4-17-00
Dear Cree sympathizers:
Perhaps you have seen today's article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune about
Saturday's conference on environmental justice and energy policy where Chief
John Miswaggon spoke of his agony and the suffering of his people from
Manitoba Hydro. When he told us that the hardest part of his job as Chief
is going to officially identify the bodies of suicides and cut down the
bodies of people who have hung themselves, he stifled a sob. After his
speech, I closed my eyes and prayed, "Oh, God! Cutting down your friends
and relatives out of the trees and houses! Help me to act to stop this
horror! I am responsible and I will take responsible action! Help me."
I am responsible. I pay my NSP bills on time. I am an NSP shareholder. I
have gone to shareholder meetings to protest NSP's insanely destructive
policies. I have met, phoned, and written to the Minnesota Public Utilities
Commission, imploring those white men to deny NSP the right to buy more
power from Manitoba Hydro. But those white men told me that they, and the
rest of Minnesota, have no choice. Those men told me that they are quite
ready to grant NSP another contract with Manitoba Hydro, even though there
are other suppliers of energy. The Commissioners want Manitoba Hydro's
power and they very well might approve its importation into our homes if we
don't figure out a way to stop them. In the name of God, please help me,
folks. I can't do it alone. In the name of Councillors Kenny Miswaggon and
Nelson Miller, help me. In the name of William Thomas, whom I met at the
conference, a Cree from the impoverished Nelson House community, a neighbor
to Cross Lake, help me. You and I are the consumers that the Commissioners
claim must be served by choosing the lowest cost, reliable energy--and the
Commissioners will choose Manitoba Hydro for us because all the "evidence"
the Commissioners have received "proves" that Manitoba's hydro-electricity
is the best choice.
Help me, please. Phone, e-mail, whatever you can think of or do. I need
your help to take responsibility and use my whiteness, my education, my
citizenship, my money, my compassion, my presence.
I've reserved space in my Quaker Meetinghouse on Tuesday night, May 2, for
people to meet with me and pray and strategize how we can act to stop the
hydro-electric holocaust. We can meet there from 7:00 until 9:00. But
don't wait til then if you have a way to contribute to this mission. Take
action. Let me know your ideas; they might be ones I should follow, too. I
will share them, with your permission, because others may expand your
offering just as happened with Jesus's miracle with the loaves and fishes.
For environmental justice,
Diane J. Peterson
Member, Peace and Social Action Committee
Twin Cities Friends Meeting
St. Paul, Minnesota
(651) 653-4385
birch7@goldengate.net
