The standoff continues, at Sacred Stone Camp and in Bismarck. Winona LaDuke ( Anishinaabe) has an interesting column up at ICTMN, as further information comes to light.
The recent announcement of Enbridge’s purchase of the Dakota Access Pipeline came as a surprise to most of us. For the past four years, Enbridge has told the people of Minnesota that the proposed Sandpiper route (Clearbrook to Superior) was essential. It turns out that was not true. Let me try to translate what I think happened.
Brandon Ecoffey at The Lakota Country Times has a good article up about the current fight against Dakota Access pipeline.
For many Americans the fact that the poorest people in the United States have promised to lay their lives down to stop the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline is a bewildering experience. The shock that comes along with the realization that the Oceti Sakowin have come together once again as a united front against one of this country’s most powerful lobbies should come as no surprise for we have been fighting big industry since the arrival of colonial powers in the western hemisphere.
Native people of this country have both experienced and resisted the will of corporations for the entirety of our shared history. We saw the devastation that came with the early fur trade that began with beaver pelts that were eventually replaced by buffalo robes. We witnessed the atrocities that accompanied the powerful cotton lobby and their thirst for slave labor and cheap lands. We foresaw the arrival of settlers in the heart of Lakota Country, who came to take gold from our most sacred lands. Today, the “Horse Nations” are prepared for yet another battle against corporate powers and their allies in the United States Congress.
Most Americans have been taught to believe that the federal government and our elected officials have been put in place to protect our freedoms and way of life. For Native people the truth is the opposite. Since the inception of this republic the policies drafted regarding us have been crafted to take from us our culture or the resources we live on. For these reasons we are conditioned to question all that is offered us by both the government and big oil.
There are two promises that have been made by the oil industry that have proven to be categorically false.
Oh, so sorry to be late with this, it’s been difficult to keep up.
AHO! Sacred Stone Camp is calling on all water warriors, canoeists, kayakers, paddlers, all water warriors, bring your boats, and join us on the Missouri River, Saturday, August 20th. People are coming from all four directions to stand with us, to defend our right to say no, to defend healthy land, healthy water, healthy people, healthy animals. If you can stand for all Turtle Island, please stand with us.
Bring boats, paddles, life jackets, and banners.
Lawsuits are pending, brought by the Oceti Sakowin, but Dakota Access is aggressively pushing the pipeline anyway, not waiting for the hearings next week.
Sacred Stone Camp. Sacred Stone Camp Po. Box 1011 Ft. Yates, ND 58538 A good drop-off for supplies would be the actual camp located on the banks of the Cannonball and Missouri, north of the community of Cannon Ball. Follow the Facebook page for the most frequent updates: https://www.facebook.com/CampoftheSacredStone/
Show up, donate, signal boost, please help! Pilamayaye.
The city of Bismarck has closed off streets for a round dance.
I should add that cops have set up concrete roadblocks, and are checking license plates of all those heading into the camp, saying they are only allowing Standing Rock rez people in, but you can still get by. Be persistent, but no confrontations, and no violence – the cops are busy making up lies as it is. You can keep up with that at https://twitter.com/sacredstonecamp – so go if you can, but put your stealth on! You water warriors already have your way in, and past cops.
San Antonio Police Chief William McManus can’t meaningfully discipline his officers under current contract rules. CREDIT: AP Photo/Eric Gay.
City leaders in San Antonio will soon vote on a new union contract for police officers that contains no reforms to accountability processes for cops, because the officers’ union wanted more money before agreeing to higher standards.
Mayor Ivy Taylor brought a seven-point list of reforms to union negotiators this spring, the San Antonio Express-News reports, but none made it into the contract. If the City Council ratifies the deal on September 1, the city will continue to face tight limits on how it can discipline officers.
Any misconduct records older than two years cannot be used to justify punishment for new incidents. Short suspensions that officers do not appeal get erased and converted into simple reprimands on their records after two years.
Taylor’s seven-point wishlist would have ended each of those rules, giving the Chief of Police greater ability to punish repeat offenders and examine patterns of behavior across an officer’s full career when deciding to suspend, demote, or fire a cop.
“The (police) chief (William McManus) and I feel that it is important, but the union was not willing to consider that and they wanted to be paid for any changes in the disciplinary process,” city manager Sheryl Sculley told the Express-News.
The contract already includes a 14 percent raise over four years. The raises union officials reportedly sought in exchange for reform would have been over and above those pay bumps — something that one activist called “essentially extortion.”
Scatter Their Own Juliana Brown Eyes-Clifford and Scotti Clifford get arrested during the Dakota Access Pipeline confrontation. Photo courtesy of Arlo Iron Cloud.
