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Eviction Day – December 5, 2016 – Water Protectors were
not leaving. Native News Online; photo by
Levi Rickert
INCOMING CHAIR OF SENATE COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS WANTS WATER
PROTECTORS TO LEAVE CAMP
by Levi Rickert, Native News Online - 22 DEC 2016
WASHINGTON – The incoming chairman of the U.S. Committee on
Indian Affairs, Senator John Hoeven (R – North Dakota) wants the
water protectors fighting against the Dakota Access pipeline to
leave the encampments.
Approximately 1,500 people are still living in the various
Standing Rock encampments.
“We must all follow the rule of law for the safety of
everyone and to protect everyone’s rights,” Hoeven said in his
statement. “As fellow North Dakotans — both native and non-native —
we need to work together to restore our long-standing good
relationship.”
On December 6, 2016, Standing Rock Sioux Chairman Dave
Archambault II asked the water protectors to leave the camps. His
request came two days after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
announced it would not grant an easement for the construction of the
pipeline under the Missouri River....
HOLY RAGE: LESSONS FROM STANDING ROCK
by Louise Erdrich, The New Yorker - 22 DEC 2016
The snow-scoured hills and buttes of the Missouri Breaks are
dotted with isolated houses, until the sudden appearance of the
Oceti Sakowin encampment on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. The
presence of so many people catches at the heart. Snow-dusted tepees,
neon pup tents, dark-olive military tents, brightly painted metal
campers, and round solid yurts shelter hundreds on the floodplain
where the Cannonball River meets the Missouri. Flags of Native
Nations whip in the cutting wind, each speaking of solidarity with
the Standing Rock tribe’s opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline,
or D.A.P.L., owned by Energy Transfer Partners and Sunoco Logistics.
This pipeline would pass beneath the Missouri River and imperil
drinking water not only for the tribe but for farmers, ranchers, and
townspeople all along the river’s course.
Oceti Sakowin, or Seven Fires, refers to the seven divisions
of the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota, people who are perhaps best known
for their resistance to colonization (Little Big Horn, 1876), their
suffering (Wounded Knee, 1890), and their activism (Wounded Knee,
1973). One of their most famous leaders, Sitting Bull, was murdered
in the town that is now their tribal headquarters, Fort Yates. Down
the road from Fort Yates is the town of Cannonball, named for the
large round stones polished by the whirlpool that marked the
convergence of the two rivers, just outside the Oceti Sakowin camp.
The round stones disappeared when the Army Corps of Engineers dammed
the Missouri, in a giant project that lasted from 1948 to 1962. The
result of that project, Lake Oahe, flooded Standing Rock’s most
life-giving land. The Lakota were forced onto the harshly exposed
grazing uplands, and they haven’t forgotten that, or much else.
History is a living force in the Lakota way of life. Each of the
great events in their common destiny includes the direct experience
of ancestors, whose names live on in their descendants. It is
impossible to speak of what is now happening at Standing Rock
without taking into account the history, as well as the intense
spirituality, that underlies Seven Fires resistance....
Stand Up! People's Climate Music, Posted to Native Americans Today on
Facebook - 21 DEC 2016
Actress and Activist Shailene Woodley joins Indigenous
Artists in this song dedicated to the
Standing Rock Water Protectors.
Between Standing Rock and a Hard Place
Big banks are finding it tough to be consistent
around environmental standards. They need to try harder to address
the conflicts and inconsistencies.
by Helen Avery, Euromoney - 21 DEC 2016
The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) loan highlights the
challenges banks are going to face as they seek to embrace
environmental and social standards, and 'do good’ while still doing
business. The $3.8 billion loan to Energy Transfer Partners to help
finance the pipeline has become a headache for the deal’s lead
banks. Not only does the pipeline have the potential to contaminate
drinking water, it has also become a human rights issue, having been
rerouted through sacred lands of indigenous peoples. As such, the
deal violates the Equator Principles that 13 of the 17 banks on the
DAPL deal signed up to.
On December 4, Department of the Army announced that it would
not approve an easement that would allow the pipeline to cross under
Lake Oahe in North Dakota. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s
reservation lies half a mile south of the proposed crossing. The
army said that it would look for alternative routes for the project.
However, president-elect Trump, who owns stock in the company
building the pipeline, Energy Transfer Partners, could overturn this
decision after January 20.
Citi, one of the leads on the deal, has found itself in an
uncomfortable position. For one, it refers to the Equator Principles
at length in its annual corporate social responsibility report. Two
statements were put out in November by the bank assuring critics
that it was assessing the deal, but customer responses on its blog
page show little comfort was given. Many of the posters said they
would be leaving the retail bank.
This year Citi and the other lead banks, TD Bank and
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, are expected to see shareholder
resolutions filed. It is not just those three that find themselves
under scrutiny for the environmental and social impacts of their
financing business. Environmental and human rights groups have gone
from targeting corporations to instead targeting the banks that fund
them. For example, some 26 environmental groups, led by organization
BankTrack, wrote an open letter to the DAPL banks urging them to
halt further loan payments to the pipeline....
Standing Rock Sioux - A Model for Protection of Planet and its
People
by David Schilling, Institute for Human Rights and Business
- 21 December 2016
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe met with representatives of
Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) on October 30, 2014 and learned of
their plans to build the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), a 1,172
pipeline from North Dakota to Illinois that would carry 470,000 to
570,000 barrels of oil per day. A tribal spokesperson told us this
month that their response to ETP was clear: they opposed a project
“that would jeopardize our water and sacred sites.”
With most of the DAPL completed, the Standing Rock Sioux,
after a months-long campaign against the pipeline, has won a major
victory when, on December 4th the Army Corps of Engineers announced
it will not grant the permit to drill under the Missouri River, near
Sioux lands. Assistant Secretary for Civil Works Jo-Ellen Darcy said
they would need to explore alternate routes for the crossing.
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, the Elders, International
Indigenous Youth Council, and Oceti Sakowin Camp led a movement that
touched tens of thousands of people, many of whom came to Standing
Rock to show solidarity with the “water protectors”. Tribes across
the US and Canada, veterans, religious leaders, human rights and
environmental activists all came to stand with the Standing Rock
Sioux. On a conference call with over 100 investors the day after
the decision, Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault II said to us: “For
once our voices are being heard and the right decision was made.”
The struggle is not over....
Dakota Access Pipeline Opponents Wait for Court Ruling Radio Iowa - 21 DEC 2016
A ruling on the latest Iowa lawsuit to fight the Dakota
Access oil pipeline may not come until the new year.
Nine Iowa farmers and landowners were in court in Des Moines
last week to challenge the granting of eminent domain powers to
Energy Transfer Partners, the pipeline’s owners.
Ed Fallon, state director of BOLD Iowa, says the case has
national implications. “This case is much bigger than the pipeline,”
Fallon says. “If Dakota Access prevails, they’ll be setting the
precedent and sending the message that it’s okay for government to
turn anybody’s land over to any private entity because you can
always try to define it as in the public necessity.”...
IEEFA Update: More Weaknesses Seen in Companies Behind the Dakota
Access Pipeline Project
A Proposed Sale Is Delayed, Developers’ Revenues Are
Down, Credit Ratings Are Poor, and Cash Is in Short Supply
Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis -
21 DEC 2016
The closer one examines the financial position of the
companies behind the Dakota Access Pipeline project, the weaker they
look.
We outlined some of the imminent deadline risk around the
project in a report we published a few weeks ago (“The High-Risk
Financing Behind the Dakota Access Pipeline”), noting how the
developers are facing a Jan. 1 completion deadline they cannot meet.
Missing that deadline could trigger a costly reset with
producers and shippers, who will be able to renegotiate contracts
signed two years ago with the pipeline company. This will most
likely work to the disadvantage of the pipeline’s developers because
oil prices have fallen by more than half since late 2014 and because
the value of transport contracts are tied so closely to oil prices.
Our report also concluded that the project is an example of
overbuild in oil infrastructure in the Bakken region of North Dakota
and that, as such, it risks becoming a stranded asset.
We’ve done some additional research now that shows additional
weaknesses in the finances of Energy Transfer Partners (ETP).
First, a note about ETP’s corporate web. The company is owned
by Energy Transfer Equity, which also owns Sunoco Logistics
Partners. ETP and Sunoco Logistics Partners are the two lead
partners on the Dakota Access Pipeline, or DAPL....
Bold Iowa Leader Says Dakota Access Pipeline Lawsuit Has Big
Ramifications Jasper County News - 21 DEC 2016
A ruling on the latest Iowa lawsuit to fight the Dakota
Access oil pipeline may not come until the new year. Nine Iowa
farmers and landowners were in court in Des Moines last week to
challenge the granting of eminent domain powers to Energy Transfer
Partners, the pipeline’s owners. Ed Fallon, state director of BOLD
Iowa, says the case has national implications....
