While farmers on and near White Earth Nation believe state officials control irrigation permits, the band believes it retained the right to control water rights through treaties with the government.
David Vipond and other farmers near White Earth Reservation believe the Reservation Business Committee's water ordinance is an overreach. Tribal officials believe it asserts their sovereign rights.
Native lands lack clean water protections, but more tribes are taking charge columbian.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from columbian.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Droughts brought on by climate change and irrigation for agriculture have threatened the reservation’s rivers and lakes. Manure runoff from factory farms could poison the water that’s left.
Across the roughly 1,300 square miles of the White Earth Indian Reservation in northwest Minnesota, tribal members harvest wild rice in waters that have sustained them for generations. They’ve been working for decades to restore sturgeon, a culturally important fish, and they harvest minnows and leeches to supply bait for anglers across the country.