Juliana Brown Eyes-Clifford and her husband, Scotti Clifford, were among the arrested on Monday at the Sacred Stone Camp.
“This is about water and land,” said Juliana Brown Eyes-Clifford who along with her husband Scotti Clifford, both from the band Scatter Their Own, were arrested. “We have to take a stand to protect the water and land for generations to come.”
Via Lakota Country Times.
ETA: The latest update from Sacred Stone Camp:
Aho ma relatives wopida dida tanka for all your support as you know many of our defenders have been arrested and the camp has grown considerably in size we are struggling to feed everyone and to get our defenders bailed out things we could not do without your support.. pls contribute in any way that you are able. prayers and donations we are very grateful for everyones help.. water is life the most sacred elder of creation without her all life stops..
If you can help, with money, signal boosting, your presence, supplies, please do.
I featured their music some time ago, and here it is again.
Scatter Their Own, Scotti Clifford and Juliana Brown Eyes-Clifford (Oglala Lakota). Scatter Their Own website.
Scatter Their Own, Taste The Time.
Scatter Their Own, Don’t Fear to Tread.
Scatter Their Own, Earth & Sky.
You can read more about Scatter Their Own here.
The Camp of the Sacred Stones has swelled from a few dozen to more than 2,500, according to Standing Rock Sioux Tribe officials. They are calling for further review of the Dakota Access oil pipeline, approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at the end of July without a full environmental assessment. Courtesy Little Redfeather Design/Honor the Earth.
Standing Rock Sioux Chairman David Archambault II continued calling for peace and nonviolence as demonstrations continued at a construction site for the Dakota Access oil pipeline, a day after a federal district court in North Dakota granted a temporary restraining order against those it deemed were interfering with the work.
“As we have said from the beginning, demonstrations regarding the Dakota Access pipeline must be peaceful,” Archambault said in a statement to reporters on August 17. “There is no place for threats, violence or criminal activity. That is simply not our way. So, the Tribe will do all it can to see that participants comply with the law and maintain the peace. That was our position before the injunction, and that is our position now.”
Archambault also alluded to President Barack Obama’s 2014 visit to the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, and his offer of help, noting that back then he did not ask the President for anything.
“I just showed him the reality of our lives,” Archambault said. “I believe both he and Michelle Obama were touched. So now if there’s any way he can intervene and move this pipeline off our treaty lands, I’m asking him.”
The temporary restraining order, dated August 16, prohibits the named defendants “and unidentified individuals,” designated as John and Jane Does, “from interfering with its right to construct the Dakota Access Pipeline (the “Pipeline”) in accordance with all local, state, and federal approvals it has obtained,” read Dakota Access LLC’s request to the court. Construction was halted due to “safety concerns,” the company said.
People vowing to protect the waters of the Missouri have gathered on land along the river owned by Standing Rock tribal member LaDonna Allard. The Sacred Stone Spiritual Camp, as it is called, has been occupied since April. It swelled from a few dozen a week ago to more than 2,500 by August 17, according to an estimate by tribal officials.
The court sided with Dakota Access LLC and granted the restraining order on the grounds that the permits were valid and thus give the company the right to start construction on the portion that will cross Lake Oahe, which was formed by the Oahe Dam on the Missouri River.
“Dakota Access has obtained the necessary easements and rights of way to construct the Pipeline in North Dakota and the necessary federal, state, and local permits for the Oahe Crossing,” the court said in its motion. “In accordance with the permits and approvals obtained for the Pipeline project, Dakota Access has commenced construction activities in North Dakota.”
[…]
The $3.8 billion, 1,172-mile-long pipeline would cross the Missouri River itself, in addition to the lake. Standing Rock Sioux Tribe officials say that in crossing Lake Oahe and the Missouri River, the pipeline would disturb burial grounds and sacred sites on ancestral Treaty lands. Archambault said that over the past several days he had met and spoken with everyone from demonstrators, to tribal government and spiritual leaders, to state and local law enforcement officials.
“In all of these meetings, my message has been consistent—we need to work together in peace,” he said. “And, as I continue to spread this message, I believe that the word is getting out. Standing Rock wants there to be peace.”
The chairman said he has also met over the past year with federal officials from numerous agencies “to express the Tribe’s strong opposition and to let them know that we will be heard,” and noted the upcoming hearing on the tribe’s lawsuit against the Army Corps.
“Our basic position is that the Corps of Engineers has failed to follow the law and has failed to consider the impacts of the pipeline on the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe,” he said.
Also pending is a lawsuit filed by Dakota Access LLC against Archambault and several others simultaneously with the motion for a restraining order. The suit was filed after Archambault and about a dozen others were arrested during the demonstrations on August 11. Construction began on August 10.