Barack Obama Bans Oil and Gas Drilling in Most of Arctic and
Atlantic Oceans
Obama uses law that allows presidents to block sale
of new offshore drilling and mining rights and makes it difficult
for their successors to reverse decision The Guardian - 20 DEC 2016
Barack Obama has permanently banned new oil and gas drilling
in most US-owned waters in the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, a
last-ditch effort to lock in environmental protections before he
hands over to Donald Trump.
Obama used a 1953 law that allows presidents to block the
sale of new offshore drilling and mining rights and makes it
difficult for their successors to reverse the decision.
Donald Trump presidency a 'disaster for the planet', warn climate
scientists
However, Obama’s ban – affecting federal waters off Alaska in
the Chukchi Sea and most of the Beaufort Sea and in the Atlantic
from New England to the Chesapeake Bay – is unprecedented in scale
and could be challenged by Trump in court....
Critics Say Florida Utilities Are Building ‘Unnecessary’ Gas
Infrastructure For Profit While Customers Foot Bill
by Larry Buhl, DESMOG - 18 DEC 2016
On an August 2015 earnings call, Kelcy Warren, CEO of natural
gas company Energy Transfer Partners, acknowledged that “the
pipeline business will overbuild until the end of time.”
Critics of Florida’s utilities say they believe Warren. They
point to state regulators allowing Florida Power and Light (FPL) to
build not only new power plants using fracked gas from as far away
as Pennsylvania and Texas but also natural gas infrastructure that
includes the $3 billion Sabal Trail Pipeline.
And Florida residents are footing the bill for these efforts.
As Frank Jackalone, Director of Sierra Club Florida, said in
a recent blog post:
“FPL has admitted that homegrown solar and batteries could do
at least as good a job of powering Floridian homes and businesses —
at competitive prices. To make matters worse, FPL is also using
these power plants to try to justify building unnecessary gas
pipelines such as Sabal Trail and Atlantic Sunrise.”...
North Dakota’s New Governor Misses Standing Rock Moment
by Mark Trahant, Guest Commentary; Native News Online -
17 DEC 2016
There is that moment when we take the plastic protection off
a new phone screen. Everything was perfect until we peel it away.
Then fingerprints, scratches, and the business of life take hold.
That new thing is never the same.
That’s exactly where Doug Burgum was as the new governor of
North Dakota. He could have taken that screen and made certain that
there was a new image of North Dakota for the world to see.
Damn. Think about what was possible: A governor who is
framing his entire administration on innovation just dismissed the
most disruptive force in his state’s recent history. That is what
Standing Rock is about. Instead of saying, “What can we learn from
this? What can we do together?” The new governor relied on the
screen saver that was there before; the idea that powerful forces
will roll over the tribe and build the Dakota Access Pipeline
without interference. Thank you.
Burgum also scratched away at an old story: The Obama
administration created this problem....
Water Protectors Legal Collective Calls for Morton County Prosecutor
to Resign & Permission for Out-of-State Lawyers to Represent Water
Protectors Native News Online - 17 DEC 2016
MANDAN, NORTH DAKOTA — On Thursday, December 15, 2016, the
North Dakota Supreme Court issued an order calling for public
comments on a petition filed by the Water Protector Legal Collective
(WPLC), an initiative of the National Lawyers Guild (NLG). The
deadline for comments is set for 4 PM on Friday, December 30.
The WPLC also called for the resignation of Acting Morton
County State’s Attorney Ladd Erickson after he filed a motion to
hold indigent Water Protectors liable to repay the state for their
court appointed lawyers, while belittling and calling the Water
Protectors “props” and their movement a “protracted manufactured
spectacular.”...
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Seeks Justice LR Inspire - 17 DEC 2016
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Chairman Harold Frazier releases
a statement to Larry Roberts, Acting Assistant Secretary of U.S.
Department of Interior – Indian Affairs and Tracey Toulou, Director,
Office of Tribal Justice to address abuses committed by the State of
North Dakota and DAPL mercenaries against the water protectors.
On November 20, 2016, water protectors, including members of
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe were attacked again. Unarmed people
including Chairman Fraizer were shot without provocation with rubber
bullets, bean bags water cannons, tear gas canisters and concussion
grenades.
Videos taken by independent journalists corroborate these
actions. These abuses are human rights violations as well as
violations of criminal law. Governing state and federal laws do not
appear to permit a person, even a law enforcement officer, to shoot
another person or assault them with a deadly weapon for mere
trespass or for lawful protest on public property....
We at Mní Wičhóni Nakíčižiŋ Owáyawa (Defenders of the Water
School) are greatly encouraged by the Army Corps of Engineers’
decision not to grant the easement underneath Mníšoše. Indigenous
people, along with allies, have prayed together and stood together
to say that human rights abuses, treaty violations, and
environmental degradation will not be tolerated. This is a historic
moment and a step towards greater justice for not just Standing
Rock, but all indigenous nations.
This victory reminds us of how powerful we are together. We
must remember too that this fight is about much more than a single
injustice. We’ve seen the State’s lack of regard for treaty rights,
sacred spaces, and the earth; we’ve seen how corporate interests are
elevated above human interests; and we’ve seen the police brutality
and racism perpetrated against indigenous communities. However, at
camp we have also seen the beauty of a community structured around
indigenous values. We’ve seen the high level of love, care, and
generosity we can show each other each and every day. We’ve seen how
strong our prayers and our songs can be. Our solidarity does not and
cannot end here.
To that end, Mní Wičhóni Nakíčižiŋ Owáyawa will continue to
fight for indigenous children to have access to an education rooted
in their own cultural traditions, beliefs, and languages. We will
continue...
This Proposed Pipeline Would Cut Right Through The Appalachian Trail
Conservation groups are rallying against the Mountain
Valley Pipeline.
by Hilary Hanson, The Huffington Post - 17 DEC
2016
Environmental groups are voicing opposition to a proposed
natural gas pipeline that would cut across the Appalachian Trail in
Virginia and require clearing a previously protected corridor of
forest.
The Mountain Valley Pipeline would transport natural gas from
northwest West Virginia to southern Virginia, according to The
Wilderness Society, which published an editorial this week saying
the pipeline would set a “dangerous precedent.” That’s because
construction would involve clearing a 125-foot-wide section that
would cross 3.4 miles of forest protected under the Forest Service’s
“roadless rule ― litigation meant to protect lands from road
construction and logging.
“Some of the most iconic viewpoints, like Angels Rest, along
the Appalachian Trail in Virginia will look out upon an ugly swath
of destruction that dissects habitat and threatens waterways,” the
Wilderness Society writes....
My Week Among the Freezing, Confused, Hopeful Veterans at Standing
Rock
by Cheree Franco, VICE - 17 DEC 2016
We set off from New Orleans at 11 PM—23:00—on Thursday,
December 1. There are only four of us in a 12-passenger van, but it
still feels cramped, packed as it is with everything we need to
survive water cannons and rubber bullets in blizzard conditions.
There are sub-zero sleeping bags, food and water, blankets, extra
clothes, gas masks, helmets, and military-grade body armor. A
handmade dreamcatcher dangles from the rearview.
The veterans I'm traveling with are Adrienne Lahtela, 36 and
a former Army captain who served in Afghanistan; Jonas Hair, 39, a
former Navy navigation specialist; and Tom Anderson, 30, a former
Navy medic deployed to Iraq. They are three of thousands who
answered a call put out on November 11 by former Army lieutenant
Wesley Clark Jr. and ex-Marine and retired Baltimore cop Michael
Wood Jr., asking veterans from all over the country to come to North
Dakota as human shields for the "water protectors"—activists who
have been camped out near the Standing Rock reservation in an effort
to block the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), a controversial project
being built by Energy Transfer Partners (ETP).
Veterans Stand for Standing Rock, as the group calls itself,
was just the latest voice to be raised against the pipeline, which
critics said would endanger the water supplies of local Sioux—but
the protests were about more than that. As they grew in size and as
media outlets and celebrities took notice, the camps seemed to
symbolize a stand against corporate greed, against white people
ignoring the wishes of Native Americans, against all sorts of
injustices....
