Standing United Against Pipeline

A group shot of different representatives of the Haudenosaunee camp. Seneca , Cayuga, Onondaga , Oneida , and Mohawks all standing together in defense of the water at Standing Rock. Handout/Cornwall Standard-Freeholder/Postmedia Network

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Cornwall Standard-Freeholder

The protest in Standing Rock is having a far reaching impact.

Mohawk Council of Akwesasne District Chief Troy Thompson and Cornwall Island resident Kaylee Jacco both went to North Dakota to stand with other First Nations communities in protest against the pipeline which they believe is endangering the water supply.

Thompson said he wanted to assess the situation and see for himself what exactly was happening.

“We met a gentleman in the Red Warrior Camp,” said Thompson. “The members of this camp were very involved with the people on the front lines. They are the ones getting arrested.”

Thompson said by the time he got there in September, there had been over 22 arrests. He said the National Guard and local police forces were both on the scene.

“And that’s when it became really aggressive towards the protesters,” he said. “The people being arrested were also being harassed, they were being bullied and threatened. Just a lot of silly stuff.”

Thompson said the charges kept getting increased, as did the fines and the price of bail. Thompson said the Red Warrior Camp was getting a lot of financial support from outside the reservation and he said it seemed like the authorities wanted to drain their bank accounts.

“When we first drove in, the National Guard set up check posts at both sides before you enter Standing Rock and they were seizing supplies that were going to the camp,” he said. “That was really discouraging to see and hear about.”

Thompson said there are still some members of the Akwesasne community in Standing Rock showing their support for the protesters.

“We are very much in support of what they are doing down there,” he said. “In light of what has been happening locally, in Montreal they dumped five billion liters of raw sewage into the river and in Gatineau they just dumped 20 million liters of raw sewage in the river. We are very, very disappointed this is happening and very frustrated and worried. If we keep going down this road, there is going to be damage that is irreversible.”

Thompson said it isn’t only natives who were concerned with the quality of water.

“We all need to do our part to protect the water sources,” he said. “The water source that is the nature of the Dakota access pipeline feeds to one million people, native and non-native. It’s not just for native people.”

Thompson said when he was a boy, he heard two adults talking about a war over water in the future and he thought that it could never happen because there was so much water.

“It was a prophecy,” he said. “Because right now we are fighting for clean water. We are living among the war for water. I find it mind-boggling how corporate America stages people against protesters who are protectors of the water. There are so many injustices going on down there.”

Thompson said if the pipeline wins and goes through Standing Rock Reservation, there will be a protest across the country.

“Being with my Lakota brothers and sisters in Standing Rock, North Dakota, fighting the same fight our ancestors did changed my life,” said Jacco. “I only meant to stay at camp for one week fighting DAPL, but after I became witness to the injustice against my people and experienced the unity among hundreds of nations I couldn’t find it in me to come home as planned.”

Jacco said in standing up against security officers of an oil pipeline unarmed, there wasn’t enough time to be afraid even though she was staring into faces behind SWAT shields, with people holding mace and guns loaded with bean bags and rubber bullets.

“I don’t understand how they can do the things they do,” she said. “I am still in disbelief of what is happening.”

Jacco said they were told to remain peaceful and in prayer, but at times this was not easy.

“The people were beaten down and tired, but still stood tall,” she said.

Jacco said the camp she stayed at was a community with a place for every need, including medical and legal services.

“I was trained in direct action training before being allowed on the front line,” she said. “(I was taught) basic knowledge on how to remain non-violent in the face of violence.”

Jacco said she saw an underaged boy with a number written on his arm from a mass arrest. His number was over 150.

“He told me they put people in dog kennels,” she said. Jacco added being in the camp was tough. The nights were cold and many were sleeping on the ground. She said on two occasions the protestors were in the cold water protesting to be allowed access to sacred burial sites to pray for their ancestors whose graves were desecrated.

Jacco herself was tear-gassed while protesting the pipeline.

“This pipeline will hurt our future generations,” said Jacco. “We need to stop corporations from destroying our mother earth. If I wasn’t the mother of a beautiful two year old I’d still be in Standing Rock. This isn’t just a native issue. It’s so beautiful to see every race joining our fight.”

The Article; Standing United Against Pipeline by Lois Ann Baker, was posted in Cornwall Standard-Freeholder on Nov 16, 2016

http://www.standard-freeholder.com/2016/11/16/standing-united-against-pipeline

Dakota Access Pipeline Set To Begin Final Stretch, Mobilizing To Drill Under Missouri River

Standing Rock Sioux Tribe members and supporters confront bulldozers working on the Dakota Access pipeline in September. (AFP/Getty Images file photo)

Dakota Access preparing for tunneling under Missouri River within weeks

By Red Power Media, Staff | Nov 09, 2016

Energy Transfer Partners, the operator of the Dakota Access Pipeline, is reportedly preparing to start construction on the final stretch of the $3.7 billion pipeline project.

