Native Americans and their non-native allies have established an encampment just south of the proposed Copperwood mine in the western Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Charlotte Loonsfoot (Waabanong-ikwe), an Anishinaabe Ojibwe environmental activist, is lead organizer, along with Tom Grotewohl of Protect the Porkies and Guy Reiter (Anahkwet), a Menominee community organizer.

The encampment was established along the North Country Trail in the Ottawa National Forest. It's just a few hundred yards from the site of the proposed Copperwood mine, near the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park and north of the city of Wakefield.

"We have come to set up a place to come together and help spread the word about the mine and the horrible things that will happen if there's a leak or anything," Loonsfoot said. "And I don't know any mine that has not leaked, especially copper and nickel."

As the name implies, the Copperwood has identified copper as its primary resource, with silver as a secondary product.

The mine facilities would occupy more than 500 acres and would impinge on lands where the Ojibwe have treaty rights to hunt, gather and fish on federal lands.

"This is our land," Loonsfoot said. "This is our our beautiful Mother Earth, and she provides for us everything that we need. Every plant on this on this Earth is medicine, and I work with medicines. And you know, what's going to happen if everything's polluted? All our animals and plants are going to die. Our water, all the fish, the little creatures in the water are going to die, and then we're going to die."

Mine opponents say 40 million tons of waste material, including mill tailings polluted with toxic metals, would be stored in a disposal facility and could reach Lake Superior if the containment dam ruptured. Even in normal operations, the mine would discharge up to 500,000 gallons of treated wastewater into streams every day.

"In my heart, I will die for the water," Loonsfoot said. "I will, because that's the most important thing that we need to survive. Everything needs to survive. We can't live without three days without water. Why would they want to come in and pollute it?"

Mine opponents also warn that the project would bring air, noise and light pollution, heavy truck traffic and habitat fragmentation to an unspoiled corner of the Upper Peninsula, which is home to a diverse wildlife population and one of the last old-growth forests in Michigan.

"If we don't help and have a voice for the animals and the plants and the water, then people will just keep coming in and destroying it and killing it," Loonsfoot said. "And my thing is, no more new mining. You got enough mines here. You know, leave it alone."

The encampment is an opportunity to educate the public about the proposed Copperwood mine, but it also has a broader purpose. It also allows participants to connect physically and spiritually with the woodlands of the Upper Peninsula.

"It's one thing to see a potential mine project on a piece of paper or on a website, but it's another to actually be on the land that it's going to potentially destroy," said Guy Reiter of the Menominee tribe. "We're building relationship again with this land. Even though we've been here for thousands of years, it is still important for us to to come out, put our feet on the ground, and and get connected."

The encampment is also a chance for activists from around the Midwest to strategize and build personal relationships that support long-term collaborations.

"We want to make a statement and we want to show that people of all tribes, people of different backgrounds, different states are uniting to say that this mine is a terrible idea," said Tom Grotewohl of Protect the Porkies.

Collaborations between Native Americans and non-natives have strengthened campaigns to oppose mining projects in the United States because they bring different political tools and resources to the table.

"Somehow, the native people have lived here for thousands of years without poisoning the land and the water," Grotewohl said. "Meanwhile, white folk, in just a matter of a few generations, have completely trashed the place and made it so we're afraid to eat our own food. We're afraid to drink from the the streams. We're afraid to breathe the air in some cases. So it's really common sense that we should be looking towards the tribal people for leadership" in setting up the encampment.

Highland Copper Co., Inc., and its supporters have been pursuing a $50 million Michigan state infrastructure grant to support the Copperwood mine since early 2023. The proposal failed to gain legislative approval three times due to opposition from Protect the Porkies and other stakeholders. Highland has indicated that it still hopes for financial support from the state.

Highland is also looking for a $250 million loan from the U.S. Export-Import Bank to help finance the $425 million cost of the Copperwood project.

Protect the Porkies has launched a letter-writing campaign to discourage lawmakers and bureaucrats from supporting the project with those grants and loans, and to prevent renewal of a state water discharge permit for the mine.

Organizers say more than forty people showed up for the encampment over the weekend of Aug. 14. The encampment was suspended on Aug. 16 but is expected to resume on Friday, Aug. 21.

For updates on the encampment, access the Protect the Porkies website or its Facebook page.

Charlotte Loonsfoot (Waabanong-ikwe) is an enrolled tribal member of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC) in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. She is an an Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) environmental activist, water protector and community organizer who plays a leading role in regional anti-mining movements.

Guy Reiter(Anahkwet) is a traditional Menominee organizer, water protector, activist and writer. He lives on the Menominee Indian Reservation in northeastern Wisconsin and serves as a prominent leader in regional environmental and Indigenous sovereignty movements.

Tom Grotewohl is an environmental activist, filmmaker and the founder and president of the grassroots coalition Protect the Porkies.

Research for this report was AI-assisted.