Sault Tribe declares boycott of Nestle water

The Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians has declared a moratorium on Nestle bottled water products due to an ‘unacceptable withdrawal of water’ from the Great Lakes.

A resolution declaring the moratorium was unanimously passed by Sault Tribe board of directors May 1.

“They’re not even paying to take the water out,” said Sault Tribe board of directors member Bridgett Sorenson. “We’ve got the Flint water crisis, and those people don’t even have good drinking water, yet you’re letting Nestle take it out [of the Great Lakes] for a profit.”

In a letter to Michigan governor Rick Snyder, Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indian tribal chairperson Aaron Payment called on the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality - which was responsible for approving Nestle’s permit application - to rescind its approval of the expanded groundwater withdrawal from the Great Lakes.

“We believe it is an unacceptable withdrawal of water from the Great Lakes region and our ceded territories where we hunt, fish, and gather medicines and foods, and where we co-manage our resources with the State of Michigan,” Payment wrote.

Sault Tribe is now boycotting Nestle bottled water products throughout all of its tribal entities, and is urging tribal members and concerned residents of Michigan to follow suit.

Here's the full text of the Sault Tribe’s resolution:

OPPOSITION TO EXPANDED GROUNDWATER WITHDRAWAL PERMIT FOR NESTLE WATERS OF NORTH AMERICA, INC.

WHEREAS, the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians is a federally recognized Indian Tribe located in the state of Michigan; and

WHEREAS, thousands of members of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians depend upon groundwater as their sole source of drinking water; and

WHEREAS, the Tribe has a stewardship role over the land, air, water and all the natural resources within its reservation boundaries; and

WHEREAS, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality on April 2, 2018, announced a decision to grant Nestle Waters North America, Inc. (Nestle) a permit to substantially increase its groundwater withdrawal for the purpose of bottling and selling drinking water; and

WHEREAS, this decision allows Nestle virtually unchecked authority to extract and sell Michigan groundwater for commercial profit and will have significant detrimental impact not only on our Michigan’s groundwater but also on its lakes, rivers, and streams and on the treaty protected rights of the Tribe and its members to utilize those resources.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians expresses its strong disagreement with and opposition to the decision of the MDEQ to approve the expanded groundwater withdrawal permit for Nestle and urges the MDEQ to reconsider and to rescind that approval.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians declares a moratorium on the purchase and sale of Nestle bottled water products at any tribally owned and operated facility and, further, urges its tribal members and any other concerned Michigan residents to similarly boycott and refuse to purchase any such products.