A protest of the multi-state, $3.8 million oil pipeline turned violent Saturday when members of a Native American tribe in North Dakota and private security forces clashed as construction crews began work on the project.
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The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe is demanding a response from North Dakota’s Governor Jack Dalrymple after Native Americans attempting to stop construction of the $3.7 billion dollar Dakota Access Pipeline allege they were attacked by dogs and pepper sprayed at the weekend.
A Tribe Spokesman told the Chicago Tribune at least 30 people were pepper-sprayed and at least six people were bitten by dogs, including one child.
Law-enforcement personnel were not present at the North Dakota site when the incident occurred, Preskey said.
The security officers were protecting workers and the company’s assets, she said, and “safety is ETP’s top priority and the company is committed to having the appropriate safety measures in place”.
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.
Sioux Tribe members and many other supporters of the movement from across the country gathered at the construction site near the Sacred Stone Camp in North Dakota on Saturday and breached fences in an attempt to stop bulldozers doing groundwork in the area. “In one day, our sacred land has been turned into hollow ground”.
Without proper environmental clearance and ignoring treaties that require consultation with affected Native American tribes, Energy Transfer Partners has managed to sidestep numerous legal safeguards that are meant to protect USA citizens from the harm of corporate land projects.
On Friday, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe submitted documents in court that identified areas with sacred graves and artifacts. There were also protests in Wisconsin and Iowa.
Permits to build on the tribal lands in North Dakota were granted by the Army Corps of Engineers in July, according to NPR.
Police said several people were assaulted with fence posts and flag poles, including private security officers hired by Dakota Access Pipeline.
“Any suggestion that today’s event was a peaceful protest, is false”, his statement said. The burial grounds and cultural sites were reportedly on private land, land that is being excavated and otherwise developed to make way for the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline.
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Hundreds of people have joined the Standing Rock Sioux to protest the pipeline. The desecration of these ancient places has already caused the Standing Rock Sioux irreparable harm. They literally bulldozed the ancestors right out of the ground, along with destroying tipi rings and cairns.
