August 13, 2026.
SAULT STE. MARIE, MICH. – Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians Chairman Austin Lowes issued the following statement today regarding the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ decision to approve a key permit for Enbridge’s proposed Line 5 tunnel project beneath the Straits of Mackinac:
Yesterday was a dark day for Tribal Nations across the Midwest. It is a dark day for the Great Lakes, the environment, and all those who hold a special place in their hearts for the Straits of Mackinac.
Oaths have been broken. Tribal sovereignty ignored. The federal government’s Indian trust responsibility disregarded.
The United States Army Corps of Engineers has approved a key permit Enbridge needs to construct a tunnel beneath the Straits of Mackinac. A tunnel that threatens to unearth and violate the bodies and spirits of our ancestors who have been at rest since long before colonization.
And all this betrayal for what? The benefit of a Canadian mega-corporation worth billions of dollars? Under the guise of a national energy emergency?
Thankfully, construction cannot begin at this time. The Michigan Supreme Court recently vacated permits issued by the Michigan Public Service Commission. Enbridge must reapply and go through that permitting process again.
So, despite the Corps’ decision, this project has by no means been given the green light to begin construction.
Enbridge also has a long history of broken promises and spilling millions of gallons of oil. Let us not forget the disasters near Kalamazoo, Mich., and Grand Rapids, Minn. Two of the largest inland oil spills in United States history occurred under Enbridge’s supervision, spilling nearly 2 million gallons of oil combined.
Is this the fate that awaits Line 5 and the Great Lakes tunnel project?
We can only pray to the Creator that it is not.
The Straits of Mackinac have been sacred since time immemorial.
Anishinaabe people see the Straits as multidimensional. It is home to both the physical and the super-physical. The two are interwoven as one. We cannot have one without the other. It has been this way since Creation.
Our stories tell of Mackinac Island being the first land to appear after the Great Flood receded. As far back as we can trace our oral histories, the Straits have held significant cultural meaning to Anishinaabe people. For centuries, the area was a hub of trading networks and a place for ceremony.
The water, plant and animal life, spirits, and our ancestors and their belongings buried there are not simply resources to be disposed of to fulfill a government permit.
We must care for our ancestors and protect the Straits. This is integral to our way of life.
If Enbridge begins boring a 4-mile-long tunnel beneath the Straits of Mackinac, it will disturb and uproot venerated areas. For us, these are the bones and spirits of our grandparents, our Ogemmag, our leaders, and honored Ogichidaag, our warriors.
For Enbridge, it may be another load of earth moved during construction.
For us, it is our ancestors.
And when people visit Lake Michigan during the summer if construction is ever underway and hear the constant hum and feel the vibration of industrial equipment for months on end, we will know what lies beneath it.
Our ancestors.
The Straits, and all the Great Lakes, should never have been threatened by Line 5 to begin with. The irreversible harm that could be caused to the Straits of Mackinac, and the physical, mental, and spiritual burden tribal communities would bear while recovering our resting relatives, cannot be dismissed as another cost of construction.
We do not trust Enbridge.
And we are deeply disappointed by the Corps’ decision to grant Enbridge the permit needed to take the next step toward construction.
That disappointment is made greater by the process that brought us here.
On Monday, following short notice, the Sault Tribe was granted one hour of virtual consultation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Our subject experts voiced concerns about the tunnel, the permitting process, treaty rights, our ancestors, and the cultural and environmental consequences of this project.
Following that consultation, we were given just 24 hours to submit written comments.
We made our position clear.
There should not be oil pipelines underneath the Straits of Mackinac.
We know the coming years may be difficult for everyone who values the Great Lakes. But we are not done fighting.
In fact, if there is a silver lining throughout this process, it is that Michigan’s 12 federally recognized tribes have never been more united. Just this Tuesday, leaders and representatives from all 12 tribes assembled at Bay Mills to discuss our shared concerns and strategies for responding if the Corps issued Enbridge’s permit.
On Wednesday, we received that answer.
And we cannot overstate how shortsighted we believe this decision is.
In 1836, our ancestors signed the Treaty of Washington. That treaty is federal law. The record, including the Corps’ own findings, shows that construction and operation of Enbridge’s tunnel would diminish treaty-protected fishing, access, cultural practices, ceremonies, ancestral relationships, and the resources and conditions that make those rights meaningful.
Consultation does not supply tribal consent.
Our treaty rights are not expendable.
The United States made a promise in 1836. The Army Corps had an opportunity and a responsibility to uphold that promise.
With this decision, the Corps has failed to honor its treaty obligations.
But this decision is not the end.
The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians will continue to stand with our sister tribes. We will continue to protect our treaty rights. We will continue to protect our ancestors. And we will continue to defend the Straits of Mackinac and the Great Lakes for the generations yet to come.