Kaʻū News Briefs Monday, Dec. 5, 2016

Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbrd at Standing Rock with more than 5,000 veterans, local Sioux and other Native American leaders. On Sunday, the Department of the Army denied an easement for the pipeline. Image from MSNBC

STANDING ROCK SNOW was the location of Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard Saturday night and Sunday, as she joined thousands of veterans and water protectors, who oppose the Dakota Access Pipeline being constructed to carry fracked oil between North Dakota and Illinois. The water protectors won a reprieve on Sunday morning when the Department of the Army announced that it denied an easement required for the $3.8 billion project to cross under Lake Oahe near Standing Rock in North Dakota. Instead, it will conduct an Environmental Impact Statement to examine the impacts and explore alternative routes, according to the statement.
    However, Sioux Indian leaders warned that the pipeline company could ask for the decision to be overturned.
    Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell praised the decision to deny the right of way, saying it “underscores that tribal rights reserved in treaties and federal law, as well as nation-to-nation consultation with tribal leaders, are essential components” of discussions in infrastructure projects.

U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard addressed veterans who joined Sioux tribal leaders at Standing Rock Photo from Democratic Underground

    The water protectors claim the pipeline would have led to pollution of freshwater and, overall, is a step backward toward the goal of clean and safe energy for many Indian tribes, clean energy that will also help the broader population of Americans. They claim treaties between the U.S. government and the tribes gave congress and the president a path to stop the pipeline and stated that they plan to hold the U.S. government accountable to the treaties. They say the agreements give Indian nations ownership of the Missouri River and other waters in the path of the pipeline. Another concern, the water protectors claim, was that the pipeline was rerouted away from urban Bismark, North Dakota because of pollution concerns, and redirected to a path that could pollute Indian nation natural resources.
   The U.S. Army Corps of Engineershad given those gathered at Standing Rock a deadline of today to clear out of the way of the pipeline construction. The water protector group has been camped there since April.

“Water is life,” is the mantra that Gabbard emphasizes during talks on Standing Rock. Photo from Democratic Underground

   Gabbard, a Lt. Colonel in the Hawai‘i Army National Guard, talked about veterans arriving at Standing Rock from all over the country from “all different generations.” She described them as “strangers essentially but brothers and sisters in arms who have come here answering this higher call to put service before self, once again, to come and stand in peace and prayer to protect water. They understand that this is not just about the potential water contamination for the people of Standing Rock but for millions of people in surrounding states, who would also be impacted.” She talked about Standing Rock being symbol of “how essential it is to protect water as a matter of life.”
     Gabbard said that “the best thing that could happen is that the president would announce that the easement that this pipeline needs to continue would be denied.”
      She also talked about congress. “There are very few members of congress who are even paying attention to what is happening here at Standing Rock.” She contended that little will happen unless congress “pays attention to and looks and hears and sees what is actually happening here and understands the potential impacts.” She said they could include, “damaging and contaminating water resources, not only for the Standing Rock Sioux but for millions of people in the surrounding areas. We’ve got to recognize that this is not a choice between economic opportunity and jobs versus water. Without water there is no life, there is no economy, there is no jobs.
     “There is a right way to go about doing things that has not occurred here.”
      Gabbard said that the thousands of people gathered at Standing Rock “are here to say ‘water is life that must be respected and protected.’”
     Phyllis Young, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe who met with Gabbard, said the group plans an international peace ceremony today. “There is going to be a white horse exchanged that will forever cement the peace between the United States military” and the Sioux, she said, noting that she expects the federal government to protect the Indian tribes.