Members of the public have until June 22 to comment on a proposed oil pipeline near the pristine prairielands of Pipestone National Monument in southwest Minnesota, a source of a rare stone that is spiritually significant to Native Americans from more than 20 tribal nations.
Magellan Pipeline Co. is seeking permission from the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission to rebuild a petroleum pipeline between Marshall, Minnesota and Sioux Falls. Magellan operated a pipeline that pumped diesel, gas and jet fuel through the monument for years, but in 2022 the federal Interior Department declined to renew its right-of-way permit.
Native Americans from 23 tribes have cultural ties to Pipestone, where a rare soft stone called catlinite is harvested. Native Americans from across the Great Plains use that stone to make ceremonial pipes.
Magellan, which is owned by Oklahoma-based OneOK, applied with state regulators to open a new pipeline that would narrowly circumvent the monument in 2023, citing demand in the region, and won approval in 2024. But tribes across the Midwest objected, advocating for either no reconstruction of the pipeline, or a route that took a longer detour around the monument.
The PUC rescinded its approval for the project in January 2025, and ordered Magellan to engage with 14 tribal governments and one Native American organization about two potential routes. The company was ordered to conduct a thorough cultural and archaeological review of those routes, and to coordinate with the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council (MIAC), a state government agency, to ensure it hired a culturally competent contractor.
Tribal governments and the MIAC say that hasn’t happened. In comments submitted to the PUC, they argue Magellan hasn’t complied with orders to conduct thorough archaeological surveys and point out the company didn’t consult with the MIAC to select their contractor.
In a compliance letter filed to the PUC in February 2025, Magellan’s lawyers wrote that MIAC wanted too much time to develop criteria to recommend archaeologists who could survey the project area. Magellan argued MIAC’s timeline “does not align” with the company’s other work with tribes, and said it was moving forward with its preferred contractor, a firm called Chronicle Heritage.
Mark Tilsen, a pipeline organizer with the Bemidji-based Indigenous Environmental Network, said the work Magellan has done isn’t sufficient and is calling for the PUC to reject the company’s application.
“If they can’t say no to a pipeline that was built in a sacred site and has been shut down for years, what pipelines can they say no to?” Tilsen told Sahan Journal.
Why it’s sacred to Native Americans
Indigenous people from across the Great Plains have harvested catlinite for more than 3,000 years, according to the National Park Service. The rock is a result of a rare geologic phenomenon only found on a narrow stretch of land running through the prairie, and is soft enough to be easily carved.
“This specific pipestone (catlinite) is found nowhere else in the world. It took over a billion years for this unique geologic formation and sacred landscape to form, “ said Alexis Archambault, a hydrologist with the Brave Heart Society
Along with the 14 tribal governments, the PUC required Magellan to also coordinate with the Brave Heart Society for its archeological work. The nonprofit organization is based on the Yankton Sioux Tribe Reservation in South Dakota, which has treaty rights to the land around Pipestone Monument. MIAC also recommended Magellan hire the Brave Heart Society to conduct the archeological surveys.
The rock is highly porous, the Brave Heart Society wrote in a letter to the PUC, and any oil leak that spread through it would likely be impossible to restore.
Tilsen, an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, participates in traditional Lakota ceremonies. The ceremonial pipe, chanunpa in Lakota, is not just a ritual object but embodies a covenant.
“It’s vital and essential to our spirituality and existence as Indigenous people,” Tilsen said
The Magellan pipeline has been closed for more than four years now, and Tilsen said that’s proof that it’s unnecessary. Climate change is driven by fossil fuels, and the government shouldn’t be approving new petroleum infrastructure anywhere, especially in a sacred place, he said.
“You would not destroy a cathedral for a power line,” Tilsen said.
On May 29, White Earth Nation in northern Minnesota voted to formally oppose the pipeline and demand the PUC find Magellan’s archaeological and cultural survey as non-compliant.
How to get involved
- Members of the public can comment on the project through June 22. The PUC accepts comments online. To comment you must provide the right docket number, in this case 23-109.
- The Indigenous Environmental Network is hosting a deadline day comment drive June 22 at the Minneapolis American Indian Center (1530 E. Franklin Ave.) , Tilsen said, to help people navigate the process.
- Several groups, including the Indigenous Environmental Network, are asking the PUC to extend the comment period. Magellan has asked the PUC to reject that extension.
Next steps
- Once the comment period is closed, the PUC will review submissions and will schedule a hearing and vote on the proposal at a future meeting.
- The PUC meets at 121 7th Place E, St. Paul on Thursdays at 10 A.M.