Numerous tribes have expressed support for the Standing Rock Sioux, responding to a request for “proclamations, resolutions and/or letters of support,” the tribe said in an August 15 statement. All the tribe wants, Archambault said, is that the pipeline not be built across Treaty lands.
Sacred Rock Camp. – Rezpect Our Water. – Via ICTMN.
A 2002 rally by neo-Nazi group the National Alliance (Flickr Creative Commons).
A lawyer hired by the city of Baltimore to defend police officers in court has long-standing connections to a neo-Nazi group, but insists that his “crazy ideas” do not affect his work.
The New York Daily News reported Thursday that attorney Glen Keith Allen is a longtime supporter of the National Alliance, a group the Southern Poverty Law Center calls “explicitly genocidal” and which is characterized as a hate group.
Allen admits he joined the National Alliance because, “I was in the U.S. Army from 1978 to 1982 and I had some pretty awful experiences with black people there, to be honest.”
While he is not currently involved in the Freddie Gray case, Allen has defended the Baltimore Police Department in court, notably in a current lawsuit brought by Sabein Burgess, a black man says he was wrongfully convicted and spent 19 years in prison before being released in 2014.
[…]
In spite of Allen’s insistence that he left the National Alliance in the 1980s, he was still paying membership dues in 2003. The 65-year-old attorney also attended a Holocaust-denial conference in 2007, but denies that his views affect his work for the city in any way.
“I have an unblemished record in 30 years of practicing law…I have the highest ethical standards and zealous representation of my client, and that’s what I’ve been doing for the city,” he told the Daily News.
The Anti-Defamation League said that the National Alliance “dehumanize(s) both blacks and Jews, depicting them as threats to ‘Aryan culture’ and ‘racial purity.’”
Federal Election Commission (FEC) documents show that Allen is a donating member of the American Eagle Party, a fringe right group led by a man named Merlin Miller who says that Israel planned the 9/11 attacks in cahoots with the U.S. government.
“Should I be fired from the city of Baltimore because I have crazy ideas about 9/11?” Allen said.
I think you should be relieved of your position because you’re a nazi, Mr. Allen. Apparently, this doesn’t bother the city of Baltimore or cops in the least. It would certainly bother me, but I guess cops are tossing away any pretense of a standard these days.
UPDATE: Mr. Allen has been relieved of his position with the city. You can read about it here.
Via Raw Story.
Oceti Sakowin Youth.
Aug 17, 2016 — Things are escalating quickly, and we couldn’t be more grateful for your help. Over the past few days several more tribal members have been arrested, including Standing Rock Chairman David Archambault II. In retaliation, Dakota Access LLC has sued the chairman, specifically to stop us from interfering with the pipeline’s construction.
Dakota Access knows that our tribe has very little funds to fight their lawyers, and yet they attacked us for disrupting a project that threatens our health and community. This is sick – but we can’t take it lying down. Last time we asked you to make a call for us, you all showed up! Will you help us again?
Call the Energy Transfer Partners Headquarters at (214) 981-0700 and tell them:
“If built, the Dakota Access Pipeline will threaten the health and safety of all those living along its path, and particularly members of the Standing Rock Reservation. We know from the long history of impunity oil companies have enjoyed when it comes to pipeline leaks that it is not a matter of IF this pipeline leaks, but WHEN. I’m calling to demand that you drop the lawsuit you have filed against the chairman of Standing Rock and cease pipeline construction immediately.”
Don’t forget to leave a comment to let us know how it goes!
Sincerely,
Bobbi and Anna
Please, please help again. Call, signal boost, whatever you can do. Please, do not leave us alone in this fight, we fight for all people, we fight for healthy land, clean water, and the rights of all people to stand up and say no.
Tatanka Iyotanka.
Given that the feds continue in their fine tradition of breaking treaties, and gleefully insisting on tearing up the earth and poisoning the water on Indian land (and poisoned water doesn’t sit still, it moves on, spreading the poison), making every effort to kill our last stand, while openly stating they don’t want to risk the water the supply in Bismarck, maybe we can get another small victory regarding names.
After a years long fight, a peak known as Hinhan Kaga to the Oglala Lakota, but known to the rest of the world, as Harney Peak, has been renamed Black Elk Peak. Gen. Harney was never near this peak, the closest he came was Blue Water Creek in Nebraska, where he was busy massacring Lakota women and children. It takes this long to remove such disrespect from the heart of Indian Country, and a great many people are still very unhappy about it.
AP’s James Nord reports South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard, in a prepared statement, expressed disappointment and said the decision would lead to “unnecessary expense and confusion. I suspect very few people know the history of either Harney or Black Elk.” The Governor added that he had heard little support for renaming the peak.
