Megan Wittman, megan.wittman@sierraclub.org
Wisconsin – A new documentary on the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa highlights its ongoing fight for sovereignty, including a David & Goliath battle to protect Lake Superior from a pipeline on the brink of rupture. The film, “Bad River,” is narrated by indigenous model and activist Quannah ChasingHorse and Academy-Award nominee Edward Norton.
The powerful new film highlights the Band’s monumental effort to prevent a rupture of Line 5, a 70-year-old oil pipeline that has been operating in a state of trespass for 10 years through the Bad River Band’s land in northern Wisconsin. Line 5 also continues into Michigan and under the Straits of Mackinac. The pipeline poses catastrophic risks to Treaty-protected lands, the Great Lakes, pristine natural areas, wetlands and farmland, glacial water resources, and over 400 rivers and streams.
As Eldred Corbine, former Vice Chairman of the Bad River Band, says in the film, “What we have with our water being so pure… we gotta protect, to die for it if we have to.”
Recently, the leaders of 30 Tribal Nations in the Great Lakes region sent a letter to President Joe Biden urging the United States to speak out against the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline’s trespass on the Bad River Band’s reservation.
“For Tribal sovereignty and to protect our communities and clean water, we must shut down the Line 5 pipeline. Every day this pipeline is permitted to continue to operate is a day that threatens the safety of our greatest natural resources and trounces on treaty rights,” said Ben Jealous, Executive Director of Sierra Club.
“Bad River” is produced by Grant Hill (NBA Hall of Fame and owner of the Atlanta Hawks), Allison Abner (writer for Narcos and West Wing) and award-winning filmmaker, Mary Mazzio. The film is also executive produced by Mato Wayuhi (Reservation Dogs), Taylor Hensel (Reservation Dogs, Reciprocity Project), Victor Lopez-Carmen (former co-chair of the UN’s Indigenous Youth Caucus), Tracy Rector (Nia Tero), and Alec Sokolow (Toy Story).
The film opens in AMC theaters in multiple cities across the country on March 15, with Wisconsin screenings in Milwaukee, Madison, Park Falls, and Ashland. 50% of all proceeds from the project will benefit the Bad River Band.
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About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.