"Police, this morning, cleared out six protesters on the site of Kennecott's planned nickel and copper mine in Marquette County.

Two Native people subjected themselves to arrest on trespass charges. Eagle Rock is considered a sacred place by the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community. Tribal members and area residents have been camping in protest at the rocky outcropping for weeks.

Kennecott plans to dig into the base of the rock for its mine.

Cynthia Pryor of the Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve, which has been fighting the mine, faces trial on her own charge of trespassing at the site. She says Eagle Rock has always been sacred to the Tribe, but authorities have turned a deaf ear.

"The state of Michigan and Kennecott have ignored that premise," she says. "It was their right to be there to protect Eagle Rock. And it's unfortunate that Kennecott did not use, I think, negotiating terms with the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community in determining good access to the site without people having to be arrested."

A fence has now been erected around the mine site and police say anyone who breaches it will be arrested."

Get the Story:
Protesters Arrested At Eagle Rock (Interlochen Public Radio 5/27)
Raid at Eagle Rock (Indian Country Today 5/27)

Related Stories:
Company blocks Keweenaw Bay protesters from sacred site (5/27)
Keweenaw Bay protest at sacred site brings more support (05/04)
Keweenaw Bay activists camp out at planned mining site (4/28)
Opinion: Michigan mining endangers sacred Ojibwe lands (4/12)