By Spilt Coffee & Bad Hairday In the northwoods of so-called Wisconsin, they are building a new oil pipeline route around the sovereign Bad River reservation, leaving scars on the earth in their wake. We are watching them tear into the earth, and resisting as best as we can. In the summer of 2026, amidst the massive earth moving machines barreling down the highways, out-of-town pickup trucks following and harassing locals, and the non-stop sound of construction in the woods, there was heated chatter in the newspapers and cafes, people feeding each other and meeting in libraries and dance halls, and gatherings of prayer and protest alike. Line 5 is an oil pipeline built in 1953 through the Great Lakes region without the consent of local Tribal Nations. It has leaked more than 1.1 million gallons of oil in its lifetime, and just this summer tragically spilled over a million gallons of liquid natural gas, inflicting major health hazards on residents and workers and contaminating an immense area just east of Ashland, WI. Enbridge owns Line 5. They're the multi-national corporation responsible for building and operating the expanded Line 3 pipeline in Minnesota, which faced over a decade of resistance. Enbridge operates pipelines crossing many midwestern and eastern states, trafficking crude oil and natural gas products in and out of Canada. Instead of cleaning up the old & leaking pipelines, Enbridge is now building new sections of pipe along the Line 5 route: under the lake bed in the Straits of Mackinac, and a re-route around Mashkiiziibii (the Bad River Reservation). This re-route is a direct attack on Indigenous sovereignty: when Bad River said no more pipelines on their land, Enbridge retorted by putting the pipe just outside of the reservation border. Enbridge is clawing through sensitive wetlands with heavy machinery. They use the city of Ashland's municipal water, contaminating it with a secret industry mix of toxic chemicals that enable them to drill. This drilling has failed several times: as of late October 2026, 10 known frac-outs have occurred, where the clay-and-chemicals drilling slurry burst from the drill path and flooded the surrounding areas, choking rivers, streams and wetlands. They've unintentionally 'released' oil 11 times, and breached an aquifer that provides drinking water to local people's homes. Michel's, the subcontractor managing most construction activities for Enbridge, has been so problematic that the DNR has had to come out and issue them... a paper slap on the wrist. The resistance to Line 5 during active construction has been reminiscent of the many land, water, and community defense campaigns that have come before it. Inspired by the week of action against the ICE occupation in Minneapolis, a network of neighbors, water protectors, eco punks, community organizers, and agitated locals came together to make a public showing of resistance in Ashland WI. It wasn't hosted by a coalition of nonprofits or established organizations, it was just folks who decided that they couldn't let construction continue on unaddressed. From there, we saw a slow ramp-up in the informational meetings, rallies, and talks, in the prayer and memorial walks, and civil disobedience and nonviolent direct action. Water protectors have put themselves in the way of construction work in order to stop it: walking into construction zones, camping out in threatened waterways, setting a tree sit, holding prayer lodges and ceremonies. News reports from Superior and Ashland this fall show us that Enbridge's work in Wisconsin is no exception to the rule that they are also fought with fire: evidenced by two incinerated worksites and one burned office, in concert with many other incidents of vandalism and property damage. There is legitimate — if not widespread — public support for a wide diversity of tactics in our home, including property destruction. We've overheard cafe chatter exclaiming: "that's how it's done!" and applause from longtime water protectors asking for more of all of it. Some of these actions have faced state repression; the Ashland and Iron County police departments are functionally on a paid retainer with Enbridge to respond to pipeline resistance. There's a law on Wisconsin's books that makes it a felony to trespass on 'critical infrastructure', which includes pipeline corridors. So far, the open cases include charges of disorderly conduct, obstruction of justice, resisting arrest, trespassing and ordinance violations, ranging from misdemeanors to felonies. There's an ongoing window of opportunity for solidarity. Resist from every corner! Enbridge has operations across the territories currently held by the US and Canada. They've poisoned our woods and streams, and many of yours too. Some of our indigenous relatives have expressed exhaustion and disappointment in allies who refuse to plan resistance for themselves, instead waiting for instructions or permission from tribal members. Settlers on turtle island have an obligation to address the problems of settler society. You can join us in fighting this WI reroute here where the dragon's soft belly is exposed, or fight them where they snake through MN, MI, or TX. Or better still, Alberta, Canada, where their long entrenchment makes them think they're untouchable. Because Enbridge is in many places, you don't need to be *here* to fight alongside us. Because Enbridge has many weak points, you don't need to commit to one tactic to find success. Timing is one factor we encourage everyone to be stricter about: the longer Enbridge is allowed to harm the land, the more our scope of possibilities shrinks. Destroyed wetland peat ecosystems like ours can never be fully remediated, and what we all lose will take many lifetimes to heal. Many of us are not convinced that we will win. We're resisting anyways. We show up to the fight without the belief that we'll be victorious. We look at the odds, know our own capacities, see who all is turning out, and notice that the crowd is thin. We try to be honest about the probability of this pipe being built. We reckon with the serious and lasting ecological harm being perpetrated, and we acknowledge that campaigns with more resources and better conditions lost. And still we resist, because it has its own dignity, because in fighting we find each other. Resistance is a value not conditional on an outcome.
The Slingshot Collective