A dramatic day at the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe occupation seems to have ended in a temporary victory for the tribe in its battle to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline.
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“This could go all winter, and into next summer”, said Lance Dorian, spokesman for a group from the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota that has set up camp on the south side of the Cannon Ball River, on Standing Rock land. In a statement, the administration also asked the company to voluntarily stop construction within 20 miles of the section on federal land.
A decision by the Obama administration to temporarily block construction on the Dakota Access Pipeline this Friday gave the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and hundreds of other protesters cause for celebration.
The tribe said burial grounds and other sacred sites would be destroyed by the pipeline.
Announced in 2014, supporters said the pipeline would create more markets and reduce truck and oil train traffic – the latter of which has been a growing concern after a spate of fiery derailments of trains carrying North Dakota crude.
Meanwhile, Dakota Access opponents say they intend to continue the Sacred Stone Camp north of the reservation while the legal matters are ongoing. Meanwhile, the Great Plains Tribal Chairman’s Association has asked U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch to send federal monitors to the protest, alleging racial profiling. The Standing Rock Sioux, and as of Thursday the Yankton Sioux Tribe, are suing the Corps for not properly consulting them before granting a construction permit.
The U.S. government paused construction work at part of the Dakota Access Pipeline on Friday pending a review by the Army Corps of Engineers.
Here’s a look at some key points from U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s 58-page opinion: — KEY QUOTE “This Court does not lightly countenance any depredation of lands that hold significance to the Standing Rock Sioux”.
At a solidarity rally in San Francisco, I met Indigenous Mindanao activists fighting for their rights in the Philippines, who read a statement of solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux.
The post Here are some of the Native Americans who halted the construction of a pipeline on their land appeared first on PBS NewsHour.
The statement also said the case “highlighted the need for a serious discussion” about nationwide reforms “with respect to considering tribes’ views on these types of infrastructure projects”. The company behind the pipeline denied that had happened.
Dakota Access LLC’s parent company, Energy Transfer Partners, has not responded to repeated requests for comment from DeSmog.
In their joint statement, the three USA departments said they would schedule meetings with Native American leaders to discuss how the federal government can better consider the tribes’ views and respect their land.
Authorities made one arrest Friday afternoon related to the pipeline protests, Preskey said. About a dozen Guard members are manning a traffic information point on State Highway 1806 to free up law enforcement to have a visible presence near the protest site.
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A status conference in the Standing Rock Siouxs lawsuit is scheduled for September 16.
