Chief Seattle, No Dakota Access Pipeline Project

The Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion project has brought forth many conflicting arguments, thus resulting in some parties being for it and some against it. I believe however, the risks are far greater than the rewards. The controversies surrounding the oil pipeline have brought up significant reports regarding environmental safety and concern with also safety and concern of the public. Due to the fact that presently, there is one operational pipeline running from Alberta to the Pacific Coast, I believe the introduction of a new pipeline would have disastrous consequences if something were to happen whether being an oil spill or a fire. The NEB (National Energy Board) failed to mention significant situations in which this pipeline could significantly

The Dakota Access Pipeline has been a topic of controversy since it was first announced to the public June 25th, 2014. This pipeline will run under the Missouri river to transport oil from the North Dakota Bakken oil fields to Patoka, Illinois, despite it being built on Sioux Nation territory grated to them through the 1851Treaty of Fort Laramie. This poses a threat to many tribes, including the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, for their concern of the environmental impacts, possible water contamination, and the destruction of sacred burial grounds.

“In the end, there is no absence of irony: the integrity of what is sacred to the Native Americans will be determined by the government that has been responsible for doing everything in their power to destroy Native American cultures”-Winona LaDuke. Native American beliefs are deeply rooted in their culture. To diminish and violate rights of Native Americans is immoral. Violating Native American rights threatens their public health and welfare, water supply, and sacred land. Therefore, the government should not install the Dakota Access Pipeline.

The U.S government's relationship with Native Americans has been nothing but hate and disrespect for centuries long and Donald Trump certainly doesn't understand that to many Native Americans, the issue with the Dakota Access Pipeline being built isn't just enviromental, it's also about the religious background the reservation serves. Land is an extremely important part of Native Americans religion, as most tribes have bonds with their sacred lands. My family is apart of the Naskapi-Innu tribe, so when the Standing Rock Reservation said “Americans know this pipeline was unfairly rerouted towards our nation and without our consent,” (BBC.com 3), I could fully relate. Instead of President Trump stressing about how many jobs the pipeline may bring,

The North Dakota Access Pipeline will span from the Bakken, North Dakota to southern Illinois. The Standing Rock Sioux reservation opposes the pipeline because they believe that it goes through sacred land. The Sioux tribe also opposes the pipeline because it will cross the Missouri River twice, which is the reservations main water source. They believe that the pipeline may contaminate the Missouri River, but the pipeline company claims that the pipeline is the safest method to transfer the oil. I believe that this is a tough topic to form an opinion on, but I will hopefully explain my stance on this issue throughout this essay.

The Dakota Access Pipeline is a problem for the natives, but obviously not for us Americans. Energy transfer quote that “Some protesters stayed overnight what looked like dog kennels and were let out in the morning”. This is why we need to stop the construction of this pipeline because it could leak and contaminate the water, the pipeline would be going through sacred grounds, and we need to stop the violence against the native protesters.

of this pipeline that is threating the Natives and their sacred land, we should worry about the amount of power Big Oil and Big Banks have. Although everything that is being done by Energy Transfer Partners, in

Dallas Based Energy Transfer Partners, the company responsible for the construction of the pipeline, claims they have met with tribal leaders “many” times over the past two years, but, “the Standing Rock Sioux claims that meaningful consultations with their leaders were never held and that their concerns have been ignored” (Dakota Access Pipeline 12). This is blatant discrimination of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and disregards any concerns they may have. Cooperation with the tribal leaders would allow the tribe to communicate any further concerns with construction. Instead they have ignored the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and decided to do what they think is best for themselves. An ideology that has always haunted the Native American people. The discrimination continues with the Pipeline being built on Sioux territory and further violates treaties. Sincere Kirabo, coordinator at the American Humanist Association, states, “[the pipeline] does cross through territory that belongs to the Sioux, which directly violates the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie that states the land is reserved for ‘undisturbed use and occupation’ of Native inhabitants” (26). The treaties once created by the government to create peace, is now being disregarded and not being upheld. This is denying their freedom of being equal before the law and further shows discrimination against the

In the article, “A high-plains showdown over the Dakota Access Pipeline”, Justin Worland addresses the current situation the North Dakota Access Pipeline has brought upon America and its Native American tribes. In particular, the Standing Rock Sioux tribe has a conflict between the Energy Transfer Partners company. Energy Transfer Partners wants to build an oil pipeline near the Standing Rock Reservation. The Sioux tribe is against the project because the oil pipeline will destroy their historical ground and their water source of Lake Oahe.

