Pipelines in the Ceded Territories

To understand the impacts of Line 5 on treaty resources and the exercise of treaty rights, there must be a level of understanding about the landscape before, during, and after pipeline construction.  The information regarding the physical characteristics of the Line 5 area located in the Chequamegon - Nicolet National Forest prior to construction in the early 1950s is lacking, but this section is created using the best available information. 

Click anywhere on the panel on the right to access Section 1. Click on the button on the top right corner of the panel to open Section 1 in a new tab.  

Line 5 requires ongoing monitoring and maintenance activities. Even with these best management practices, crude oil spills have occurred along this and other Enbridge pipelines. Section 2 provides information of past spills and provides context on the economic consequences of these incident. Section 2 also provides an operating plan that would apply to the section of Line 5 that crosses the Chequamegon-Nicolet-Nicolet National Forest and a set of potential permit provisions that could be implemented in the future.

Click anywhere on the panel on the right to access Section 2. Click on the button on the top right corner of the panel to open Section 2 in a new tab. 

Section 3 provides a quantitative analysis of the cumulative environmental risks of existing crude oil and natural gas pipelines in the ceded territories. This section also provides a summary of resources that are currently available to respond to spills and explosions should they occur.

Click anywhere on the panel on the right to access Section 3. Click on the button on the top right corner of the panel to open Section 3 in a new tab. 

Prior to the signing of the 1842 Treaty and the establishment of Wisconsin’s statehood in 1848, the Bayfield Peninsula was primarily managed by the Ojibwe Tribes and by natural processes. Practicing various landscape management techniques such as cutting, burning, and planting, the Ojibwe served as the original forest managers sustaining a subsistence lifestyle in the region. The Ojibwe maintained a semi-nomadic lifestyle based on the seasonality of the resources on which they survived. The Bayfield Peninsula region consisted of the ecosystem necessary to harvest berries and other wild plants that would have been eaten fresh or preserved to be used for food, ceremony or medicines. These traditional lifeways have continued through present times even though the landscape has endured changes in community composition and in land management authorities. 

The Mocquah Barrens area (also spelled, Mocqua, or Makwa by different Anishinaabeg) north of the contemporary township “Ino,” is a very special place to the Lake Superior Ojibwe. This area is known to support abundant wild fruit and plant medicines, which have been harvested by the Bands for hundreds of years. Indications of past use of the area are noted in historical accounts of Ojibwe people who lived in the 19th and 20th centuries. One example of these historical accounts is the Life History of John Condecon which has been compiled by GLIFWC into a story map. Click anywhere on the panel on the right to access the story map.

Click on the button on the top right corner of the panel to open the story map in a new tab. 

The Ojibwe Socio-Cultural section provides a general discussion of how environmental changes affect the relationship of the Anishinaabeg to the land. It also briefly describes how pipelines, Line 5 in particular, further impact the specific relationship of native people with the Makwa barrens.

Click below to view or download the full Ojibwe Socio-Cultural section.

Click below to view or download a poster depicting crude oil pipelines and Ojibwe language place names in the ceded territories.