All the peoples of He Sapa know the history of Black Elk, and there’s been a lot of support for renaming the peak, but it’s hardly unusual to be “unaware” of that when you don’t look, and you don’t listen.
Now it’s time to ready for another fight, possibly this one will take years, too.
The Ft. Laramie treaties of both 1851 and 1868 created the Great Sioux Reservation, both of which included these future national forests as within the Sioux territory. These lands were later confiscated unilaterally.
Now, two national forests are sitting in a small portion of the home territories of Northern Plains Indians, including the Sioux and Cheyenne peoples. One of these forests is called Black Hills National Forest. The other one is named after yet another genocidal murderer, Custer. No one ever stops to think about all the Indian children who grow up on the rez, their home, and see the honour given to someone who was dedicated to murdering Indians, including women and children. We’d like the forests to be renamed after a true leader, a person of intelligence, dignity, bravery, and compassion, Tatanka Iyotanka, Sitting Bull.
This is about respect, and it is not a small matter. It may seem that way, but it is in no way small. This is our home, our land. It should bear a name that is proper, and respectful. It certainly should not be this:
Yes indeed. It is called Custer National Forest! And if this doesn’t strike you as a cruel irony, then I suggest that you don’t the know the history of this place, and these people.
This spiritual ‘poke in the eye’ should, and can be changed. How about ‘Sitting Bull National Forest’ instead, honoring the most respected of Sioux chiefs in his time.
If you’d like to help, please sign our petition. It’s About Respect. Sitting Bull National Forest. If you can, please boost the signal, in any way possible, we can use every voice. Pilamayaye to all those who help.
Here are the materials in Dakota Access LLC v. Archambault (D.N.D.):
Via Turtle Talk.
Courtesy Standing Rock Dakota Access Pipeline Opposition
Police line up before protesters near the construction site of the Dakota Access oil pipeline.
The controversial Dakota Access Pipeline project is back in the news. Over the weekend, tribal activists faced off against lines of police in Hunkpapa Territory near Cannon Ball as construction crews prepared to break ground for the new pipeline, while Standing Rock Sioux governmental officials resolved to broaden their legal battle to stop the project.
On July 26, 2016 the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe was stunned to learn that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had given its approval for the pipeline to run within a half-mile of the reservation without proper consultation or consent. Also, the new 1,172 mile Dakota Access Pipeline will cross Lake Oahe (formed by Oahe Dam on the Missouri) and the Missouri River as well, and disturb burial grounds and sacred sites on the tribe’s ancestral Treaty lands, according to SRST officials.
Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners will build, own and operate the proposed $3.78 billion Dakota Access Pipeline and plans to transport up to 570,000 barrels of crude oil fracked from the Bakken oil fields across four states to a market hub in Illinois. The pipeline—already facing widespread opposition by a coalition of farmers, ranchers and environmental groups—will cross 209 rivers, creeks and tributaries, according to Dakota Access, LLC.
Standing Rock Sioux leaders say the pipeline will threaten the Missouri River, the tribe’s main source of drinking and irrigation water, and forever destroy burial grounds and sacred sites.
“We don’t want this black snake within our Treaty boundaries,” said Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault II. “We need to stop this pipeline that threatens our water. We have said repeatedly we don’t want it here. We want the Army Corps to honor the same rights and protections that were afforded to others, rights we were never afforded when it comes to our territories. We demand the pipeline be stopped and kept off our Treaty boundaries.”
Indian Affairs Archives.
“We know our lands have now become more valuable. The white people think we do not know their value; but we know that the land is everlasting, and the few goods we receive for it are soon worn out and gone.”
Canassatego, circa 1740
“…your money is not as good as our land, is it? The wind will blow it away; the fire will burn it; water will rot it. Nothing will destroy our land.”
Crowfoot, Siksika, 1877
Quick Story: I saw some images today of the direct action going on at the Sacred Stone Camp in Hunkpapa territory right now, where Native people are organizing against the Dakota Access Pipeline. Powerful images, powerful movement. And although I was going to write about something else, Hunkpapa made me realize how long Native people have been organizing against these dirty energy projects—choosing to turn down huge sums of money—to protect the earth from folks who would tear up our homelands. Those photos made me realize that we’ve been doing this for a long time. From Northern Cheyenne to the Blackfeet Nation to Lummi to Standing Rock, so many of our folks simply will not take a few bucks in exchange for destroying our relationship with Earth. Please look at these images—pray for these warriors on the front line right now, in real time, in Hunkpapa territory. Send some thoughts, prayers and food. Share the images; it all helps. But there is a reasonable question of why do Native people keep on fighting against what the white folks call “progress” and “economic development?”
Why can’t Native people just take the money and run?
