Issue 019
The Weekly Brief
For the week of September 13, 2026
The dominant story this week is Enbridge Line 5, and it is moving fast on multiple fronts. A natural gas liquids spill in Iron County prompted the Wisconsin DNR to order a construction halt, tribal leaders and environmental groups called on Governor Evers to shut the project down entirely, and Michigan tribes filed in federal court to toss the tunnel permits. Meanwhile, the fall Mazina'igan arrived with a full issue worth savoring: manoomin harvest previews, ogaa co-management milestones, a birchbark canoe built to honor the 1854 Treaty, and cedar restoration work on Denomie Creek at Bad River. And a Madison school board vote to rename an elementary school after Ada Deer is the kind of quiet, lasting honor that belongs in the book.
Listen to this issue
Spoken by Deepgram Aura. The written brief above is the canonical version.
Across the Twelve Nations
A busy week in northern Wisconsin, anchored by Line 5 and brightened by the fall Mazina'igan.
Wisconsin DNR Orders Enbridge to Halt Line 5 Construction After Natural Gas Liquids Spill in Iron County
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources told Enbridge to stop work on the Line 5 reroute after a major natural gas liquids spill near the Bad River Reservation in Iron County. The order follows multiple notices of noncompliance and adds regulatory pressure to a project already facing federal court challenges filed by Bad River. This is the kind of concrete enforcement action that matters for the chapter, and it will not be the last word.
Tribal Leaders and Great Lakes Groups Demand Governor Evers Halt Line 5 Reroute Following Major Spill
Following the Iron County spill, tribal leaders and organizations from across the Great Lakes region called on Governor Tony Evers to shut down Enbridge's Line 5 reroute project entirely. The coalition's demand signals that the spill has shifted the political calculus, not just the regulatory one. Worth reading alongside the DNR stop-work order for the full picture of where pressure is landing this week.
Mazina'igan Fall 2026: Line 5 Faces Setbacks in Both Wisconsin and Michigan, Including the Iron County Spill
GLIFWC's Mazina'igan provides the most thorough tribal-press account of the Line 5 situation this week, covering the 1,900-gallon drilling fluid spill in Iron County, multiple noncompliance notices, and parallel legal challenges in Michigan. Because Mazina'igan is the paper of record for the Lake Superior Ojibwe bands, this is the source to lead with when the same story appears elsewhere. The piece also offers a Michigan perspective on tunnel permit litigation that the Wisconsin-only coverage misses.
Bad River Forester Plants 400 Cedar Trees Along Denomie Creek to Replace Ash Stand Lost to Emerald Ash Borer
Mashkiiziibii Natural Resources Forester Gena Abramson, with community help, planted more than 400 giizhik (cedar) trees along Denomie Creek on the Bad River Reservation, replacing a green ash stand facing certain death from the emerald ash borer. The creek bears the name of Patty's grandfather, Edward DeNomie, and the work is a quiet act of mino-bimaadiziwin: tending the land for the generations ahead. This is the kind of story that does not make the mainstream press but belongs in the record.
Ojibwe Hunters Prepare for Ninth Consecutive Elk Season in the Wisconsin Ceded Territory
Ojibwe off-reservation hunters are preparing for the ninth consecutive elk hunting season in the Wisconsin Ceded Territory, with the Voigt Intertribal Task Force selecting four bands to receive single bull-only tags for the 2026 dagwaagin harvest. The elk program, built carefully over nearly a decade of co-management, is one of the quieter success stories of the post-Voigt era. It deserves a line in the treaty rights section of the Ojibwe chapter.
Madison School Board Renames Elementary School After Ada Deer, Menominee Trailblazer and Former BIA Head
The Madison Metropolitan School District voted to rename Conrad A. Elvehjem Elementary to Ada Deer Elementary, honoring the Menominee tribal member who became the first Native woman to head the Bureau of Indian Affairs under President Clinton. Ada Deer's legacy reaches across Wisconsin Indian Country, and a Madison school bearing her name is a lasting civic marker of that legacy. The Stockbridge-Munsee Community's Mohican News carried this item, which is the right source to lead with here.
