It was unclear if protesters would heed Archambault’s call to leave the Oceti Sakowin camp in Cannon Ball, North Dakota.
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“Nothing will happen this winter”, Archambault said. “What we’re doing is we’re saying don’t make us pay for it again”.
On Sunday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers denied the easement permit for the $3.8 billion Dakota Access Pipeline to cross under a Missouri River reservoir in southern North Dakota near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. It began to grow in August and has been called the largest gathering of Native American tribes in a century.
But President-elect Trump’s transition spokesman said Monday the incoming administration was supportive of the 1,172-mile (1,886-kilometre) oil pipeline, which would snake through four U.S. states.
The 1,885-kilometre pipeline – owned by Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners LP – is almost complete, save the section that is proposed to cross Lake Oahe.
The Army Corps and North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple (R) both ordered the area evacuated in recent weeks, before the Army Corps’ decision on the easement, although neither the federal nor the state government plans to forcibly remove protesters.
The 1,172-mile (1,886-kilometer) pipeline, which would bring oil from North Dakota to IL, remains stalled after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Sunday refused to grant a requested easement under Lake Oahe, suggesting further environmental review is needed.
Jo-Ellen Darcy said she based her decision on a need to explore alternate routes for the Dakota Access Pipeline crossing. Trump has said he supports the pipeline, and he holds stock in Energy Transfer Partners.
“What the protesters did was they helped build awareness”, he said. The Dakota Access pipeline would use a almost identical route to cross Lake Oahe near the Standing Rock reservation.
Alex Liberato, a 17-year-old with Navajo ancestry, said the Dakota pipeline threatens sovereignty of Native American tribes across the country. Robin Pegel, of Mead, Nebraska, said she thinks the weather might force some people from camp over time.
The looming Donald Trump presidency casts Sunday’s victory in a shadow of uncertainty for indigenous communities and their supporters in the #NoDAPL movement.
Energy Transfer Partners slammed the decision as politically motivated and alleged that President Barack Obama’s administration was determined to delay the matter until he leaves office.
The news prompted cheers among demonstrators gathered near the Standing Rock reservation.
Next, there is still a dispute over ownership of the land where the pipeline was planned to cross the river.
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His grandfather, Dennis Rodgers, has been at Standing Rock for about a week, he said. This implies that sponsors of the controversial Dakota Pipeline would have to halt operations along the 40-mile stretch in North Dakota.