For Immediate Release
December 16, 2016
Statement by the President on the Water Infrastructure Improvements
for the Nation (WIIN) Act
President Obama, The White House - 16 DEC 2016
Today I am signing the Water Infrastructure Improvements for
the Nation (WIIN) Act into law. It authorizes vital water projects
across the country to restore watersheds, improve waterways and
flood control, and improve drinking water infrastructure. The law
also authorizes $170 million for communities facing drinking water
emergencies, including funding for Flint, Michigan, to recover from
the lead contamination in its drinking water system. That help for
Flint is a priority of this Administration. WINN also includes four
Indian water rights settlements that resolve long-standing claims to
water and the conflicts surrounding those claims, address the needs
of Native Communities, fulfill the Federal trust responsibility to
American Indians, and provide a sound base for greater economic
development for both the affected tribes and their non-Indian
neighbors.
Title III, Subtitle J, of the law has both short-term and
long-term provisions related to addressing the continuing drought in
California....
Thousands of people
camped at Oceti Sakowin camp in Cannon Ball, North Dakota, a
few days after the Army Corps of Engineers announced it
would deny the easement to build the pipeline under Lake
Oahe. A few hundred are prepared to stay for the winter.
Andrew Cullen
Feds Withheld Key Documents from Standing Rock Sioux
Still, Trump’s election reduces chances that the
Dakota Access pipeline will be permanently blocked.
by Elizabeth Shogren, High Country News - 14 DEC
2016
The Army made a stunning admission earlier this month when it
announced its decision to require a deeper environmental review and
more extensive consultation before deciding whether to grant an
easement for the Dakota Access Pipeline.
In its consultations with the Standing Rock Sioux about the
pipeline crossing underneath Lake Oahe within a half mile of the
reservation, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers purposefully withheld
key studies that could have helped the tribe evaluate the risks. One
report modeled damage from potential spills; another weighed the
likelihood of spills; a third compared alternative routes and
discussed the environmental justice concerns raised by the project.
The revelation highlights the federal government’s perception of its
limited responsibility to consult with tribes even on matters that
could threaten its welfare.
The contents of these documents, which have still not been
released to the public, are unknown. “There’s this secret stuff that
even we don’t have in the litigation. We were aware there were
documents not available to us and we’ve been asking for them, ” Jan
Hasselman, the tribe’s chief lawyer, says.
Farewell, America
No matter how the rest of the world looked at us on
Nov. 7, they will now look at us differently.
by Neal Gabler, Bill Moyers - 10 NOV 2016 -
Shared 14 DEC 2016
America died on Nov. 8, 2016, not with a bang or a whimper,
but at its own hand via electoral suicide. We the people chose a man
who has shredded our values, our morals, our compassion, our
tolerance, our decency, our sense of common purpose, our very
identity — all the things that, however tenuously, made a nation out
of a country.
Whatever place we now live in is not the same place it was on
Nov. 7. No matter how the rest of the world looked at us on Nov. 7,
they will now look at us differently. We are likely to be a pariah
country. And we are lost for it. As I surveyed the ruin of that
country this gray Wednesday morning, I found weary consolation in
W.H. Auden’s poem, September 1, 1939, which concludes: ...
Oceti Sakowin - Sacred Stone Camp - December 2016 Indian Country News
- 13 DEC 2016
Veterans from the United States and around the world
descended upon the Oceti Sakowin (Sacred Stone) camp north of the
Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota to protect thousands
of Indigenous and environmental water protectors, set to prevent a
billionaire's oil pipeline project, called Dakota Access from
drilling under the Missouri river.
This video has scenes from Sunday December 4th when the
build-up of 15-20,000 people took place in anticipation of the
deployment of veterans to the front line to confront Paramilitary
forces of the Morton Country, North Dakota police who had shot
people with water cannons in freezing temperatures, several
different kinds of rubber bullets at the faces of water protectors
and journalists, and injured individuals by shooting concussion
grenades into crowds and people. Law enforcement officials were
found to be lying on several levels and during incidents in which
live video and recordings, proved their denials false. It also has
scenes from Monday Dec. 5th, the day when the potential conflict
would have occurred except for a decision by the Army Corps of
Engineers to deny the drilling easement permit, and when a huge and
brutal blizzard moved in.
This is not a video of the battles for the Standing Rock or
the blockaded 1806 Highway bridge seen in this video, nor the
illegally active drilling pad, but a look at some of the other
events inside, and around the Oceti-Sakowin camp on those winter
days....
Unicorn Riot's NoDAPL Live Video Recap 01April - 15 Oct 2016 Unicorn Riot - 12 DEC 2016
On October 15th, Unicorn Riot held a live show recapping
their NoDapl Videos from April 1st, 2016 till October 15th. He's the
recorded livestream if you missed it.
Join us Monday, December 12th for our second video recap as
we start at October 15th till present.
What’s Next for the Water Protectors at Standing Rock?
Camp of the Sacred Stones ICT - 11 DEC 2016
We, the below stated, are a coalition of grassroots groups
living and working in the Dakota Access resistance camps along the
Cannon Ball River in Oceti Sakowin treaty lands.
Sacred Stone Camp | Indigenous Environmental Network |
International Indigenous Youth Council | Honor the Earth
The following is a coalition statement on the next steps for
the #NoDAPL fight:
As we reflect on the decision by the U.S. Army (NOT the U.S.
Army Corps) to suspend the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) river
crossing easement and conduct a limited Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS), the resistance camps at Standing Rock are making
plans for the next phase of this movement.
Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault II has
asked people to return home once the weather clears, and many will
do so. Others will stay to hold the space, advance our reclamation
of unceded territory affirmed in the 1851 Treaty of Ft. Laramie, and
continue to build community around the protection of our sacred
waters. They will also keep a close eye on the company, which has
drilled right up to the last inch it can, and remains poised and
ready to finish the project....
Chairman Archambault’s Update on the Dakota Access Pipeline Indian Country Today - 11 DEC 2016
Following last week’s decision by the Department of the Army
to not grant the easement under Lake Oahe, we are all focused on
important actions that must be undertaken in the coming weeks. The
announcement cited need for further examination of key issues,
including treaty rights. It was suggestive of a reroute, and
indicated that there will be an Environmental Impact Statement
initiated to review the crossing. We look forward to this process
getting underway.
This past Friday, we had a status conference in federal
district court to handle scheduling and procedural matters. The day
after the decision was announced Dakota Access filed a motion for
summary judgment, arguing that they already have all necessary
permissions to cross under the Lake. This argument is legally flawed
and we believe that the motion will be denied upon appropriate
review. Judge Boasberg made it clear that the issue raised by Dakota
Access will not be decided at least for many weeks. In the meantime,
Dakota Access does not have permission to drill under Lake Oahe.
Red Warrior Camp Has Left the Lands and Waters of Oceti Sakowin
December 2016 Official Red Warrior Camp Communique Censored News - 11 DEC 2016
Grassroots leaders LaDonna Tamakawastewin Allard, and Chase
Iron Eyes from Standing Rock have spoken and have made it abundantly
clear that they want those equipped for the harsh North Dakota
winter to stay and help stop DAPL, due to our current circumstance
it is with great regret that we as Red Warrior cannot accept this
heartfelt invitation. That is not to say we do not support this
effort in fact is quite the opposite, we send our Warrior Salute and
War Cry to the universe and the Ancestors that their needs are met
and they receive the love and support they need in the fight for
clean water.
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's Chairman Dave Archambault has
made it abundantly clear that a diversity of tactics in the battle
against the Dakota Access Pipeline is not respected nor wanted. We
have this to say: without the courage and the actions of those who
actually put their minds, bodies, and spirits in harms way the
pipeline would be built. Without the Warriors who locked down and
took measures to put a stop to the work on DAPL, the black blood
would already be flowing under the Missouri river. The encampment
itself would not even be here right now. The hard work of the
Warriors has cost ETP millions, we have struck the Black Snake a
deadly blow....
Citing Cultural Degradation and Religious Desecration, Local Tribe
Opposes Mining Projects
The Amah Mutsun Tribal Band argues that a proposed mining project in
southern Santa Clara County threatens its historical and cultural
preservation Benito Link - 11 DEC 2016
Following in the footsteps of its ancestors, the Amah Mutsun
Tribal Band is seeking historical and cultural preservation at the
tribe’s most sacred, religious site. Standing in the tribe’s way is
a proposed mining project that it vehemently opposes. Stripping the
land of its resources, the Amah Mutsun argue, will not only cause
irreversible, environmental damage, but will further degrade the
tribe’s indigenous identity by desecrating its spiritual center.
On Oct. 1, the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band—descendants from the
mission Indians of Missions San Juan Bautista and Santa Cruz—passed
a tribal resolution opposing the Sargent Quarry Project, a
four-phase mining and restoration project slated to operate for 30
years.