Stockbridge-Munsee Tribal Council Approves Participation in Third Edition of Indian Nations of Wisconsin
The Stockbridge-Munsee Tribal Council formally approved Cultural Affairs' coordination of the community's participation in the third edition of Indian Nations of Wisconsin: Histories of Endurance and Renewal, with Cultural Affairs serving as the primary point of contact. Patty, this one is directly about your book. It confirms that the Stockbridge-Munsee are engaged and that Cultural Affairs is the right door to knock on.
Treaty Rights, Water, and Manoomin
The fall Mazina'igan is a gift this week: manoomin harvest preview, ogaa co-management data, and a birchbark canoe built to honor the 1854 Treaty.
Michigan Tribes Ask Federal Judge to Toss Enbridge Line 5 Tunnel Permits
Michigan tribes filed in federal court seeking to overturn the wetlands and bottomlands permits approved for Enbridge's Line 5 tunnel in July, according to NARF, which is co-counsel. The filing is a direct legal challenge to the permits that would allow the pipeline to continue under the Straits of Mackinac, and it runs parallel to Bad River's ongoing Wisconsin litigation. NARF's account is the right source here, and it belongs alongside the Wisconsin DNR stop-work order as part of the same week's legal picture.
GLIFWC Manoomin Specialist: The 2026 Wild Rice Season Asks Us to Read the Whole Story, Not Just One Snapshot
GLIFWC manoomin specialist Kathleen Smith offers a season preview for the 2026 wild rice harvest across Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan, cautioning that no single weather event or aerial photo captures the full picture of how manoomin is doing. Her framing is exactly right: manoomin teaches patience and attentiveness to the whole season, not just the headline. Read alongside the WPR harvest preview for the complementary view from the ground.
Wisconsin's Wild Rice Harvest Is Expected to Be Up This Year
WPR's Native American coverage reports that Wisconsin's manoomin harvest is expected to come in stronger than recent years, good news for ricers across the Ceded Territory. The season preview complements Kathleen Smith's more detailed GLIFWC analysis and gives a quick orienting fact for anyone following the rice beds. Worth a note in the chapter's manoomin section if the harvest data holds.
Red Cliff Elder Marvin DeFoe Jr. Builds Birchbark Canoe on Madeline Island to Honor the 1854 Treaty
On Madeline Island, Red Cliff Ojibwe elder Marvin DeFoe Jr. led construction of a traditional wiigwaasi-jiimaan (birchbark canoe) intended to honor the 1854 Treaty and the cultural revitalization it helped inspire. DeFoe harvested birch bark using traditional methods and involved community members throughout, making the canoe a living act of treaty commemoration as much as a craft object. This belongs in the same conversation as Wayne Valliere's canoe work at Lac du Flambeau, and it connects directly to the treaty rights chapter.
New LakeCare Program Launches with $5 Million Grant to Protect Aquatic Ecosystems in the 1836 and 1842 Ceded Territories
A new four-year initiative called LakeCare, backed by a $5 million National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant, is launching to protect aquatic ecosystems in Michigan's 1836 and 1842 Ceded Territories from environmental change and shoreline degradation. The program is driven by frontline tribal conservation priorities, and GLIFWC's Mazina'igan is the right source for it. This is the kind of long-horizon stewardship work that fits the Seventh Generation frame.
32nd Annual Partners in Fishing Event Brings Ojibwe Tribes, Wisconsin DNR, and Federal Agencies Together at Lac du Flambeau
Approximately 160 representatives from Ojibwe tribes, the State of Wisconsin, and federal agencies gathered at Lac du Flambeau for the 32nd annual Partners in Fishing event, fishing the Flambeau Chain and discussing co-management of the Ceded Territory's fisheries. Thirty-two years of this gathering is itself a story about what treaty co-management looks like when it works. Mazina'igan's account is the one to read.
Indian Country: Federal, Courts, and Sovereignty
Tribal Nations and Students Sue Bureau of Indian Education Over DOGE-Driven Layoffs and Service Cuts
Three tribal nations, including the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, and students filed amended legal challenges to the Trump administration's Bureau of Indian Education layoffs and restructuring of treaty-mandated programs, with NARF as co-counsel. The lawsuit argues the cuts violate treaty obligations and federal law governing Indian education. NARF's account is the right source, and the Prairie Band Potawatomi connection gives this a Wisconsin-adjacent dimension worth noting.
