Published on Thursday, August 25, 2016

by Native News Online

We’ve Always “Occupied the Prairie” and We’re Not Going Anywhere

by Sacred Stone Camp Leaders and Elders





Young Protectors of the Water, Standing Rock. (Photo: John Clark-Dvorak)


In Occupying the Prairie: Tensions Rise as Tribes Move to Block a Pipeline by Jack Healy, New York Times, Aug. 23, 2016 we see and hear about Indians in paint on horseback, in “procession” out of their “tepee-dotted camp.” Who writes like that?

While the almost 500 Nations of our indigenous brothers and sisters (over 80 are represented in the Sacred Stones Camp) are proud of the heritage of our peoples, it’s important to keep the focus on today and why we are here. This is our land, as defined in our times as the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, a Sovereign Nation.

In fact, what we call the United States is really comprised of Nations, it is a “united” Nations, of relationships formed by diplomacy.

The Greater Sioux Nations predated the United States, so as the newly minted USA acquired more territory, agreements were sought in many cases with the existing nations of the Plains and elsewhere. One such Treaty, the Treaty of Fort Laramie (1851), matters now. The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 was signed on September 17, 1851 between United States treaty commissioners and representatives of the Cheyenne, Sioux, Arapaho, Crow, Assiniboine, Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara nations.

More:
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/08/25/weve-always-occupied-prairie-and-were-not-going-anywhere

the bonds, honor the trust, etc. He and Michelle genuinely seemed to find real value in their experience that day.

Oh, the people came earlier, and waited around 52 minutes prior to the arrival. It was amazing seeing the wind across the plains was constant throughout the video. No windbreaks, no tall buildings to get in the road of the wind out there.

Wonderful dancing by tiny ones up to young adults, it appeared, wildly beautiful, colorful clothing, the people were warm, receptive, gracious. I doubt the President will forget the time he spent with them. He seemed very aware and conscious of each one of them he met, along with Michelle.

Sure hope he's going to move the right direction on the new pipeline threat. The people should NEVER have to worry about things like this which bring so much suffering with them onto land which was theirs by treaty, with so little left for Native Americans to lose, by now, after the whole country was stolen through murder, torture, and hatred to hand it over to profiteers in the first place.

Thank you for sharing this video. It would have been wonderful to have been there that day. The Native people have a so much to cherish, value in their unique traditions.

we need to continue to call the President of the United States and leave messages, see below to all of those that care

https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/write-or-call:

Call the President
PHONE NUMBERS
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414


Thank you (Wado)

we where promised, and we have never gone back on our commitments to the treaties or our promise-----------------never

Native American tribes unite against Dakota pipeline project

Native American tribal members from across the United States have joined mounting protests against a four-state oil pipeline. A series of lengthy legal battles may hold up pipeline construction.

28.08.2016



Several hundred protestors from at least 100 Native American tribes have joined a weeks-long protest to support the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in its bid to stop construction of the Dakota Access oil pipeline.

The tribe argues that the $3.8 billion pipeline, which will pass through Iowa, Illinois, North Dakota and South Dakota, threatens its sacred sites and drinking water. The Sioux group also says it was not properly consulted before construction began on the pipeline.

As the protest gained momentum, the tribes have been joined by environmental groups concerned over the impact of fossil fuels on climate change. Several groups have also expressed serious concerns over the environmental impact of the pipeline's construction and ensuing usage as it threatens numerous ecosystems along its route, thereby impacting groundwater safety and crop production, among other issues. Several celebrities have joined in the demonstrations and nearly 30 protestors have been arrested in recent weeks.

The Standing Rock Sioux tribe is seeking an injunction stopping construction of the pipeline. For the moment, construction near the reservation straddling the North and South Dakota border has been put on hold.

More:
http://www.dw.com/en/native-american-tribes-unite-against-dakota-pipeline-project/a-19508873

United States: Native Americans banned from protesting pipeline on own land

Saturday, August 20, 2016


Despite ongoing resistance by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, a North Dakota federal court has ordered the indigenous group to stop their blockade protests against a US$3.8 billion oil pipeline.
“The tribe is committed to doing all it can to make sure the demonstrations … are done in the right way,” said Dave Archambault II, chairperson of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. “As we have said from the beginning, demonstrations regarding Dakota Access must be peaceful.”

On August 15, protesters arrived at the site and surrounded the machinery at the work site, prompting an instruction to the workers to leave their equipment. That day, the pipeline developer, Dakota Access, filed a lawsuit against the protesters, citing that worker and law enforcement safety was at risk.

The Bakken pipeline, as it is known, is almost as long as a previously proposed mammoth pipeline, Keystone XL. It will cut through all of North and South Dakota, Iowa and Illinois. As it is owned by a subsidiary of Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners, the line will carry about 570,000 barrels of sweet crude oil every day — fracked from North Dakota's oil-rich Bakken Formation — all the way to Patoka, Illinois.

The project will run through wildlife areas, sacred Native American sites, and water sources such as the Mississippi and the Missouri — some of the longest rivers on the continent. Critics say the pipeline poses a major threat to ecosystems. Federal agencies, however, argue the Bakken avoids “critical habitat” and is safe.

More:
https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/62496