Located in what is today the southernmost tip of Santa Clara
County and just beyond the fringes of San Benito County, the Sargent
Ranch Property encompasses 6,200 acres. A little over 300 acres of
it will be mined for sand and gravel to be used as aggregate in area
construction, according to the project’s website.
Verne Freeman of Freeman Associates explained in his recent
phone interview with BenitoLink that his Palo Alto company is the
project’s “agent of process,” submitting applications, permits, and
attending planning meetings on behalf of the Sargent Ranch
Management Company—the landowners of the property....
FROM THE DISINFORMATION PROPAGANDA MACHINE
Port: Who Is Holding Big Protest Accountable?
by Rob Port, The Grand Forks Herald - 10 DEC 2016
The #NoDAPL protest movement is seen by most as a struggle
between "Big Oil" and a grassroots uprising of indigenous peoples.
That's all true, to a point. Though I support the Dakota
Access pipeline project — it was subjected to excruciating
regulatory review and would be a safe and necessary addition to our
national energy infrastructure — I don't doubt for a moment the
sincerity of many of the protesters aiming to block it.
Their belief that the pipeline would be unsafe is genuine. I
don't agree with them. The facts are not on their side. That's fine.
They're entitled to their point of view.
But their cause has been co-opted by professionals who do not
necessarily have their best interests in mind.
What very often goes overlooked is the industry behind these
sort of attention-grabbing protests. The networks of professional
organizers, lawyers, media personalities, and public relations teams
who work to promote a narrative which drives headlines and viral
videos and, most importantly, donations to their organizations.
Oh, the videos.
Wasn't it amazing how, almost immediately after the #NoDAPL
rioters would clash with police, social media would be inundated
with slickly-edited videos supporting the narrative of the
activists? Videos which would then be picked up by the national
media so that the view most Americans get of the conflict is through
a lens being held by the protesters?
That level of production and coordination requires the sort
of talent which doesn't work for free.
Nor is that talent working for free. They're working for an
industry we could call Big Protest, and as with any other sort of
enterprise it deserves scrutiny and oversight....
Trump Team Memo on Climate Change Alarms Energy Department Staff
Reuters - 10 DEC 2016
President-elect Donald Trump's Energy Department transition
team sent the agency a memo this week asking for the names of people
who have worked on climate change and the professional society
memberships of lab workers, alarming employees and advisors.
The memo sent to the Energy Department on Tuesday and seen by
Reuters on Friday, contains 74 questions including a request for a
list of all department employees and contractors who attended the
annual global climate talks hosted by the United Nations within the
last five years.
It asked for a list of all department employees or
contractors who have attended any meetings on the social cost of
carbon, a measurement that federal agencies use to weigh the costs
and benefits of new energy and environment regulations. It also
asked for all publications written by employees at the department's
17 national laboratories for the past three years.
"This feels like the first draft of an eventual political
enemies list," said a Department of Energy employee, who asked not
to be identified because he feared a reprisal by the Trump
transition team....
Chris Costello
designed the reverse of the 2017 Native American $1
Coin, with sculpting executed by Charles L. Vickers
sculpted. The Native American $1 Coin Program celebrates the
important contributions made by Indian tribes and
individual Native Americans to the history and
development of the United States.
WASHINGTON—On Friday,
December 9, the United States Mint unveiled the one-year-only design
that will appear on the reverse of next year’s 2017 Native American
dollar. The coin features Sequoyah, who created the Cherokee
syllabary.
The coin depicts Sequoyah
writing “Sequoyah from Cherokee Nation” in syllabary along the
border of the design. Inscriptions include “UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA,” “$1,” and “Sequoyah” written in English in the field of
the design.
The Cherokee Nation’s
Secretary of State Hoskin issued the following statement on Friday:
“Having Sequoyah grace the U.S. dollar coin is a wonderful
national recognition for our tribe’s renowned statesmen and creator
of the Cherokee syllabary. Last year, the flip side of the Sacajawea
dollar was a tribute to American Indian code talkers, and this year
builds on the foundation of honoring the Indian people who have
played a critical role in shaping our great country.
Energy Transfer Partners' DAPL Is Still Engaging in Criminal
Trespass
on Native Land
Video by William Jerome, Red Warrior Camp - 09
DEC 2016
As you can see #DAPL is still working despite the judges
ruling and the denial of the permit to drill on the easement! Dakota
Access Pipeline and its owner Energy Transfer Partners do not
respect their own country and its laws, they are the true criminals.
KING: Masked white men in North Dakota terrorize the indigenous
people of Standing Rock — just like the KKK
by Shaun King, New York Daily News - 09 DEC 2016
The day of white men in masks targeting and terrorizing
people of color who are standing up for their civil and human rights
did not die in the 20th century. It’s happening right now in North
Dakota, in the shadows of Standing Rock, to those who are protesting
the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline through sacred lands
and important water sources.
On Monday evening, in the parking lot of a Ramada Inn in
Bismarck, N.D., two white men in masks violently confronted a car
driven by men from Standing Rock. As the men attempted to leave,
they soon realized that multiple vehicles had deliberately blocked
them in. Trapped, the masked men threatened to assault them then
viciously bragged about sexually assaulting their wives.
This isn’t harmless mischief, it’s terrorism. Partly because
of the Facebook Live video filmed by one of the passengers in the
car, the Bismarck Police Department just arrested one person,
33-year-old Jesse McLain, who was involved in the incident. While
police have not said if McLain was one of the drivers, or planned it
out, he was allegedly one of the two masked men yelling....
December 09, 2016: Indigenous Testify on Dakota Access Pipeline
Before International Human Rights Commission Censored News - 09 DEC 2016
Tribes to Appear Before International Human Rights Commission
to Highlight Human Rights Violations Related to the Dakota Access
Pipeline. Tribal representatives of the Standing Rock, Cheyenne
River and Yankton Sioux Tribes will testify at a hearing of the
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
Status conference on Dakota Access Pipeline lawsuit will also
be held Friday. WASHINGTON, D.C.–A group of tribal representatives
will testify at a hearing by the Inter-American Commission on Human
Rights this Friday, December 9 at 10:15 a.m. The hearing will
examine the impact of extractive industries and projects on the
human rights of indigenous peoples, focusing on the Dakota Access
Pipeline and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, the Cheyenne River Sioux
Tribe, and the Yankton Sioux Tribe.
The human rights commission hearing, is public and will discuss how
the planning and construction of extractive industries
infrastructure projects trigger duties and obligations of members of
the Organization of American States, including the United States, to
promote, protect and guarantee human rights.
Tribal representatives will be available for questions following the
hearing. Media is able to attend the hearing. Details can be found
here:http://www.oas.org/en/iachr/media_center/coverage.asp
We also expect the hearing to be broadcast on the web:
http://www.oas.org/en/iachr/default.asp ....
Court to Consider Forcing Approval of Dakota Access Pipeline
by Timothy Cama, The Hill - 09 DEC 2016
A federal judge will consider whether to require the federal
government approve the controversial Dakota Access oil pipeline.
Energy Transfer Partners, which is developing the pipeline,
argued in court that when the Army Corps of Engineers issued a
permit in July to build the line under Lake Oahe in North Dakota, it
also took all the necessary steps to issue the easement that the
company also needs....
Briefs from Dakota Access, the tribes trying to stop the
construction and the federal government will be complete by February
under Boasberg’s order, and he may schedule oral arguments after
that before making a decision....
The Army Corps on Sunday announced that it would not grant
the easement at this time, instead ordering a comprehensive
environmental review of the planned pipeline crossing under the
lake.
It was a major victory for the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, its
allies and the thousands of protesters who had camped out near the
lake for months to get the easement rejected.
But the victory may be short-lived....
Latest Update For Sophia Wilansky
We Are The Media - 09 DEC 2016
Sophia Wilansky was one among the hundreds who got ambushed
on Bridge 1806 by Morton County Police the night of November 20th,
2016. The group had initially organized an effort to relocate two
vehicles that Dakota Access Pipeline workers had set ablaze to help
police fortify a barrier to protect construction routes (prior to
their placing numerous cement blockades on it), but police had begun
attacking them with rubber bullets, fire hoses and other riot
weapons. Sophia had been struck by a concussion grenade which then
exploded after impacting her arm leaving her in critical condition.
The photos of her gruesome attack went viral as the extent of the
damage was incredibly graphic.
The Latest Update From Her Father
The latest from her family states she is still undergoing
surgical recovery and her bandages are being changed regularly. She
is doing much better now and is expected to be able to recover at
home and see her dog again this week....
Danger on North Dakota Highways
Myron Dewey on Facebook - 09 DEC 2016
Snowmobiles attacking cars on the road. We are live to show these
violent actions.