Dakota Access released a statement last night, saying construction is now complete on both sides of the Lake Oahe crossing. The pipeline operator is moving equipment to prepare for the tunneling under Lake Oahe — a dammed section of the Missouri River north of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.

According to the release, Dakota Access expects to have fully mobilized all equipment needed to drill under the Missouri River within 2 weeks.

Federal regulators have not yet given the company the green light to start construction work. The pipeline operator is still awaiting an easement for land next to the lake, but the company said it “remains confident that it will receive the easement for these two strips of land adjacent to Lake Oahe in a time frame that will not result in any significant delay.”

Dakota Access also refuted a comment reportedly given by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that the company had agreed to slow construction.

Energy Transfer told Reuters that the Army Corps statement was a “mistake” and the Corps “intends to rescind it.”

In September, following protests by Environmentalists and Standing Rock Sioux tribe, the Army Corps asked Energy Transfer to voluntarily halt all construction activity within 20 miles east or west of Lake Oahe. But the company ignored the request and pressed on toward the Missouri River, arguing that they had received all the necessary permits and approvals from the Army Corps and did not intend to stop.

Watch Drone Footage of Dakota Access Pipeline Approaching Missouri River:

On October 31, President Barack Obama said the Army Corps is considering a reroute of the Dakota Access pipeline in this area and will let federal agency regulatory processes “play out” in the next several weeks. It remains unclear how the pipeline could be rerouted if construction is already occurring up to the Missouri River and Lake Oahe.

The Standing Rock Sioux tribe, has long argued that the Dakota Access pipeline threatens sacred lands, cultural artifacts and will pollute water supplies.

Today, Forum News Service reported, staff from the North Dakota Public Service Commission have proposed a $15,000 fine for Dakota Access for potential permit violations after the company failed to notify the commission about cultural artifacts discovered in the pipeline route in Morton County on Oct. 17.

Map of the Dakota Access Pipeline Route

Lake Oahe, the body of water at the heart of the protests, straddles the border between North Dakota and South Dakota.

This last phase of construction will join the two already-completed sections of the pipeline.

On Nov. 7, Unicorn Riot documented active pipeline construction that could be seen from the main Oceti Sakowin encampment.

Morning of Monday November 7th, Dakota Access Pipeline excavators & bulldozers can be seen working from the Oceti Sakowin #NoDAPL camp. pic.twitter.com/ZVze32V4Ik

— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) November 7, 2016

The Dakota Access pipeline is expected to be completed by the end of 2016.

UPDATE:

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers renewed its call Wednesday, Nov. 9, for Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) to voluntarily stop construction near Lake Oahe, citing concerns for people involved with continued protests north of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.

“We are concerned over recent statements from DAPL regarding our request to voluntarily stop work, which are intended to diffuse tensions surrounding their operations near Corps-managed federal land until we have a clear path forward,” said Col. John W. Henderson, commander of the Omaha district, in a statement released late Wednesday.

Representatives from the Army Corps also have met recently with tribal officials and agreed to work proactively to defuse tensions between demonstrators and law enforcement, Henderson said.

“We again ask DAPL to voluntarily cease operations in this area as their absence will help reduce these tensions,” Henderson said.

Truck Hits Crowd Of Native American Activists During Indigenous People’s Day Rally In Reno (VIDEO)

Teen driver hits crowd of Columbus Day protesters

By Red Power Media, Staff | Oct 11, 2016

Police continue to investigate a case in which five people were sent to hospital after being hit by a truck during a confrontation at a rally as part of Indigenous People’s Day in downtown Reno, Nevada.

On Monday evening a man rammed his truck through a group of Native American activists protesting the observance of Columbus Day – also in solidarity with the fight against the controversial Dakota Access pipeline.

According to CBS News, the founder of a Native American rights group that was rallying in Reno, when the pickup truck plowed through protesters wants to know why police haven’t arrested the driver.

One woman remained hospitalized Tuesday with non-life threatening injuries. Four others suffered minor injuries in what one witness described as a hate crime.

Another said two men in the truck had been yelling obscenities at the protesters earlier in the day.

A Facebook Live video of the protest shows a pickup truck revving its engine in front of the crowd under the Reno Arch. Several protesters confronted the driver and the passenger before the truck drives through the crowd.