Another issue that has arose would include the pipeline rupturing leaving us with an oil spill on our hands. Tar sands is the most difficult type of oil to clean up in the event it were to spill. Mainly because it is so heavy it would sink straight to the bottom of the water. A perfect example of a tar sands spill happened in Michigan’s Kalamazoo River in 2010 when approximately thirty-five miles of the Kalamazoo River was closed for clean-up until June 2012, when they had portions of the river re-opened. We can still see the effects it has had on Michigan because they have not fully cleaned all of the oil out of the river. The US lost about 1,100,000 gallons due to this spill, resulting 30 to 50 households to excavate the area and were told not to drink any of their water supplies due to all the highly toxins released from the pipeline rupture. To clean up all the damage from the spill at first it was around $585 million and was expected to rise by 20 percent more. The

Oil is one resource America relies heavily on. Oil has a negative impact on the environment and has long lasting affects. The Dakota Access Pipeline is a major controversial topic in the news. The Dakota Access Pipeline is being used to transport oil from North Dakota to Illinois. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is located where the pipeline will be passing through. The pipeline disrupts the lives of the Native Americans who live there. I believe that the Dakota Access Pipeline should not be built because of the affects on the environment and goes against the rights of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Greider and Garkovich’s Landscapes: The Social Construction of Nature and the Environment discusses how the environment we live in is apart of our landscape. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe sees their landscape as sacred and a place they need to protect.

Protect the native’s land and the planet! The Dakota Pipeline project is not going to be as beneficial as it’s made out to be. “It’s a 3.7 billion dollar project that would cross four states. The results could be an economic boon that makes the country more self-sufficient or an environmental disaster that destroys sacred Native American sites” (Yan). Construction of the Dakota pipeline does not only violate the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851, but implementing this pipeline will release more pollution, risk contamination of the water supply, and provide temporary jobs.

The Dakota Access Pipeline is a pipeline that moves crude oil from the west side of North Dakota to the border of Illinois and Canada. There is a lot of controversy around it because it runs right past The Great Sioux Reservation. The Reservation has had many problems with the US Government throughout the years. Many people are protesting the construction of it, much to their prevail, Obama’s administration delayed its construction.

To Native Americans, the land is sacred and should be treated with respect. They’re a part of nature and nature is a part of them; they are all one. Land does not belong to one, it belongs to all. The Dakota Access pipeline would damage the Native Americans water, and it would hurt the ancestral cultural sites along with spiritual factors. This is shown in “Song of the Sky Loom” and “The Man to Send Rain Clouds” along with the present day focus of the pipeline.

Native Americans are being disrespected, harmed, and their homeland is being taken from them. Am I talking about events taken place centuries ago? No, because these unfortunate circumstances yet again are occurring right here, now, in the present. This horrid affair has a name: The Dakota Access Pipeline. This Pipeline is an oil transporting pipeline, which is funded by the U.S Army Corps of Engineers, who have devised a plan for the pipeline to run through the states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Illinois. However, unfortunately, this pipeline will run straight through the reservation of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. The Standing Rock Sioux tribe, expressing their distress for the pipeline have said, that the pipeline will be “Destroying our burial sites, prayer sites, and culturally significant artifacts,” Arguments for the pipeline however have tried to counter this claim, trying to emphasize that “The pipeline wouldn 't just be an economic boon, it would also significantly decrease U.S. reliance on foreign oil”, and that the pipeline is estimated to produce “374.3 million gallons of gasoline per day.”, which could help the sinking oil economy. (Yan, 2016) However, despite the economical growth it could achieve, the Dakota Access Pipeline could have damaging environmental effects on the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the areas surrounding.