Nebraska Supplied State Troopers, Surveillance Aircraft to North
Dakota Under EMAC Unicorn Riot - 08 DEC 2016
Morton County, ND – Documents acquired through a series of
public records requests shine light on ongoing out-of-state law
enforcement assistance to the Morton County Sheriff and the state of
North Dakota in their militarized police operations to protect
construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.
As we have previously reported, the state of emergency
declared by North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple in August enabled
Governors of other states, such as Wisconsin, to voluntarily
activate their state’s emergency management agencies under the
Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) to recruit police and
sheriffs in their state to be deployed against #NoDAPL water
protectors in North Dakota.
Emails sent in early October show Nebraska state officials
discussing sending officers and resources from the Nebraska State
Patrol (NSP) to Morton County under EMAC. On the morning of October
12, Brent Curtis, an administrative assistant at the Nebraska
Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) wrote in an email to his
colleagues,...
Minneapolis
City Council Member Alondra Cano, here in 2014,
co-sponsored a motion to have city staff explore ending
relationships with banks that invest in fossil fuels and
project such as the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Minneapolis Explores Ending its Wells Fargo Relationship; Bank
Responds
The company says "outstanding" service has been provided in a
131-year relationship.
by Adam Betz, Star Tribune - 08 DEC 2016
The Minneapolis City Council on Wednesday asked staff to
explore ways the city could “stop doing business with financial
institutions that invest in the fossil fuel industry and in projects
such as the Dakota Access Pipeline,” including Wells Fargo.
The nation’s fourth largest bank, which was founded in the
Twin Cities as Northwestern National Bank in 1872, took notice of
the council’s action and on Thursday jumped to reaffirm its value to
Minneapolis and its investments here.
“We are very proud of our 131-year, long standing tradition
of serving the Minneapolis community,” John Hobot, a spokesman for
the bank said Thursday. “Our highly experienced and proven
government banking team remains dedicated to delivering outstanding
service to the city of Minneapolis.”
The bank has 11,000 Minneapolis employees and recently spent
$300 million building two office towers near U.S. Bank Stadium....
Sophia
Wilansky in a Minnesota hospital recovering from
injuries sustained during a clash between North Dakota
police and water protectors. Photo: facebook
Sophia Wilansky Ready to Return Home after Nearly Losing Her Arm
During Standing Rock Clash
by Dennis Ward, APTN National News - 08 DEC 2016
A 21 year old who nearly lost her arm during an incident with
police near Standing Rock is expected to leave a Minneapolis,
Minnesota hospital soon and go back to New York City, New York.
A post from Sophia Wilansky’s father on facebook said she is
looking forward to going home.
“Sophia is doing better each day and we are excited at the
prospect of her going home on Saturday December 10th 2016,” her
father wrote.
Wilansky was handing out water bottles to protestors on the
Backwater Bridge near the Oceti Sakowin camp on November 21 who were
battline police water cannons, rubber bullets, and concussion
grenades.
Her father said she was hit by what’s believed to be one of
the concussion grenades.
Wilansky’s injuries are named in a class action lawsuit
launched against the Morton County Sheriff’s Department and other
law enforcement agencies. She has undergone numerous surgeries since
the Nov. 21st incident....
ND Governor Says Pipeline Company 'Abdicated' Role in Defending
Project
by Patrick Springer, Grand Forks Herald - 08 DEC
2016
FARGO — Gov. Jack Dalrymple said North Dakota finds itself
"outgunned" in countering a "social media machine" manipulated by
national environmental groups while the company behind the Dakota
Access Pipeline has "abdicated" its responsibility to defend the
controversial project.
Dalrymple also said in a meeting Thursday, Dec. 8, the
sprawling protest presence near Cannon Ball, N.D., operates outside
the control of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and it is difficult for
officials to identify a clear leader in the shape-shifting movement.
In a wide-ranging conversation about the state's difficulties
in dealing with the ongoing protest, Dalrymple expressed frustration
that the company building Dakota Access Pipeline, Energy Transfer
Partners, has not been vocal in making the case for the project in
the public debate.
"They have abdicated completely their responsibility to
explain the safety of the pipeline," Dalrymple said, ...
Lee Ann Eastman -
and This Is Why I Am Choosing to Sacrifice... Longhouse Media - 08 DEC 2016
See and hear Lee Ann Eastman and other Water Protectors from
Standing Rock.
Congressman Mullin Seeks to Clarify His Statements to Privatize
Tribal Lands
by Levi Rickert, Native News Online - 07 DEC 2016
WASHINGTON – Congressman Markwayne Mullin (R-Oklahoma) was a
supporter of Donald Trump in his run for the presidency. Mullin
(Cherokee) served as co-chair of Trump’s Native American Affairs
Coalition, Since Trump won the presidency Mullin has voiced his
support to privatize tribal lands to tap into energy products such
as oil, natural gas and even coal.
In all probability, Mullin’s proposal to privatize tribal
lands would garner major opposition by leaders across Indian
Country. Mullin released the following statement on Tuesday:
In light of recent news coverage that has completely
distorted my hopes for Indian Country under President-elect Donald
Trump, I feel the need to clarify my comments, and alleviate any
concern that Indian Country should fear the federal government
privatizing their land....
Dakota Access Investors PANICKING As Contract Deadline Looms The Young Turks on YouTube - 07 DEC 2016
The clock is ticking for DAPL investors. If the oil isn’t
flowing by New Year’s Day, their contract expires. Cenk Uygur, host
of The Young Turks, breaks it down. Tell us what you think in the
comment section below.
http://tytnetwork.com/go
"Though water protectors have held their ground at Standing
Rock against the Dakota Access pipeline for months now, they need
only push for a month and a half longer until it is possible that
their mere presence may actually kill the oil-funneling project.
Is it too good to be true? It might be – but it might also
truly signal the end of this horrific struggle.
This is due to a very specific deadline that the company
producing the pipeline is under: if oil is not flowing by January 1,
2017, the two year contract expires. Though due to the massive
investment the company has already made, they may try to continue
building on the site, every day that the water protectors hold the
land represents a massive hit to investors’ pocketbooks....
Oil Pipeline Shut Down After Spill, Just 200 Miles From Standing
Rock
by Dan Zukowski, EcoWatch - 06 DEC 2016
A six-inch crude oil pipeline operated by Belle Fourche
Pipeline Company in western North Dakota was shut down following
discovery of a leak on Monday. The amount of the spill was not
immediately known, but oil has leaked into the Ash Coulee Creek in
Billings County.
The site of the spill is about 200 miles from the camp where
members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and their supporters have
been protesting the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.
"It is a significant spill," Bill Suess, spill investigation
program manager for the North Dakota Department of health, said.
"A series of booms have been placed across the creek to
prevent downstream migration and a siphon dam has been constructed
four miles downstream of the release point."
The Belle Fourche Pipeline Co. is part of the family-owned
True companies, which also operates Bridger Pipeline LLC. Both
pipelines are operated from the same control room in Casper,
Wyoming. From 2006 to 2014, Belle Fourche reported 21 incidents,
leaking a total of 272,832 gallons of oil. Bridger Pipeline recorded
nine pipeline incidents in the same period, spilling nearly 11,000
gallons of crude....
Bill McKibben: Trump Could Reverse Victory For Standing Rock Sioux
by Tori Bedford, WGBH News - 06 DEC 2016
After months of protests over the South Dakota pipeline,
activists and members of the Sioux tribe saw a victory that seemed
too good to be true: On Sunday, the U.S. Army announced it would
seek alternative routes for the $3.8 billion pipeline.
The protest unified members of Sioux Nation, hundreds of
other Native populations, clergy and supporting veteran groups to
fight the routing of a pipeline under the Missouri river, which they
said would contaminate water and threaten sacred lands. When the
news arrived, they celebrated. Standing Rock Sioux Chairman Dave
Archambault III asked everyone to return home, and fireworks lit up
the night sky.
Yet amidst the celebrations, the question remains: how long
will this last?
The pipeline company, Energy Transfer Partners, has dismissed
the decision as a “purely political action.” The Obama
Administration is considering rerouting the pipeline, not cancelling
the construction. As the administration of President-elect Donald
Trump looms in the distance, environmental advocates have expressed
concern for the future. “It’s pretty clear that things are going to
get worse before they get better, with the advent of the Trump
administration,” environmentalist Bill McKibben said in an interview
with Boston Public Radio Tuesday. “We may well find ourselves right
back in the fight over this pipeline, the Keystone pipeline, [and] a
thousand other things.”
