The native americans and other DAPL (Dakota Access Pipeline) opposers are filled with determination, distress, passion, and such resentment towards the pipeline project because it would run under and through ground that their ancestors knew as sacred and those beliefs are still very alive to this day. The pipeline is a 1,172 mile underground oil pipeline that will aid transporting oil through all 50 states in the USA; it was projected to go through sacred lands, reservations, and rivers. There are multifarious issues and concerns pertaining to project but some of the preeminent concerns are; historic preservation and sacred grounds becoming significantly damaged and irreparable, climate change and how it would just increase the production of CO2, and potential pipeline fractures and spills that would mutilate the crucial nearby farms and threaten contaminate for the water supply of thousands of people who depend on it. The Native Americans have been cheated, experienced unfair and bloody hardships along with broken treaties, been judged for their …show more content…
Not only would the DAPL project cut through their land technically illegally, but it is a danger to their lives. If the pipe leaks (which most pipes do) than it will spill over farm lands and potentially into their water supply, putting their health into danger. They are protesting to protect themselves but also they are standing up for what is their land. The construction machines and the pipeline would run through sacred (legally the Natives land) ground and burial grounds. The Natives existence and way of life has been threatened historically also; when the buffalo almost went extinct and when the whites were intruding and killing the natives to get to gold in the area. Now their health and sacred ground are being jeopardized do to the DAPL
The native Americans of north America have long suffered from structural violence ever since the arrival of the European immigrants and suffer today in the situation of the North Dakota pipeline. The current situation regarding the Access pipeline is that it is running through properties belonging to the native American people without their consent. The problems that are pipeline could create are very similar to those that affect Lubicon people in Canada today. But the more important issue here is not the pipeline itself but the historical structural violence against natives that created this issue.
Thesis: The U.S. should stop the production of the North Dakota Access Pipeline because it would break the contract made over a hundred years with the Native Americans, it violates the ninth amendment, and it is not environmentally safe.
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,
As professor Ferguson related “Six months ago the Dakota Access Pipeline was provided a permit for the construction to begin. For six months or so there has been development of this pipeline. Now, enter the Standing Rock Sioux, which are one of the Sioux nations, a sovereign indigenous tribe who has historically experienced loss of land and tree rights and been prevalent in this area. Many of them have been pushed into these certain areas called reservations were the last remnants of land were provided, this history is important. The broken promise of the government and other parties that promised that things would be okay has been long standing.” For the standing Rock Sioux they see the pipeline going through the Missouri River as creating problems with water access for the tribe, change in the water environment and a threat to their access to water quality. Secondly, the pipeline itself is also going to upset and encroach upon Native American burial sights and artifact sights that have existed for years untouched until there was a change in the interest regarding oil. This pipeline has threatened these rights for the Standing Rock Sioux. As a Sovereign Nation, they see this change fueled by national and corporate interest as a direct threat to their nationhood because access to water is key to survival. Professor Ferguson also emphasized that “There is also a larger story, and it comes from the call for all for the great Sioux Nation and all indigenous people to come and gather in protest against the pipeline. These protest then have larger meaning because they address the threat to indigenous people around the world and not just in the united states” because often times the narrative of losses for indigenous people around the world are a very similar
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.
Since 2010, there have been “more than 3,000 incidents of leaks and ruptures at oil and gas pipelines” according to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (Worland). The Dakota Access Pipeline has sparked controversy between the U.S. Army of Engineers and Native Americans. With threats of damaging their water supply, cultural land, and impeding a treaty made in 1851, had Native Americans protesting by resisting removal. The threatening impact on Native Americans deemed unconsidered and unheard of by government when they originally planned to build the pipeline through the area. And despite a severe winter storm bringing freezing conditions, protesting Natives remained (Maher and Connors). But why did it have to come to desperate measures that endanger one’s personal safety, just to gain the attention of the government? Native American sovereignty has been repeatedly impeded on, forcing them to take matters into their own hands. Concerning the decision prior to construction, the Standing Rock Sioux tribe claims the federal agency did not appropriately consult them prior to construction (Merrit). Recently, Army Corps have halted the passage of the Dakota Access Pipeline due to their outcry. But if the government had just considered the vote of Native Americans in the first place, the decision could have satisfied everyone who at least got a say
The Energy Transfer Partners wants to install the Dakota Pipeline near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, but the Sioux tribe is fighting to stop the installation of the pipeline to preserve their culture and assert their right to the property. The Dakota Pipeline is an oil pipeline that would transport oil from North Dakota through South Dakota and Iowa into Illinois. The Dakota Pipeline should not be installed because it disrespects the Native Americans’ culture and discriminates against The Sioux, a minority within the United States. The unjust treatment of Native Americans is due to the government’s disregard for Native American property rights and the government’s belief that they can simply take Native American property away because they are
