Fight against pipeline not over, say local protestors - East Idaho News
Pocatello

Fight against pipeline not over, say local protestors

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POCATELLO — Celebrations in Indian Country were short-lived following the announcement Sunday that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would not grant an easement for the Dakota Access Pipeline. The Corps will pursue an environmental impact statement and look at other possible routes for construction of the pipeline.

The Standing Rock Sioux tribe called the ruling an historic decision, but on Monday, oil companies called the decision a political move and vowed to move forward with the pipeline.

Pocatello therapist Crete Brown, who returned from the DAPL protest last week, said Sunday’s announcement will have little impact on construction of the pipeline or the movement to stop it.

“The oil companies have already said that this doesn’t change anything and they fully intend to move forward with construction of the pipeline and they’re willing to pay fines of $50,000 per day to do that,” Brown said. “While it sounds like good news, it probably is not. This is not over.”

Protestors have committed to stay until the oil companies move out, and Energy Transfer Partners and Sunoco Logistics own the DAPL, and they told The Associated Press on Monday that the corporations remains “fully committed to ensuring that this vital project is brought to completion and fully expect to complete construction of the pipeline without any additional rerouting in and around Lake Oahe. Nothing this administration has done today changes that in any way.”

The segment of pipeline under Lake Oahe is the only large chunk of construction left on the DAPL, which also crosses through South Dakota and Iowa.

Brown said she will continue to do what she can locally to raise awareness and support for the water protectors, but she doesn’t plan to return to the camp this winter.

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“I don’t think I would survive,” Brown said. “They’re in the middle of blizzards now, and the cold is brutal.”

In spite of harsh winter conditions, between 8,000 and 10,000 people are at Oceti Sakowin – Seven Council Fires camp near Cannonball, North Dakota.The protestors are camped in teepees, tents and RVs and include more than 400 Native American tribes and thousands of non-Indian supporters from around the world.

On Monday, Standing Rock Sioux Chairman Dave Archambault II asked all non-Sioux protestors to leave the camp.

“I’m asking them to go. Their presence will only cause the environment to be unsafe,” he told Reuters on Monday.

Archambault said nothing is going to change before Trump takes office on Jan. 20, and the elected leader of about 9,000 enrolled Sioux members said he hopes to meet with the incoming president to educate him about the decision made and the future of the pipeline.

LaNada War Jack, a member of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes in Fort Hall, said that the federal government announced its decision on the same day that thousands of U.S. veterans showed up in North Dakota to support the water protectors.

“It’s great news,” War Jack said. “However, it’s only a short break until Trump comes in. I think that the (Corps) couldn’t risk looking bad since our force now included the veterans.”

War Jack said she’s concerned about enforcement of the Corps’ decision and she believes that it was a move aimed more at getting the water protectors to leave than rerouting the pipeline.

War Jack said family members still on the DAPL frontlines report that drilling for pipeline is still underway.

The first Native American to enroll at UC Berkley in 1967, War Jack also took part in the occupation of Alcatraz by Native Americans in 1969, and she said the situation in Standing Rock indicates that relations between the U.S. government and Native Americans have improved little in the past half-century.

“As Native people, it’s about our connection to the earth, our relationship to the water,” she said. “Water is sacred, it is medicine and it’s what we’re made of. Anything that threatens the water threatens us and our way of life. Native people have a history of hardship and we are very resilient people, I don’t think the protestors will leave the camp.”

War Jack said the water protectors are hunkered down and prepared to stay the course.

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Jessica James, also a member of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, returned from the camp in North Dakota last week and was skeptical but optimistic following the Corps’ announcement Sunday.

“It was good news. It’s like a battle has been won, but the war still continues. I fear that with the new administration coming into power next month, things will change,” James said. “For now I am happy and will continue to pray for the future.”

On Monday the American Petroleum Institute, which represents the U.S. oil and natural gas industry, urged Trump to make approval of the disputed pipeline a “top priority” once he takes office.Trump spokesman Jason Miller said Trump supports construction of the pipeline, but Miller declined to say whether Trump would reverse the Corps’ decision.

“We will review the full situation when we’re in the White House and make the appropriate determination at that time,” Miller told the AP on Monday.

James and War Jack delivered supplies to the North Dakota camp last month, and James said it was her first visit to the site. She said the water protectors are united in a spirit of solidarity and are committed to the nonviolent protest.

“It is amazing,” James said. “You go into the camp and see all the tribal flags, and then you see the camp,” James said.

Everyone who enters the camp receives an orientation, and weapons and alcohol are prohibited. Medical tents are set up along with stations to keep protestors fed and hydrated.

Militarized security forces at the camp have deployed an arsenal of non-lethal weapons against the protestors, including attack dogs, rubber bullets, pepper spray, fire hoses and sound cannons.

James said a number of people have been treated for hypothermia from being sprayed with water hoses and exposed to freezing temperatures.

During her stay at the camp, James also rubbed elbows with some famous objectors – actress and activist Jane Fonda provided Thanksgiving Day dinner to protestors and offered James and War Jack use of her hotel room and shower.

“She is so energetic and so passionate, she really is a woman warrior,” James said.

The water protectors are using traditional ceremony and prayer to defeat the DAPL, and James said non-Indian groups worldwide have followed suit.

“I met people at the camp from Norway and South America and Switzerland, and they are all there for the same reason,” James said.

The current route of the DAPL would pass over the Ogallala Aquifer, which provides 30 percent of the country’s groundwater, according to the Scientific American. If spread across the U.S. the aquifer would cover all 50 states with 1.5 feet of water. If drained, it would take more than 6,000 years to refill it naturally. More than 90 percent of the water is used for irrigation, and $20 billion a year in agricultural production depends on the Ogallala Aquifer.

The pipeline will also cross under the Missouri River twice.

Archambault said he hopes to meet with Trump to discuss the future of the pipeline.

“We are not opposed to energy independence, economic development, or national security concerns, but we must ensure that these decisions are made with the considerations of our indigenous peoples,” Archambault said.

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