The driver of the white Nissan pickup stopped several blocks away and called police “to provide his account of the events,” Reno Police Sgt. James Pitsnogel said in a statement early Tuesday.

The 18-year-old male driver and a 17-year-old passenger have been questioned but no arrests were made.

CBS Reno affiliate KTVN-TV reports that the 40 or so gathered protesters did not have a permit, and that protesters said they were there supporting the nationwide movement to abolish Columbus Day and to bring awareness to hate against indigenous people.

The driver of a white Nissan truck encounters protesters at a DAPL march before driving through the crowd on Monday night. Five were injured and one hospitalized following the incident.
(Photo: Provided by Louis Magriel)

Mike Graham, founder of the Oklahoma-based United Native American Association, said he planned to meet with Reno police Tuesday to find out more about the incident.

“We are truly upset that he is not in custody. He left the scene of an accident,” he told The Associated Press.

Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve said Tuesday she takes the matter “very seriously.”

“Public safety is our highest priority and I want all Reno residents to know that we are working swiftly and diligently to make sense of the events that took place last night,” she said Tuesday afternoon in a statement on behalf of herself and the city council.

“The Reno Police Department will hold anyone responsible accountable for their actions once the investigation has concluded,” Schieve said, adding that she respects an individual or group’s right to conduct lawful protest.

The investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact the Reno Police Department.

Federal Appeals Court Rejects Tribe’s Injunction Request Against Dakota Access Pipeline

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

Appeals court rejects attempt to stop pipeline construction; company still needs Army Corps permission to build under Missouri River

By Red Power Media, Staff | Oct 09, 2016

A federal appeals court has rejected a Native American tribe’s attempt to block an oil pipeline from crossing its water source and lands it says are culturally important.

According to media reports, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on Sunday, denied the Standing Rock Sioux tribe’s emergency motion for injunction to stop the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline near Cannonball, North Dakota. Despite concerns, the pipeline would cross a reservoir upstream from the Standing Rock Sioux’s reservation, the three-judge panel shot down the injunction.

In a two-page ruling, the Court of Appeals rejected the tribe’s request for a permanent injunction to block the $3.7 billion, 1,170-mile pipeline. Court documents say the tribe was unable to show adequate reasoning for the injunction, which prompted the court to deny the motion.

Source: Unicorn Riot

Documents say the Dakota Access Pipeline “has rights of access to the limited portion of the pipeline corridor not yet cleared where the Tribe alleges additional historic sites are at risk.” The ruling allows Energy Transfer Partners — the Dallas-based company funding the project — to move forward with construction of the pipeline on all privately owned land up to the Missouri River.

The court’s ruling Sunday, however, did acknowledge that the ruling was “not the final word,” noting that the final decision lies with the Army Corps.

According to the Associated Press, in a statement, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chairman Dave Archambault II said that the tribe “is not backing down from this fight.”

“We will not rest until our lands, people, waters and sacred places are permanently protected from this destructive pipeline,” Archambault said.

For months, thousands have joined more than 300 federally recognized Native American tribes at Cannon Ball, N.D. — the site of the Oceti Sakowin Camp — to protest the pipeline.

The protests forced a halt in construction in late August after the Standing Rock Sioux sued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which has jurisdiction over the land, arguing that it did not adequately consult with them before granting Energy Transfer Partners fast-track approval in July.

Tribal and state officials were also at odds over whether sacred sites were destroyed while digging a pipeline corridor. The state archaeologist has said an inspection found no sign that the area contained human remains or cultural artifacts.

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

The court issued its ruling Sunday evening as most media attention was focused on a highly anticipated controversial presidential debate. The ruling in favor of Dakota Access Pipeline construction comes just days after Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier’s announcement that he would be bringing teams from Sheriff departments around the country to North Dakota in an effort to more effectively prevent water protectors from being able to access Dakota Access Pipeline construction sites.

• Morton County Sheriff Announces New Law Enforcement Tactics For DAPL Demonstrations

Congressman Kevin Cramer applauded the ruling. “I look forward to the workers getting back to work, doing the jobs they need to do Monday morning,” the North Dakota Republican said in a statement.

Though work may resume, three federal agencies — Interior, Justice and Army — immediately ordered that construction stop on land owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers next to and underneath Lake Oahe as it reviews its permitting decisions.

No timetable has been set for the federal review.

• Dakota Access Back In Court As Disputed Pipeline 87 Percent Complete In ND  

Meanwhile, despite delays caused by protests, the North Dakota leg of the Dakota Access pipeline was 87 percent complete at the end of September, according to the monthly construction report filed with the state Public Service Commission on Oct. 5th.