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 pipeline route has caused some Native American leaders to be come aggravated at the proposition of its placement. "Even if the pipeline would not cross their property, tribal leaders say, it would pose a threat to drinking water and to ancestral homelands on the rolling plains and hilly riverbeds where they still hold treaty claims" (Thune, John, and Anna Eshoo). It is ridiculous for TransCanada and the supporters of the Keystone Pipeline to propose this route with the knowledge of where the Natives are. This is an intentional insult, one they should not get away with. With an already unstable relationship, why would these polluters think it would be wise to antagonize them. This project already had many issues following it, but "so strong is their opposition that members have maintained a spirit camp on tribal property near the planned route. Despite the camp's rustic accommodations -- a tent, a trailer and no running water -- members have kept a vigil there for more than a year, and have vowed to use the site as a base camp for protesters if construction ever begins. Several activists...have said they would risk arrest through civil disobedience" (Thune, John, and Anna Eshoo). Native Americans were promised rights when they first lost their land to white settlers and the
The construction of this pipeline has raised a lot of controversy regarding its necessity, but also in the potential impact on the environment. On the list of controversies, it is facing the established route for the pipeline because it runs half-mile near of the Standing Rock Sioux reservation, crossing beneath the Missouri River. The concern is the huge impact this would cause if the pipeline breaks near to the river spilling the crude oil into the river contaminating the drinking water. The other concern is that as this pipe passes very close to the Indian reservation, it also disturbs sacred land. In addition to all this, there is the controversy of the use of eminent domain by the government, to get the land for the construction of the pipeline.
Since September of 2016 thousands of peaceful protesters had come to support the NoDAPL hashtag trend while fighting off police intrusion and violence. It brung up media’s attention and Army Corps of Engineers had begun to develop a way to accommodate rerouting the pipeline for the purpose of not contaminating the Missouri River. However, on January 24, 2017 newly elected president Donald Trump signed a memo to allow the original route of the Dakota Access Pipeline to go through the rivers and the Sioux’s burial grounds. While the pipeline would benefit supplies of oil to our country, it disrespects Native Americans’ cultural history and beliefs as well as damages the environment. Many Native American’s have cultural artifacts and religious customs that mean great essence to their tribes and the people within them. By proceeding with the pipeline, it allows the indigenous people’s land to be torn and damage relics that apply a substanial amount of respect to their historical trials. The Sioux tribe has many religious traditions that are relative to their lands, one of which includes
It is widely known that for centuries Native Americans have been oppressed, used and discriminated against. A sort of hatred towards our government and our people transpires among the Natives, and rightfully so. There are many reasons for the Natives to feel exploited, yet protesting the pipeline and fighting back to the American political system can give Natives a feeling of triumph and accomplishment if they are able to successfully halt the construction of the pipeline. Murdoch specifically states that “the last time Native Americans gathered and the nation notices was in 1973” therefore we know that the building of this pipeline is very strongly opposed and quite important to the Natives. There are many underlying factors that the Native
Since 1532, Native Americans have been subjected to American influence. From engaging in treaties to developing a dependency on the reservations, they have a long history of fighting for political, environmental, and human rights. For instance, the Sac and Fox tribe currently battle the Keystone XL project, a major threat to their right to live peacefully and securely. The lead in this project, TransCanada, a Canadian oil company, plans to insert a 1,661 mile crude oil pipeline that runs from Alberta, Canada to Texas, crossing numerous Indian reservations and threatening their natural resources. While Americans benefit from the additional access to oil, it raises issues of water contamination and disturbance to sacred sites and wildlife habitats. Along with these negative impacts, the tribe also lacks inclusion and representation in this proposal. Therefore, the proposed Keystone XL project is not justified because of its intrusion on the human and land rights of the Sac and Fox tribe, which are
But many years later Native Americans from all over America are yet living in that same burial ground. They sleep in teepees, ride horses and ride pickup trucks. They all decorate the land where they stay to show moral support for their land. The natives are posting hashtags and post that is against the pipeline that will run throughout America, and go on their land. The Natives Americans are protesting for what is theirs.
Environmental welfare has become one of our most important priorities since the widely-spread awareness of climate change. Recently, there has been a controversial subject arousing from the midwest that is allegedly threatening our environment - the construction of Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). This $3.8 billion, 1,172-mile pipeline project will be crossing four states from North Dakota through Illinois to supply crude oil coming from the oil-rich Bakken area (Yan). DAPL will supposedly create new jobs like construction and maintenance, lower gas prices as we do not have to rely exporting oil from overseas, and boost energy production in our country as we continue to consume more energy resources. However, induced with negative feelings from