freeman and accepted petitions from the Ely area. There was another stop and rally in Duluth with speakers Will Munger of Duluth; Karen Diver, chairwoman of the Fond du Lac Tribe; Water Expert Nancy Schuldt and another appearance by Bill Hansen of Tofte.
Moe and the dog team should arrive at the State Capitol at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, March 8. Another rally is planned for the lawn of the Capitol, with a performance of Generations 2 Come by Larry Long, drumming by the Anishinaabe/Lakota drum group Ringing Shield and remarks by several people including Representative Alice Hausman and Senator Mary Jo McGuire. Frank Moe will also say a few words before delivering the petitions to Governor Mark Dayton’s office.
At press time it was not known if Governor Dayton would meet with Moe. Sled Dogs to St. Paul organizers hope he will. As Moe said on the Conservation Minnesota Voter Center website: “Governor Dayton and his commissioners are the only ones in Minnesota with the power to do any writing. They will decide whether Minnesota’s environment, and those jobs that it currently supports, will be sacrificed. What will Northern Minnesota’s legacy be? This chapter is still being written.”
Moe hopes that the governor will listen at the end of his journey— like the 100-plus people who gathered at Harbor Park at the beginning of his journey.
Leave a Reply