McKibben, hesitant to declare a full-fledged victory,
applauded the unity of the group. “For the first time since the
Battle of Little Big Horn, people were together in the most
powerful, strictly non-violent unity, and it left, by the end, the
Obama administration no choice but to uphold that kind of dignity
and courage,” he said. “This was an incredibly important moment for
a few reasons— maybe chief among them that it’s the biggest victory
that Native Americans have won, depending on how you look at it, in
the last couple hundred years on this continent. It was a remarkable
Autumn in the Dakotas up there.”...
Massive Oil Spill ‘The Size of Seven Football Fields” Found In North
Dakota
by Alexis Henning, True Activist - 06 DEC 2016
[In October 2013] A farmer in North Dakota (http://www.cbsnews.com/news/massive-oil-pipeline-break-under-nd-farmers-wheat-field/2/)
discovered one of the largest crude oil spills ever recorded in the
state just “bubbling up out of the ground” while harvesting wheat a
few months ago.
Farmer Steve Jensen stated that he smelled the crude oil a
few days before his combines were covered in it. The oil was
“spewing and bubbling six inches high,” he said in an interview with
CBS News. The Tesoro Corp’s underground pipeline spilled 20,600
barrels of oil under the farmland. It was four times the size of a
pipeline that burst in March of 2013 that forced the evacuation of
more than 20 homes (http://www.cbsnews.com/news/homes-evacuated-after-exxonmobil-oil-pipeline-spill-in-arkansas/)
in Arkansas.
Luckily for the general population of North Dakota, however,
the pipeline is in a remote corner in the northwest The nearest home
is half a mile away, and there have been no water contamination
reports. No animals or people have been injured in the spill.
Tesoro Logistics released a statement that the affected
portion of the pipeline has been shut down.
The company estimates it will cost about $4 million for clean
up, and that “it is completely contained and under control” due to a
natural layer of clay that is 40 feet thick underneath the oil spill
site that has kept it from contaminating the water.
Eric Haugstad, Tesoro’s Director of Contingency Planning and
Emergency Response has said there was a quarter-inch thick hole in
the 20-year-old steel pipeline, which runs 35 miles from Tioga to a
railroad facility near the Canadian border. The company is
investigating possible causes.
Wayde Schafer, a North Dakota spokesman for The Sierra Club,
said the spill is an example of the lack of oversight in a state
that has exploded with oil development in recent years.
Chief Arvol Looking Horse "The Battle Is Not Over" Censored News - 06 DEC 2016
Chief Arvol Looking Horse calls for an International Day of Prayer
for Peace and Non-Violence at Oceti Sakowin Camp.
Chief Looking Horse called on all nations and all faiths to come
together for one prayer.
"Mother Earth is sick and has a fever," said Chief Looking Horse,
19th Generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe.
Chief Looking Horse said there must be help for the young people and
all people.
An energy shift has to be created, and it must be created through
prayer.
The news of the Dakota Access Permit being denied was a victory.
"The victory is there, but the battle is not over. This is a
beginning that we are going into right now.
"We've got to realize that Standing Rock is everywhere in the whole
world."
Standing Rock Sioux Chair Hails Army Corps of Engineers Decision to
Reroute Dakota Access Pipeline
Amy Goodman, Democracy Now! - 05 DEC 2016
In an historic win for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North
Dakota and the environment, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers denied
Energy Transfer Partners, the company behind the pipeline, a permit
to drill underneath Lake Oahe on the Missouri River—officially
halting construction on the Dakota Access pipeline. The project has
faced months of resistance from the Standing Rock Sioux in North
Dakota, members of more than 200 indigenous nations from across the
Americas and thousands of their non-Native allies—all concerned the
pipeline’s construction will destroy sacred Sioux sites and that a
pipeline leak could contaminate the Missouri River, which serves as
a water supply for millions. We get reaction from Standing Rock
Sioux Chairman Dave Archambault II...
Pipeline Delays Cost Builder Millions, Risking Contract Loss
by David Pitt, Associated Press - 06 DEC 2016
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The completion of the Dakota Access
oil pipeline has been delayed after the U.S. Army declined to grant
an easement for the final few thousand feet under a Missouri River
reservoir in North Dakota pending further study. Pipeline company
Energy Transfer Partners originally was expected to finish the
pipeline before the end of this year, but the Army's move likely
delays it by several months. That will be costly to the Dallas-based
company, but industry experts say it's unlikely to kill the project
completely. Here's a look at some of the ways the delay could impact
the pipeline:
WHAT IS THE FINANCIAL IMPACT?
Delays have already cost Energy Transfer Partners more than
$450 million, the company said in court documents last month, and
continued delays cost $83.3 million per month. The Army Corps of
Engineers isn't very sympathetic saying in court filings that the
company knowingly began construction prior to receiving all
necessary approvals "at its own risk."
HOW LONG OF A DELAY IS LIKELY?
The Army's decision likely halts progress on the project
until after President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20.
Trump, who supports the pipeline and holds stock in Energy Transfer
Partners, hasn't said whether he will try to overturn the Army's
decision. ...
Forgiveness Ceremony Unites Veterans And Natives At Standing Rock
Casino Huffington Post - 05 DEC 2016
On Monday, Native Americans conducted a forgiveness ceremony
with U.S. veterans at the Standing Rock casino, giving the veterans
an opportunity to atone for military actions conducted against
Natives throughout history.
In celebration of Standing Rock protesters’ victory Sunday in
halting construction on the Dakota Access Pipeline, Leonard Crow Dog
formally forgave Wes Clark Jr., the son of retired U.S. Army general
and former supreme commander at NATO, Wesley Clark Sr....
Salon published Clark’s apology to the Natives, which read as
follows:
Many of us, me particularly, are from the units that have
hurt you over the many years. We came. We fought you. We took your
land. We signed treaties that we broke. We stole minerals from your
sacred hills. We blasted the faces of our presidents onto your
sacred mountain. When we took still more land and then we took your
children and then we tried to make your language and we tried to
eliminate your language that God gave you, and the Creator gave you.
We didn’t respect you, we polluted your Earth, we’ve hurt you in so
many ways but we’ve come to say that we are sorry. We are at your
service and we beg for your forgiveness."
This was a historically symbolic gesture forgiving centuries
of oppression against Natives and honoring their partnership in
defending the land from the Dakota Access Pipeline....
Western North Dakota Crude Pipeline Shut Down after Spill Raw Story - 06 DEC 2016
A crude oil transmission line was shut down in western North
Dakota following a leak that spilled oil into a creek, the state
said on Tuesday.
The size of Monday’s leak and extent of the spill were not
yet known. It occurred as Native Americans, climate activists and
other protesters were camped around 200 miles away at the Dakota
Access pipeline project site over concerns a leak there could
contaminate the water supply.
The leak that prompted the shutdown was discovered in a
six-inch pipeline operated by Belle Fourche Pipeline Company, the
North Dakota Department of Health said. An undetermined amount of
crude oil was spilled, the state said....
Blizzard -- Standing Rock Medics update Dec 06, 2016
by Standing Rock Medic and Healer Council, Censored News
- 06 DEC 2016
The Standing Rock Medic and Healer Council explains the
medical and health situation at the Dakota Access Pipeline
Resistance Camps (Oceti Sakowin, Sicangu/Rosebud, Sacred Stone,
etc.) in light of the ongoing blizzard conditions and 1806 police
roadblock.
Winter conditions are intense, but spirits at camp are high.
Everyone has been working together to get people to delegated
warming spaces in camp and spaces on the reservation. Medics,
security, and veterans have been going from shelter to shelter to do
wellness checks on our water protectors. Women, children, elders and
other folks who wish to leave camp are being evacuated with four
wheel drive vehicles and operators who know how to use them.
The road conditions are icy. Visibility is low; however,
roads are passable with four wheel drive vehicles. Our medical and
logistical volunteers are evacuating patients/campers to the
hospital and warming spaces as needed and are stabilizing patients
in the meantime, coordinating with the Standing Rock EMS.
As of 2:00PM CST, there have been no confirmed deaths or any
critical care patients. There have been two cases of moderate
hypothermia for whom the medics on the ground provided care....
Energy Transfer Partners Seeks Court Ruling on Dakota Access
Pipeline Dow Jones Business News, NASDAQ - 06 DEC 2016
Energy Transfer Partners LP, the company behind the embattled
Dakota Access pipeline, is continuing to pursue a court challenge to
force the Obama administration to approve completion of the project
instead of counting on a better reception from Donald Trump.
A day after the Obama administration put the brakes on the
nearly 1,200 mile oil pipeline by denying a permit needed to finish
the route, a spokesman for Mr. Trump said Monday that the incoming
administration supports completing it.
