Locals protest pipeline through sacred tribal lands

Lex Talamo

alexa.talamo@shreveporttimes.com

Members of more than 200 Native American tribes have gathered in support protests of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe against a pipeline that would cut through culturally significant land.

A local nonprofit has joined in national protests against a proposed pipeline that would cut through sacred tribal lands near Lake Oahe, North Dakota.

About a dozen members of 350 Shreveport, a local environmental nonprofit, gathered last week to deliver a letter of protest against the pipeline’s construction to the CHASE bank on Line Avenue, asking the branch to reconsider financially backing the project. The $3.7-billion Dakota Access Pipeline would transport more than 470,000 barrels of oil per day along a 1,172- mile route spanning Illinois, Iowa, North Dakota and South Dakota — but would cut through culturally important land to the Standing Rock Sioux tribe of North Dakota to do so.

350 Shreveport gathered more than a dozen people to raise awareness about the impact of the Dakota Access pipeline.

350 Shreveport Organizer Frances Kelley said the letter’s purpose was twofold: to show support for the Standing Rock Sioux and also to discourage banks from future investments in fossil fuel infrastructure projects.

“The United States must keep fossil fuels in the ground to stop dangerous climate disruption, but we’re also very concerned about the sovereignty and human rights issues,” Kelley said. “It’s not just this issue, it’s the larger pattern of indigenous people being hurt most by environmental injustices. This group of people have already been through so much in the history of our country."

Members from more than 200 Native American Tribes have gathered in support of protests of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe against a pipeline that would cut through culturally significant land.

Shreveport resident Ryan Trundle helped deliver the letter to CHASE. He also took a 24-hour road trip over Labor Day weekend to deliver supplies and visit the campground in Cannonball, North Dakota— where more than 4,000 people from more than 280 tribes have gathered in support of the Standing Rock Sioux.

The day he arrived, Trundle said he watched the bulldozing of sacred burial grounds and also saw Native protesters sprayed with mace and attacked by dogs.

“They’re being treated terribly. It’s really important that we stop this pipeline, not only for water rights but for sacred Native rights,” Trundle said. “It’s something everyone needs to care about.”

Jo'ella Joyllyn Red Willow, Miss Eagle Nest of the Wanblee District in South Dakota, went to the campground in North Dakota for two weeks to support protests of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe against a pipeline that would cut through culturally significant land.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice halted construction near the main protest area around Lake Oahe in Cannon Ball, North Dakota, to ensure the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had complied with the National Environmental Policy Act. Kelcy Warren, Chief Executive Officer of Energy Transfer— the organization in charge of the pipeline’s construction— said neither the land near, nor Lake Oahe itself, is subject to Native American control or ownership and that state archaeologists issued a "no significant sites affected" determination in February on the North Dakota segment of the pipeline.

Warren said the pipeline will decrease American oil dependence on "unstable regions of the world" and reduce American petroleum prices, while also creating up to 12,000 jobs and generating an approximate $129 million annually in state and local property and income taxes. Warren said Energy Transfer remains committed to finishing the project— which is more than 60 percent complete—“within the confines of the law.”

“We are committed to protecting and respecting the welfare of all workers, the Native American community, local communities where we operate and the long-term integrity of the land and waters in the region,” Warren wrote in a press release. “We hope to be able to strengthen our relationship with Native American communities as we move forward with this project.”

Jo’ella Joyllyn Red Willow, Miss Eagle Nest District of Wanblee and a high school student at Crazy Horse School on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, spent two weeks at the campground to show the support of her Lakota Sioux tribe.

“Listening to the drum beat at night and the singers praying with song, and everyone standing together to fight for the water… it was breathtaking. I never thought I’d be a part of history,” Willow said. “We are never wrong about fighting for what we love. Tunkasila [Creator God] gave us unci maka [earth] to look after, and we will proceed to do so.”

Kelley said 350 Shreveport will continue to monitor the issue closely.

“There are so many people in Shreveport who have been following this and paying attention,” Kelley said. “We will continue to do whatever we can for the tribe and also with other climate justice issues.”