North Dakota Pipeline Protest Turns Violent After Tribe’s Sacred Sites Destroyed

A Native American protester holds up his arms as he and other protesters are threatened by private security guards and guard dogs, at a work site for the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) oil pipeline, near Cannonball, North Dakota, September 3, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / Robyn BECKROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images ROBYN BECK / AFP – Getty Images

The Associated Press, Sept. 4, 2016

Standing Rock protesters confronted construction crews working on the Dakota Access pipeline on Saturday, after the demolition of American Indian burial and cultural sites.

BISMARCK, N.D. — A protest of a four-state, $3.8 billion oil pipeline turned violent after tribal officials say construction crews destroyed American Indian burial and cultural sites on private land in southern North Dakota.

Morton County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Donnell Preskey said four private security guards and two guard dogs were injured after several hundred protesters confronted construction crews Saturday afternoon at the site just outside the Standing Rock Sioux reservation. One of the security officers was taken to a Bismarck hospital for undisclosed injuries. The two guard dogs were taken to a Bismarck veterinary clinic, Preskey said.

Tribe spokesman Steve Sitting Bear said protesters reported that six people had been bitten by security dogs, including a young child. At least 30 people were pepper-sprayed, he said. Preskey said law enforcement authorities had no reports of protesters being injured.

There were no law enforcement personnel at the site when the incident occurred, Preskey said. The crowd dispersed when officers arrived and no one was arrested, she said.

The incident occurred within half a mile of an encampment where hundreds of people have gathered to join the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s protest of the oil pipeline that is slated to cross the Missouri River nearby.

The tribe is challenging the Army Corps of Engineers’ decision to grant permits for Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners’ Dakota Access pipeline, which crosses the Dakotas and Iowa to Illinois, including near the reservation in southern North Dakota. A federal judge will rule before Sept. 9 whether construction can be halted on the Dakota Access pipeline.

Energy Transfer Partners did not return phone calls and emails from The Associated Press on Saturday seeking comment.

The tribe fears the project will disturb sacred sites and impact drinking water for thousands of tribal members on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation and millions farther downstream.

The protest Saturday came one day after the tribe filed court papers saying it found several sites of “significant cultural and historic value” along the path of the proposed pipeline.

Tribal preservation officer Tim Mentz said in court documents that the tribe was only recently allowed to survey private land north of the Standing Rock Sioux reservation. Mentz said researchers found burials rock piles called cairns and other sites of historic significance to Native Americans.

Standing Rock Sioux chairman David Archambault II said in a statement that construction crews removed topsoil across an area about 150 feet wide stretching for 2 miles.

Protesters march toward private security guards and works as they retreat, on a work site for the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) oil pipeline, near Cannonball, North Dakota, September 3, 2016. ROBYN BECK / AFP – Getty Images

“This demolition is devastating,” Archambault said. “These grounds are the resting places of our ancestors. The ancient cairns and stone prayer rings there cannot be replaced. In one day, our sacred land has been turned into hollow ground.”

Preskey said the company filmed the confrontation by helicopter and turned the video over to authorities. Protesters also have posted some of the confrontation on social media.

Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier said in a statement that “individuals crossed onto private property and accosted private security officers with wooden posts and flag poles.”

“Any suggestion that today’s event was a peaceful protest, is false,” his statement said.

[SOURCE]

Tribe: Cultural Sites Found In Path Of Proposed Oil Pipeline

Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and their allies protest construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Associated Press, Sep 2, 2016

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe says it has found several sites of “significant cultural and historic value” along the path of a proposed oil pipeline.

The tribe is challenging the Army Corps of Engineers‘ decision to grant permits for Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners’ $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline, which crosses the Dakotas and Iowa to Illinois, including near the reservation in southern North Dakota.

A federal judge will rule before Sept. 9 whether construction can be halted on the Dakota Access pipeline.

Tribal preservation officer Tim Mentz says in court documents filed Friday that the tribe was only recently allowed to survey private land north of the Standing Rock Sioux reservation.

Mentz says researches found cairns, burials and other sites of historic significance to Native Americans.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/tribe-cultural-sites-found-path-proposed-oil-pipeline-41833582

New England Tribes Create Team To Document Ceremonial Sites Near Pipeline Path

The Recorder

Local tribes create team to document ceremonial sites near pipeline path

NORTHFIELD — Four New England tribes have joined together to identify and document cultural sites near the route of the proposed 400-miles gas pipeline.

Last month, representatives from the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, Mohegan Tribe, Narragansett Indian Tribe and Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head, along with representatives from other tribes, participated in a weeklong ceremonial stone landscape identification training. Upon completion of the program, the Tribal Historic Preservation Offices certified the 12 participants as field specialists.

Under the guidance of the Tribal Historic Preservation Offices and its landscape mapping partner — Ceremonial Landscapes Research — the tribal representatives will work with a mapping team to identify and document ceremonial stone landscape sites on private property.

Northfield Historical Commission member Joe Graveline said if any landowner believes such a site is on or near their property, they should contact their local historical commission, who will deploy a team of specialists to check the area for possible ceremonial sites.

“In the past there wasn’t enough time allocated to do this and cultural resources were destroyed, and in a lot of ways that’s against law,” Graveline said. “The tribes are going to work directly with the historical commissions to assist in identifying cultural features on private property.”

Graveline said when each expert team arrives at a site they will conduct a thorough investigation and create an inventory of the materials on the site. Tribal representatives will use their findings to approve or disapprove sites as historical areas. Approved sites will be submitted to the National Register of Historic Places.

“That would add a strong level of preservation protection,” Graveline said.

This team was created to enforce a state law in which any project requiring funding, licensure or permits from federal agencies must comply with Section 106 of the National Historical Preservation Act of 1966. By law, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission — currently reviewing the Northeast Energy Direct project — must take into account the possible effects the project could have on historic sites.

According to the act, before construction can begin, properties that are important to federally recognized tribes and have a cultural or historical significance should be documented in consultation with the affected tribes. Once studies have been completed, the tribes, FERC and the project proponents are required to work together on a plan to avoid, minimize or mitigate the project’s impacts.

A month prior to creating the documentation team, Graveline submitted a document to FERC outlining various Native Americans’ concerns including inadequate time spent developing the environmental impact statement for the NED project and cited a specific negative outcome from the rush of the environmental impact statement of the 2013 Spectra Pipeline Project. According to his research, the study failed to identify and document cultural artifacts that were near the pipeline installation route and resulted in the destruction of historic sites.

“It came out of New York and was a separate licensed pipeline,” Graveline said. “They rushed the project and ended up destroying a number of cultural sites. … It was a hard lesson for the tribes. FERC doesn’t have any particular obligation to protect resource if nobody knows they exist.”

http://www.recorder.com/home/19398946-95/local-tribes-create-team-to-document-ceremonial-sites-near-pipeline-path