Suzanne Kramer-Brenna of Bismarck, N.D., left, stands alongside Tania Aubid of Minnesota’s Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe at a recent protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline outside the North Dakota Capitol.
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The items had been delivered a week ago by the state Department of Health at the request of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, which has led opposition to construction of the 1,172-mile long pipeline that would stretch from North Dakota to IL and cross underneath the Missouri River, which provides water to the tribe’s 8,500-strong community, according to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Department of Water Resources. It would traverse North Dakota, South Dakota, and Iowa, before eventually stopping in IL. Over the last week, 28 protesters were arrested, including Standing Rock Chairman Dave Archambault, who wants protesters to comply with the law.
“What we are seeing is the state and specifically the governor spinning a false narrative that only creates resentment and potential danger for all parties”, Goldtooth said.
Standing Rock historic preservation officer Jon Eagle Sr. addresses a crowd of protesters gathered at a camp near the Dakota Access Pipeline construction site along the Missouri River.
Vic Camp, a 41-year-old from South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Reservation, said Tuesday that protesters will refrain from violence if the judge’s ruling doesn’t go their way.
Some things to know about the pipeline and the tribe’s ongoing protest: — WHAT IS THE DAKOTA ACCESS PIPELINE?
Archambault II says his tribe was never consulted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers before construction for the pipeline began.
“Tanka president Mark Tilsen, along with his friends Bruce and Rich Ellison, are heading up to Standing Rock to support our brothers and sisters fighting the Dakota Access oil pipeline in order to protect our sacred water”, said the company on Facebook.
Construction crews for the Bakken oil pipeline will be staying home Thursday. “Keep it in the soil”.
Media outlets have reported the pipeline has halted construction until a federal hearing in Washington, D.C., on August 23. “For the first time in 100 years we are hosting the reconvening of the Seven Council fires of the Oceti Sakowin”.
One has the ominous sense of grim history about to be reenacted at Standing Rock. And earlier this week North Dakota’s homeland security director Greg Wilz ordered the removal of state-owned air-conditioned trailers and water tanks at the protest campsite, in response to alleged unlawful activity.
The U.S. Defense Department honored 15 U.S. employers for supporting workers who serve in the National Guard and military reserve units.
But the possibility for a new outcome is there as well. The Army Corps of Engineers say they did reach out to the tribe but they declined to be part of the process because it would legitimize a process they don’t believe in.
The hearing was long and polite, touching on the threat to delicate archaeological sites along the Standing Rock portion of the route and on whether or not the pipeline company had done due diligence as to its commitments and responsibilities to the Native people of the region. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg said Wednesday he will make a decision on the issue by September 9. It’s protecting the land and protecting the water.
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Since April, tribe members have protested at one of the construction sites where the Cannonball and Missouri rivers meet.
