“CANNON
BALL, N.D. — The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe won a major victory on Sunday in its
battle to block an oil pipeline being built near its reservation when the
Department of the Army announced that it would not allow the pipeline to be
drilled under a dammed section of the Missouri River.
“The Army said it would look for
alternative routes for the $3.7 billion Dakota Access pipeline. Construction of
the route a half-mile from the Standing Rock Sioux reservation has become a
global flash point for environmental and indigenous activism, drawing thousands
of people out here to a sprawling prairie camp of tents, teepees and yurts…
“But it was unclear how durable the
government’s decision would be. Sunday’s announcement came in the dwindling
days of the Obama administration, which revealed in November that the Army Corps of
Engineers was considering
an alternative route. The Corps of Engineers is part of the Department of
the Army.
“President-elect Donald J. Trump,
however, has taken a different view of the project and said as recently as last
week that he supported finishing the 1,170-mile pipeline, which crosses four
states and is almost complete. Mr. Trump owns stock in the company building the
pipeline, Energy Transfer Partners, but has said that his support has nothing
to do with his investment…
“Millions of dollars in donations and
goods have flowed into the camps for months as the tribe’s fight and the scenes
of protesters being tear-gassed and
sprayed with freezing water stirred outrage on social media. (Law
enforcement officials have insisted the entire time that they have acted
responsibly and with restraint)…”
U.S. Army Blocks Drilling of Dakota Access Oil Pipeline
The
Lost Originals by
W.S. Merwin
If only you had written our language
we would have remembered how you died
if you had wakened at our windows
we would have known who you were
we would have felt horror
at the pictures of you behind the barbed wire
from which you did not emerge
we would have returned to the shots of you lying dead
with your kin
we would have ached to hear of your freezing
and your hunger in the hands of our own kind
we would have suffered at the degradation of your women
we would have studied you reverently
we would have repeated the words of your children
we would have been afraid for you
you would have made us ashamed and indignant
and righteous
we would have been proud of you
we would have mourned you
you would have survived
as we do
we might have believed
in a homeland
If only you had written our language
we would have remembered how you died
if you had wakened at our windows
we would have known who you were
we would have felt horror
at the pictures of you behind the barbed wire
from which you did not emerge
we would have returned to the shots of you lying dead
with your kin
we would have ached to hear of your freezing
and your hunger in the hands of our own kind
we would have suffered at the degradation of your women
we would have studied you reverently
we would have repeated the words of your children
we would have been afraid for you
you would have made us ashamed and indignant
and righteous
we would have been proud of you
we would have mourned you
you would have survived
as we do
we might have believed
in a homeland
December 8
ReplyDelete“…Standing Rock Tribal Chairman David Archambault told [Democracy Now!], ‘The pipeline is not going to move ahead. The campers that are there can now enjoy the winter with their families at home.’ Many in the camps remain skeptical, like U.S. veteran Remy, a native of the Navajo Nation, who has been at Standing Rock for almost six months. ‘Until the project has ended, we are not planning to go anywhere,’ he said on Democracy Now!
“Donald Trump supports the pipeline, and could very well scuttle the Obama administration’s decision to deny the permit. According to financial-disclosure statements, Trump has held between $500,000 and $1 million invested in the pipeline, although a Trump spokesperson claims he has since sold his shares. Trump has nominated Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to head the Environmental Protection Agency. Congressman Keith Ellison said the nominee ‘denies climate change and is beholden to fossil-fuel companies. Scott Pruitt has pledged to roll back environmental protections and go to bat for multibillion-dollar oil and gas companies…’” (Democracy Now!).