The protest pushed the tribe to ask for a temporary stop to construction, the AP reported.
Advertisement
Court documents say 27 Native American graves have been identified in the Dakota Access Pipeline Corridor south of Mandan, ND.
He said some protesters had hatchets and knives, and two secured themselves to heavy equipment.
Activists invited Stein to leave a message at the protest site on Tuesday, campaign spokeswoman Meleiza Figueroa said, and Stein sprayed “I approve this message” in red paint on the blade of a bulldozer.
A federal judge granted part of the tribe’s emergency request to halt construction.
The 1,172-mile, $3.8 billion pipeline will initially carry 450,000 barrels of oil per day from the Bakken oil fields to Patoka, Ill., with a capacity of 570,000 barrels per day.
A group of firms led by Energy Transfer Partners is building the 1,100-mile pipeline.
While the tribe’s lawyers work to persuade a federal judge to withdraw permits for the pipeline in a ruling expected on Friday, thousands of protesters gathered at campgrounds near Standing Rock Sioux Tribe lands.
“We are disappointed that the U.S. District Court’s decision does not prevent DAPL from destroying our sacred sites as we await a ruling on our original motion to stop construction of the pipeline”.
The company responded that it “is not destroying and has not destroyed any evidence or important historical sites”.
Since April, a nonviolent tribal protest by mostly members of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe has been set up at a “spirit camp” at the confluence of the Cannonball and Missouri rivers in the path of the pipeline. In August, the Standing Rock Sioux tribe sued the federal government over the project after tribal leaders said the tribes were not properly consulted prior to construction.
What’s more, she highlighted how this latest affront is part of a legacy of the US government erasing Indigenous culture through the destruction of their sacred sites.
But Dakota Access said in court filings that work was always planned for Saturday and that it had altered its construction schedule weeks ago to complete the grading on that portion of right-of-way because law enforcement “specifically expressed concern about a large Native American gathering” for the United Tribes Technical College International Powwow, which starts Friday in Bismarck. Nevertheless, the corps said the merits of the challenge were unlikely to stand.
Actress Susan Sarandon, who joined the Washington protest, said she was there to help publicize the tribe’s cause.
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.
Advertisement
LaDonna Bravebull Allard, historic preservation office for Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s Section 106, noted in a piece published at YES! That decision is expected by September 9.
