He also said he will rule by the end of Friday on the Standing Rock Sioux tribe’s challenge of federal regulators’ decision to grant permits to the Dallas, Texas-based operators of the Dakota Access Pipeline, which will cross North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and IL.
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The broadcast news networks-ABC, CBS and NBC-have aired exactly one report on the Dakota Access Pipeline protests since the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe began an encampment against the project in April, according to a search of the Nexis news database.
“On Saturday, the Dakota Access pipeline company attacked Native Americans with dogs and pepper spray as they protested against the $3.8 billion pipeline’s construction – but nearly nothing of this has been shown or reported by mainstream media”, Reich wrote in a Facebook post.
Over the weekend of September 3, protesters broke through a wire fence in an attempt to chase bulldozers grading the land, confronting pipeline security staff and guard dogs in clashes that at times became violent. Medics confirmed that six people were bitten by dogs.
Dakota Access, the company building the pipeline, said Tuesday that the Standing Rock Sioux incited pipeline opponents to break the law during protests, Reuters reported.
But the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe sued the Corps, saying the pipeline “threatens the Tribe’s environmental and economic well-being, and would damage and destroy sites of great historic, religious, and cultural significance to the Tribe”.
Johnson said the governor might have to call out the National Guard, “so we can get through this volatile area”. No pipeline workers were at the site, and no arrests have been made.
When asked if he believes there were any burial or prayer sites in that area, Picha said, “I can’t answer that 100 percent”, but he noted none were identified by the consultants, who must meet federal standards for archeological reviews.
After the initial destruction Saturday, Dakota Access Pipeline returned to the area and dug up additional grounds in the pre-dawn hours Sunday, Archambault said.
But Archambault said his tribe will settle for nothing less than the stop of the pipeline’s construction.
“People are ready to stay through winter”, said Allyson Two Bears, who sits on the tribe’s emergency response team.
Alvarado said she hopes the rally will also raise awareness about other pipelines that affect Native American communities.
Chairwoman Julie Fedorchak said the siting permit includes an “unanticipated discovery plan” that requires Dakota Access to stop construction and contact the PSC and SHPO if it uncovers a possible grave or other significant site. “Law enforcement has been caught in the middle”. “They went and tried to stop the bulldozers”, he said.
The case could prompt the judge to issue a permanent injunction against the pipeline.
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“Thousands of indigenous peoples from different nations have gathered in the Sacred Stone Spirit camp, in North Dakota, to block construction of the pipeline”. The environment is an important part of our lives and any threats to it impacts our families, ancestors and future generations. They have a right to language, to culture, to tradition.