NARF Report: Native Voters Face Compounding Barriers at Every Stage of the Election Process
A new report from the Native American Rights Fund documents significant, compounding barriers that Native voters face at every step of the election process, from registration to ballot counting. The findings are especially urgent ahead of the November midterms, when mail-in voting restrictions and redistricting fights are already in motion. The report is worth keeping close as Wisconsin tribal communities navigate the same landscape.
Turtle Mountain and Spirit Lake Tribes Forced to Re-Argue Their Successful Voting Rights Challenge in North Dakota
The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians and the Spirit Lake Tribe are back in court, forced to re-argue their successful challenge to a discriminatory redistricting map in North Dakota after a court order sent the case back for re-argument. NARF, which is co-counsel, frames this plainly: the tribes won, and now they have to win again. The pattern of re-litigation as attrition is one Patty will recognize from Wisconsin treaty rights history.
Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes Bring Three Carlisle Children Home, More Than a Century After They Left
The Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes repatriated the remains of three children who died at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, laying them to rest more than 100 years after they were taken from their families. ICT's account names the ceremony and the community's grief and relief. The boarding school repatriation work is accelerating across Indian Country, and each homecoming is its own act of healing.
Stockbridge-Munsee Community Welcomes Home More Than 25 Repatriated Cultural Belongings of Sachem John B. Austin Quinney
The Stockbridge-Munsee Community hosted a Quinney Homecoming Celebration in August, welcoming more than 25 repatriated cultural belongings connected to Sachem John B. Austin Quinney, a foundational figure in Mohican history. The event included workshops on object preservation and community reflection on what repatriation means for living culture. This is NAGPRA work at its most specific and most meaningful, and it belongs in the Stockbridge-Munsee chapter.
Supreme Court's Mail-Ballot Ruling Could Suppress Native Votes in November
ICT reports that the Supreme Court's decision not to challenge Trump's executive order restricting mail-in voting, while ruling on standing rather than merits, leaves the door open for restrictions that could disproportionately harm Native voters in rural areas with limited postal access. The piece connects federal voting policy to on-the-ground tribal community realities in a way that the mainstream coverage does not. Worth reading alongside the NARF voter barriers report.
People Worth Knowing
Hundreds Paddle Canoes Across Big Sandy Lake for the 25th Mikwendaagoziwag Memorial, Honoring the Sandy Lake Tragedy
Hundreds of Ojibwe descendants and supporters paddled more than 30 canoes across Big Sandy Lake in Minnesota to reach the Mikwendaagoziwag Memorial, which GLIFWC and a dozen Ojibwe bands created 25 years ago to commemorate the Sandy Lake Tragedy of 1850, when the federal government's forced removal killed hundreds of Lake Superior Ojibwe. The 25th anniversary of the memorial is itself a milestone. The paddle is an act of collective memory that does not require a press release to matter.
Mohawk Ironworker, Fourth Generation, Reflects on 9/11 and the World Trade Center His Family Helped Build
ICT's 9/11 anniversary piece centers a fourth-generation Mohawk ironworker who helped build the World Trade Center towers and returned to Ground Zero after the attacks. His account is specific and personal in exactly the way Patty's journalism ethic demands: not a statement about Native people and 9/11, but one man's story of labor, loss, and presence. The Haudenosaunee ironworking tradition is one of the great untold chapters in American labor history.
Gloria Steinem Walks On; Her Friendship with Wilma Mankiller Remembered
Gloria Steinem, the feminist journalist and Ms. magazine founder, died this week. Native News Online's remembrance focuses on her decades-long friendship with Wilma Mankiller, the late Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, a relationship that crossed movements and deepened both women's political vision. Mankiller called Steinem one of her closest friends. For anyone who has written about Indigenous women's leadership, this friendship is part of the record.
Long Read
One piece worth fifteen minutes this week.
Ten Years After Standing Rock: Exclusive Documents Reveal How Digital Mercenaries Ran a Propaganda War Against the Water Protectors
High Country News obtained exclusive documents showing that digital mercenaries hired by pipeline interests ran a sophisticated propaganda operation targeting Standing Rock communities and stirring up anti-protest sentiment during the 2016 Dakota Access standoff, a campaign that shaped public perception and policy in ways still being felt. The piece is reported history at its best: specific actors, specific tactics, specific harm. Ten years on, the Standing Rock story is not over, and this investigation adds a chapter that Indian Country journalism had not yet told. For Patty, who has written about the relationship between media framing and treaty rights, this is essential reading about how the information environment around Indigenous protest gets manufactured.