[10] In the 1854 Treaty of La Pointe, the Ojibwe Bands of Lake Superior and the Mississippi River ceded lands in the Arrowhead Region while retaining hunting, fishing and gathering rights.

[19] Following resistance to the proposed Sandpiper pipeline, which would have passed through Mississippi River headwaters and wild rice habitat in Minnesota, Enbridge cancelled the project, withdrawing its application in 2016.

[26][27] Minnesotans living in areas where Enbridge is constructing the pipeline expansion have voiced concerns about the effect of "man camps" that house temporary workers.

[29][30] Enbridge denied it was a problem, saying that the company "absolutely rejects the allegation that human trafficking will increase in Minnesota as a result of the Line 3 replacement project.

[31][32] In March 2021 it was reported that a Thief River Falls nonprofit shelter had been providing services for multiple women who alleged they were assaulted by Enbridge employees.

The new route for the expanded pipeline runs through watersheds that support traditional wild rice habitat, a food source important to Ojibwe culture.

[36] Demonstrators and protesters organizing in opposition to the pipeline refer to themselves as "water protectors"[37] and follow a campaign of non-violent civil disobedience that includes direct actions.

The track includes vocals from the Indigo Girls, Bonnie Raitt, Mumu Fresh, Pura Fé, and U.S. poet laureate Joy Harjo.

[43] A June 2021 concert called Protect the Water featured several musicians performing on a pontoon floating on the Mississippi River including the Indigo Girls as well as singer-songwriters Keith Secola and Annie Humphrey.

[48] In addition to direct actions, Giniw Collective launched the #DefundLine3 campaign in February 2021, as a founding member of Stop The Money Pipeline Coalition.

[52] The Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa initially opposed the new pipeline, but ceased their opposition following the approval of the project.

The gathering culminated in two separate Indigenous-led direct actions against the pipeline on June 7, a march to the headwaters of the Mississippi River and the blockade of an Enbridge pump station.

[18] Following an interfaith prayer gathering at LaSalle Lake the morning of June 7, over 1,000 people marched along County Highway 40 to the headwaters of the Mississippi River near a planned crossing of the pipeline.

The Fire Light Camp was established on June 7 by tribal members and protesters at the site where Enbridge plans to bury its pipeline underneath the headwaters of the Mississippi River.

[56] On the morning of June 7, 2021, protesters scaled metal fencing to enter an Enbridge pump station about 20 miles north of Park Rapids, Minnesota off of Highway 71.

[18][12] In a non-violent direct action, dubbed "peanut butter" by the activists,[12] hundreds of protesters dug trenches[4] and set up blockades with trees and poles along the pump station's access road while about two dozen people chained themselves to the bulldozers and other heavy machinery at the site.

[58] An old fishing boat used to block the entrance to the site bore the name "Good Trouble", after the expression used by the late civil rights leader John Lewis.

[59] Attendees of the pump station blockade included Tara Houska as well as actors Jane Fonda, Taylor Schilling, Rosanna Arquette and Catherine Keener.

[60][12][61] During the occupation of the pump station, protesters were "rotor washed" by a Customs and Border Protection helicopter after local law enforcement called for its assistance.

[37] While the Northern Lights Task Force maintained that the helicopter was there to issue a dispersal warning and that the rotor washing was unintentional, video taken by an MPR News reporter showed the helicopter repeatedly performing a maneuver where it hovered about 20 feet off the ground for extended periods, while the wash from its rotor kicked up clouds of dust and debris towards the crowd and the people chained up on the ground.

68 were released after receiving citations for unlawful assembly and public nuisance while another 179 were charged with trespassing, a gross misdemeanor,[4] and taken in buses and vans to various county jails.

[18] Los Angeles Times journalist Alan Weisman was arrested, strip-searched, and had his equipment confiscated while he was detained for hours by the Hubbard County Sheriff's Department.

Protesters called on Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and U.S. President Joe Biden to revoke permits and end the pipeline project.

Volunteers erected several teepees on the capitol grounds, which Minnesota State Patrol officers had them remove when the protest permit expired on August 27, resulting in a stand off with law enforcement.

Prior to booking arrestees, Hubbard County Sheriff Cory Aukes handcuffs people inside of dog kennel-like cages in his facility's garage bays.

[25] Following the final approval of the pipeline in November 2020, the task force established the Northeast Emergency Operations Center, a regional headquarters for law enforcement response.