But instead of waiting until the president-elect takes office
next month, Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners is pressing ahead
with a request to a federal judge to allow the company to
immediately cross beneath a Missouri River reservoir, the final
1,100-foot link to be built in the pipeline.
Lawyers for Energy Transfer Partners asked U.S. District
Judge James Boasberg for an expedited ruling late Monday that would
allow the company to complete the project. The delays have already
cost the company $450 million, the company said in court papers
filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, DC.
A hearing in the case is scheduled for Friday morning in
Washington, D.C...
Indigenous Activists at Standing Rock Told a Deep, True Story
And that’s why they won at least a temporary victory
by Bill McKibben, The Nation - 05 DEC 2016
The decision by the Army Corps of Engineers not to grant the
permits necessary for sending the Dakota Access Pipeline beneath the
Missouri River is a tribute to truly remarkable efforts by
Indigenous organizers, from the Standing Rock Sioux tribe to groups
like the Indigenous Environmental Network and Honor the Earth. It’s
also a tribute to the incredible power of civil disobedience, a tool
I tried to describe in last week’s print edition of The Nation.
But my analysis pales next to the actual story from the Oceti
Sakowin encampment. There, the last few months have unfolded with
almost eerie grace, and the textbook on nonviolent action has been
revised and illustrated in the process. The highlights include:
Army Will Not Grant Easement for Dakota Access Pipeline Crossing
by U.S. Army - 04 DEC 2016
Army POC: Moira Kelley (703) 614-3992,
moira.l.kelley.civ@mail.mil
The Department of the Army will not approve an easement that would
allow the proposed Dakota Access Pipeline to cross under Lake Oahe
in North Dakota, the Army's Assistant Secretary for Civil Works
announced today.
Jo-Ellen Darcy said she based her decision on a need to
explore alternate routes for the Dakota Access Pipeline crossing.
Her office had announced on November 14, 2016 that it was delaying
the decision on the easement to allow for discussions with the
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, whose reservation lies 0.5 miles south of
the proposed crossing. Tribal officials have expressed repeated
concerns over the risk that a pipeline rupture or spill could pose
to its water supply and treaty rights.
"Although we have had continuing discussion and exchanges of
new information with the Standing Rock Sioux and Dakota Access, it's
clear that there's more work to do," Darcy said. "The best way to
complete that work responsibly and expeditiously is to explore
alternate routes for the pipeline crossing."
Darcy said that the consideration of alternative routes would
be best accomplished through an Environmental Impact Statement with
full public input and analysis.
The Dakota Access Pipeline is an approximately 1,172 mile
pipeline that would connect the Bakken and Three Forks oil
production areas in North Dakota to an existing crude oil terminal
near Pakota, Illinois. The pipeline is 30 inches in diameter and is
projected to transport approximately 470,000 barrels of oil per day,
with a capacity as high as 570,000 barrels. The current proposed
pipeline route would cross Lake Oahe, an Army Corps of Engineers
project on the Missouri River....
Energy Transfer Partners and Sunoco Logistics Partners Respond to
the Statement from the Department of the Army Business Wire - 04 DEC 2016
DALLAS & NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Energy
Transfer Partners, L.P. (NYSE: ETP) and Sunoco Logistics Partners
L.P. (NYSE: SXL) announced that the Administration’s statement today
that it would not at this time issue an “easement” to Dakota Access
Pipeline is a purely political action – which the Administration
concedes when it states it has made a “policy decision” – Washington
code for a political decision. This is nothing new from this
Administration, since over the last four months the Administration
has demonstrated by its action and inaction that it intended to
delay a decision in this matter until President Obama is out of
office....
As stated all along, ETP and SXL are 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 Victory at Standing Rock Could Mark a Turning Point
by Bill McKibben, The Guardian - 04 DEC 2016
The news that the US federal government has refused to issue
the permit needed to run a pipeline under the Missouri river means
many things – including that indigenous activists have won a
smashing victory, one that shows what nonviolent unity can
accomplish.
From the start, this has been an against-the-odds battle.
Energy Transfer Partners, the company building the pipeline, is as
wired as they come: its line of credit links it to virtually every
bank you’ve ever heard of. And operating under a “fast-track” permit
process, it had managed to win most of its approvals and lay most of
its pipe before opponents managed to mount an effective resistance.
But that opposition finally did arise, and it centered on the
last place the pipeline would have to cross: the confluence of the
Missouri and the Cannonball rivers. It wasn’t standard-issue
environmental lobbying, nor standard-issue protest, though there was
certainly some of both (lawyers took the company to court, activists
shut down bank branches). At its heart, however, in the great camp
that grew up along the rivers, this was a largely spiritual
resistance. David Archambault, the head of the Standing Rock Sioux
who demonstrated great character and dexterity for months, kept
insisting that the camp was a place of prayer, and you couldn’t
wander its paths without running into drum circles and sacred fires.
...
Morton County
Sheriff's Department News Conference 03 December 2016 Morton County Sheriff's Department - 03 DEC 2016
More disinformation propaganda from Morton County Sheriff's
Department
With absurd accusations from Sheriffs Kyle Kirchmeier (Morton
County) and Paul D. Laney (Cass County)
Justice Department to Deploy Mediators to Standing Rock to 'Maintain
the Peace'
Department is also offering assistance to law
enforcement from division that led reform efforts following protests
and unrest in 2014, Loretta Lynch said The Guardian - 02 DEC 2016
Attorney general Loretta Lynch has weighed in on the protests
against the Dakota Access pipeline, calling on all sides to avoid
violence and announcing that the justice department is deploying
“conciliators” from its community relations service to North Dakota.
The department is also offering assistance to local law
enforcement from the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services
(Cops), the division that led the department’s police reform efforts
following huge protests and unrest in 2014 in response to police
killings of unarmed African Americans....
Ace Hardware Backs Down: Ace Hardware Statement on North Dakota
Protest and Product Sales Ace Hardware - 01 DEC 2016
Update: As of Thursday, Dec. 1 at 10 a.m. local time, Ace
Hardware stores in Bismarck, N. D., are in-stock and selling 1 lb.
propane canisters.
At Ace, our local store owners take great pride in serving
their neighbors and it is our policy to serve all customers without
discrimination and to follow all laws in each respective community.
We understand the concerns that have been shared with us
regarding product sales related to the recent protests in North
Dakota and have been working very hard to gather all of the facts
from our locally-owned Ace stores that operate in the area and local
authorities. To be candid, we've been working feverishly to unearth
all of the facts, which have been cloudy at times.
In an effort to clear any misunderstanding and/or
misinformation, Ace Hardware can now confirm that there is no ban on
the sale of products at our locally-owned Ace stores; customers
should feel free to check with their local store for inventory
availability.
Sheriff’s Dept Demands ACE Hardware Stop Selling Heating Supplies to
Water Protectors, ACE Complies The Indigenous People's News - 01 DEC 2016
As part of the Morton County Sheriff’s Department’s effort to
quash the movement camped in opposition to construction of the
Dakota Access Pipeline, national chain ACE hardware stores have been
instructed by law enforcement not to sell any incendiary devices —
that includes propane tanks Standing Rock Sioux water protectors
partially rely on for heat in the bitter winter conditions.
In other words, law enforcement has effectively quashed the
sale of potentially life-saving supplies to those encamped at
Standing Rock as bitter winter conditions grip the Oceti Sakowin and
other camps.
Activist and live-streamer, Kevin Gilbertt, whose video of a
police offensive against water protectors on Highway 1806’s
Backwater Bridge went viral and exposed barbarous police tactics,
received by email a letter defining ACE Hardware’s sudden change in
policy — with a contact phone number.
“Just wanted to check on a policy that I’d heard about, to
make sure [of] the truth of this policy,” he asks the ACE Hardware
contact, Camillia, as he recorded the phone conversation. “I’ve been
informed that in the area around the pipeline in North Dakota, ACE
Hardware were no longer able to sell anything considered incendiary,
including propane.
“Can you confirm that as being true?”
“That is true, ACE Hardware stores in the vicinity of the
recent pipeline protests have been requested by law enforcement
officials to refrain from selling materials that could be used as
incendiary devices; so ACE’s number one priority is to protect the
safety of its employees, customers, and the communities each store
serves — ACE will continue to cooperate with law enforcement
officials. ACE’s compliance is not a reflection of any corporate
viewpoint on the actual pipeline project,” Camillia states....
Amnesty International: Justice Department Must Investigate Policing
of Standing Rock Demonstrations
by Native News Online Staff - 01 DEC 2016
NEW YORK — Based on information gathered by four Amnesty
International USA human rights observer delegations and reports from
the area, AIUSA has formally requested an investigation by the
Department of Justice into the policing of the Dakota Access
Pipeline demonstrations.
