Ojibwe tribes from Wisconsin back EPA in lawsuit by 12 states over water rights

Two Ojibwe tribes from Wisconsin have come to the defense of the Environmental Protection Agency against a lawsuit filed by 12 states over water rights.

The Lac du Flambeau and Sokaogon (Mole Lake) tribes joined five other tribal nations from around the country in defending the EPA’s new tribal water rights rule under the Clean Water Act.

The rule, which was finalized in May, requires state and federal governments to consider the rights of water-dependent tribal nations when setting pollution limits for waterways.

Republican attorneys general from a dozen states, including Iowa, South Dakota, Alaska and Wyoming filed a lawsuit against the EPA May 28 challenging the new rule.

Their lawsuit alleges the EPA is exceeding its authority with the new rule, and alleges the rule is too vague.

The seven tribal nations joining to defend the EPA’s rule are being represented by attorneys from Earthjustice, a nonprofit group of environmental projection attorneys, and the Native American Rights Fund.

“Preserving and protecting the earth, air and water is at the core of who we are as a people,” said Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe Tribal President John Johnson in a statement. “This has been a guiding principle for us well before the United States even existed.”

The six Ojibwe bands in Wisconsin have historically fought to maintain their treaty rights to hunt and fish in millions of acres of former Ojibwe territory in northern Wisconsin that was taken by the United States.

“Our ability to hunt, fish and gather is directly impacted by the health and sustainability of earth, air and water and memorialized in our treaty rights with the United States,” Johnson said.

He added that tribal officials are guided in their decisions about environmental protection by the “Seven Generations” principle, meaning that the resources, or “relatives” in Indigenous thinking, should be preserved or made even better for at least the next seven generations.

“We ask how our decisions today impact those who come after us hundreds of years from now,” Johnson said. “We respectfully ask every level of U.S. government to do the same.”

Attorneys for the tribes argue that the EPA has never had a formal rule outlining the specific process and obligations for states to consider tribes in determining a state’s water quality standards. They argue that tribal water rights are often addressed by state regulators in an ad-hoc and adversarial manner at the end of the process. They said that water quality needs are different for tribal members because they consume more wild fish and aquatic plants, such as wild rice, than non-Indigenous people.

“This is just the latest senseless attack on the Clean Water Act at a time when we need to be increasing our efforts to protect and conserve our nation’s waters,” said Earthjustice attorney Gussie Lord in a statement addressing the states’ lawsuit. “The tribes are going to defend the water and defend their reserved rights.”

Native American Rights Fund attorney Daniel Cordalis said states have a legal and moral obligation to protect tribal rights when setting water quality standards.

“For states to fight a practical and needed rule is frustrating because it shows the ongoing effort to subordinate tribal rights in state water management.”

More: Great Lakes tribes teach 'water is life.’ But they’re forced to fight for a voice in safeguarding it.

Frank Vaisvilas is a former Report for America corps member who covers Native American issues in Wisconsin based at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact him at fvaisvilas@gannett.com or 815-260-2262. Follow him on Twitter at @vaisvilas_frank .

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Ojibwe tribes from Wisconsin back EPA in lawsuit by 12 states over water rights