This is Isakpe Kenny Weddell, 8-year old water protector of the Ihanktonwan tribe of South Dakota, standing with Standing Rock at the Sacred Stone Camp set up in Cannonball, North Dakota. The camp has grown in this past month up to 4,000 residents, and has always kept its peaceful and spiritual nature despite the provocations, including attacks with pepper sprays and vicious dogs by the private security hired by the corporation behind the pipeline, Energy Transfer Partners.
Today, a federal judge denied the injunction filed by the Standing Rock tribe but, minutes later, three different government agencies stepped in and basically recognized what the tribe has been saying all along, concerned that this pipeline could contaminate the waters of the Missouri River and Lake Ohae. The Department of Justice, the Army and the Interior Department jointly announced that construction would pause on the pipeline near North Dakota's Lake Oahe. The agencies will now decide whether they need to reconsider permitting decisions for the pipeline under the National Environmental Policy Act. Despite the judge's ruling, the agencies said, "important issues raised by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and other tribal nations and their members regarding the Dakota Access pipeline specifically, and pipeline-related decision-making generally, remain." The Army Corps had permitted pipeline construction near Lake Oahe. But, as of last month, federal agencies had not yet issued the easements necessary for construction to begin there. Dave Archambault II, the chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, hailed the decision, and vowed to continue fighting against the project.
Meanwhile, life at the Camp which I visited at the end of August, witnessing the great unity of more than 200 tribes and hundreds of supporters from every walk of life, goes on. This is much more than a native issue and an Indian protest. It might be the long due awakening we all need to stop poisoning our waters and lands, and to pursue alternative energy sources to stop our dependance from fossil carbon. And it does not surprise that this battle is led by Natives, who always considered themselves the caretakers of Mother Earth.
Recent Comments