"Opponents of the Alberta Clipper oil pipeline protested on the Leech Lake Indian Reservation in Cass Lake Thursday.

Construction on the 1-point-2 billion dollar pipeline from Alberta, Canada to Superior, Wisconsin finished last month.

The protest is sponsored by the American Indian Movement and the Bemidji-based Indigenous Environmental Network.

Spokesman Marty Cobenais said protesters are hoping to stop owner Enbridge Energy from pumping crude oil through the pipeline.

"Our main message is, our civil rights are being violated by this pipeline," Cobenais said. "There are court actions still going on in the courts, and that them filling it is throwing away all of our civil rights by not being able to say something.""

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Opponents of Alberta Clipper pipeline protest in Cass Lake (Minnesota Public Radio 4/1)

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