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What can you do? Let President Trump Know that #HistoryMatters The drilling of the Dakota Access pipeline is an environmental disaster waiting to happen. Energy Transfer Partners’ decision to move the original route of the pipeline from ten miles north of Bismarck, North Dakota, to a half mile upstream from the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation was the latest act of environmental discrimination. A leak from the pipeline could destroy the water supply for the Standing Rock Sioux people and others. Energy Transfer Partners’ CEO donated more than $100,000 to the Trump campaign. Donald Trump was an investor in DAPL. Soon after signing the Presidential Memoranda, President Trump stated: “As you know I approved two pipelines that were stuck in limbo forever. I don’t even think it was controversial. I approved them. I haven’t even had one call from anybody saying that was a terrible thing you did. I haven’t had one call … Then as you know I did the Dakota Pipeline and no one called up to complain.” President Trump needs to hear from you. He needs to know the Dakota Access Pipeline is controversial and that you want to see tribal rights honored. We urge you to call President Trump at (202) 456-1414 and let him know that history does matter. If he does not answer, submit your comments online at www.whitehouse.gov/contact. |
NARF continues to stand firm for justice in its support of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, and the Great Plains Tribal Chairman’s Association in their efforts to halt the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL).
On January 24, 2017 – just four days after his inauguration – Donald Trump issued two Presidential Memoranda advancing the construction of both the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Keystone XL pipeline. Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chairman Dave Archambault II stated, “President Trump is legally required to honor our treaty rights and provide a fair and reasonable pipeline process. Americans know this pipeline was unfairly rerouted towards our nation and without our consent. The existing pipeline route risks infringing on our treaty rights, contaminating our water and the water of 17 million Americans downstream.”
On Tuesday, February 7, the United States Army Corps of Engineers issued a permit allowing Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. to begin drilling operations to complete the Dakota Access Pipeline. Drilling began the following day on February 8. In response to the drilling on February 9, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe filed a motion seeking a temporary restraining order (TRO) seeking “to halt construction and drilling” under and on either side of the land surrounding Lake Oahe. The tribe argues that the pipeline “will desecrate the waters upon which Cheyenne River Sioux tribal members rely for their most important religious practices and therefore substantially burden the free exercise of their religion.”
On Friday, February 10, the Native American Rights Fund (NARF), on behalf of the Great Plains Tribal Chairman’s Association filed an amicus brief in support of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe’s TRO. The amicus brief provides the court with important historical context for its consideration of irreparable harm, including the historical trauma that many of our people suffer from historic discrimination by the United States. The brief informs the court how DAPL is just the latest in a long line of historical harms done. Argument on the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe’s motion for a TRO was held on Monday, February 13. Unfortunately, to the disappointment of everyone, the judge denied the TRO. The denial of the TRO is certainly frustrating; however, the fight to oppose the completion of the Dakota Access pipeline is not over. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe will continue to forge ahead with other legal options and will continue their fight to protect their water.
The fight to oppose DAPL is just the tip of the iceberg. There will be many more attacks on our sacred sites and our environment in the years to come. Won’t you support NARF in its battle for Native rights?
Mni Wiconi
Water is Life
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