The letter, signed by AIUSA executive director Margaret
Huang, reads in part:
“The U.S. government is obligated under international law to
respect, protect, and fulfill the human rights of Indigenous people,
including their rights to freedom of expression and assembly….Public
assemblies should not be considered as the “enemy.”
amensty-rights-protected“We believe that an investigation by
your office of the policing of the Dakota Access Pipeline
demonstrations in North Dakota is warranted, and that the Civil
Rights Division should deploy observers to the area to ensure that
the rights of people opposed to the pipeline are respected,
protected and fulfilled. Should your investigators uncover any civil
rights violations by law enforcement, individual officers should be
charged and prosecuted as warranted.”
Today’s request was made following several instances in which
AIUSA observers expressed concern that disproportionate force was
used by police....
WARNING TO
STANDING ROCK SUPPORTERS WHO ARE FACEBOOK USERS
by Al Swilling, in collaboration with Sara Hayes; SENAA
International, Facebook - 18 NOV 2016
NORTH DAKOTA'S PEACE OFFICER CODE OF CONDUCT AND OATH by Al Swilling, SENAA International
- 24 OCT 2016
North Dakota Law Contains a Detailed Code of Conduct and Oath of
Office That Its Peace Officers Must Vow to Uphold--That Applies to
the Morton County, ND, Sheriff, His Deputies, and Reinforcements
from Other Sheriff's Departments Who Are Working Temporarily for the
Morton County Sheriff, or for any other Law Enforcement entity in
the state of North Dakota....
Chief
Arvol Looking Horse: The Dark Spirit and Disease of the Mind
by Arvol Looking Horse, Censored News - 22 OCT 2016 Protecting the Sacred
Mitakuyape (are now up against dangerous decisions that are
coming from the disease of the mind. We are dealing with minds that
hold no values of respect and honor toward another Nation’s Burials
and Sacred Sites. Money has contaminated their minds to want the
power to desecrate the sacredness of Mother Earth and allow my
People’s burial places to be destroyed in order to continue to erase
our culture.
As Keeper of this Spirit Bundle of my People, we as the
Buffalo People - Pte Oyate, have been able to keep our ceremonies
and way of life for 19 generations in tact, which every generation
is 100 years. This Bundle has been with us for over 2000 years,
which has guided us through massacres and hard times, even when it
was hidden until the 1978 Freedom of Religion Act.
Tim Mentz –Tatanka Duta (Red Bull) and his family lineal
knowledge are bound by this same woope – Creator’s Law....
A Word About Brenda
Norrell and Censored News Al Swilling, SENAA International - 14 FEB 2015 For those wondering why the vast majority of shared
posts on SENAA International's Web site and Facebook page are from
Brenda Norrell's Censored News, it's very simple—and very complex. For
many years, Brenda Norrell was a major journalist for (forgive me,
Brenda) Indian Country Today (ICT) until they censored Brenda's articles
and terminated her without cause. After leaving Indian Country Today,
Brenda created the appropriately
named Censored News.
While at
ICT, Brenda was a voice for the Dineh (Navajo) people at
Black Mesa, Arizona, where bed partners Peabody Coal and the BIA were trying to
forcibly remove Dineh residents from their ancestral homes in order to
strip mine the land of its coal. That greed took the form of a
contrived, fictional "land dispute" between Dineh' and Hopi....
Censored
News by Journalist & Publisher Brenda Norrell Censored News - 12 FEB 2015
Censored News was created in 2006 after staff reporter Brenda
Norrell was censored repeatedly, then terminated by Indian Country
Today. Now in its 9th year, with 3.7 million page views around the
world, Censored News is published with no advertising, grants or
sponsors.
Today, Censored News maintains a boycott of Indian Country Today,
whose reporters have relied on plagiarism of others' hard work for
years, instead of being present to cover news stories. Now, with a
collective of writers, Censored News focuses on Indigenous Peoples and
human rights.
www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com
Please Donate to and Support this important voice for Indigenous
people and human rights. --Al Swilling, Founder, SENAA International
Worldwide Prayer Gatherings Will Resume Weekly
by SENAA International - 28 OCT 2014 What Is a Worldwide Prayer
Gathering?
Though the specific details may vary from one support group to
another, and from one geographical location to another, the essential
concept remains the same.
A Worldwide Prayer Gathering is not so much a physical gathering into
one physical location as it is the spiritual gathering of individuals
and groups from around the world who are of one mind and one accord into
one spiritual place for a common purpose, which is to ask for the
Creator's help to bring about the circumstances that will accomplish our
common goal according to His promise.
TUTORIAL
LSO MANAGEMENT: What They Are
and What to Do About Them SENAA International - 16 FEB 2010
Introduction
The computing public is becoming increasingly aware
of the existence of Local Shared Objects (LSOs),
also called "Flash cookies" or "Persistent
Identification Elements" (PIEs), the dangers they
pose, and the unethical ways that they are placed on
our machines. LSOs are the busybodies of the
Internet, sticking their
noses in your personal
business at every opportunity without
your knowledge or consent; and like most
busybodies, they're being found out.
With growing public awareness of LSOs comes a growing
demand for effective, real time control of them. Most
LSO management solutions offer management or deletion of
LSOs after potentially malicious ones have had time to
do their damage. Stand-alone LSO management utilities do
not offer real time protection, either. This tutorial
provides real-time management of LSOs....
IF YOU DON'T KNOW YOUR
CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS, LEARN THEM! READ THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES
AND THE BILL OF RIGHTS!
Transcripts of the Constitution of the United States, the Bill of
Rights (1st 10 amendments), and other Constitutional Amendments for your
perusal. A public service endeavor of SENAA International.
GoFundMe - 21 NOV 2016 Sophia Wilansky is a water protector from New York.
She left New York City several weeks ago to help with the struggle
at Standing Rock. She been an active participate and family to the
activist groups NYC Shut It Down and Hoods4Justice. Sophia has
always been committed to confronting injustice through vigilance and
resistance.
Sophia was giving out bottles of water to protectors holding
down the space when she was shot with a concussion grenade. The
explosion blew away most of the muscles, femural and ulnal
arteries were destroyed, and one of her forearm bones was
shattered. She
was air lifted to County Medical Center in Minneapolis were she’s
currently undergoing a series of extensive, hours-long surgeries from
the injuries
sustained from the blast.
We
must to support our comrades when they need us the most. She needs
all of us right now. After all she is our family.
Please consider donating to help pay for her treatment.
Vanessa has been on the front lines fighting DAPL and working
security for Oceti Sakowin since September 11. During the action on
November 20 at the Backwater bridge, she was intentionally shot in the eye with a
tear gas canister from 6 feet away. It was aimed directly at her face by
a Morton County officer. She was seen at Bismarck Sanford hospital
and released because she had no insurance. She has a detached retina
and needs surgery to ensure her vision. She is now seeking medical
attention in Fargo. Donations will be used for the cost of the 2 ER
visits, surgery, medications, and recovery.
BEGINS: 03:30,
08 DEC 2016 ENDS: When the Judge's Decision Has Been Rendered LOCATION: Pray from wherever you are. Your prayers will
join others.
SENAA International will be hosting
a second Worldwide Prayer Gathering of the month, from 08 December through 09
December 2016 to pray that on Friday, 09 December 2016, the
judge will uphold the Army Corps of Engineers' denial of the
easement to drill beneath Lake Oahe and the Missouri River;
and to pray for protection for those remaining at the Water
Protectors camps at Standing Rock, as they brave brutal North
Dakota winter conditions
In addition to prayers for protection for the Water Protectors
and Veterans, we ask that you continue your prayers for Vanessa
"SiouxZ" Dundon, who sustained serious injury to her eye after being
struck in the eye by a teargas canister fired from close range;
and for Sophia Wilansky, who faces multiple surgeries after her
forearm was almost severed by a concussion grenade thrown at her
by a Morton County Sheriff's Deputy or one of the department's
hired mercenaries. They are both in need of and deserve our
prayers.
We ask for everyone to lend their spiritual energy to this 2-day
prayer vigil.
One voice singing in an auditorium is sweet to hear, but low in
volume. A hundred voices singing in harmony is beautiful and
powerful enough to shake the rafters and move the soul.
Please join us and add your voice to the choir.
Wado!
The PATRIOT Act's Impact on Your Rights - ACLU
The
ACLU’s National Security Project is dedicated to ensuring
that U.S. national security policies and practices are
consistent with the Constitution, civil liberties, and human
rights.
