LOWER BRULE, SD – Native leaders, tribal council members, rural landowners along with climate justice national allies will meet on Monday, Nov. 20 at 11:15 a.m. Central Time to respond to the Nebraska Public Service Commission decision on the permit application for the Keystone XL Pipeline.
The press conference will be live streamed and can be watched here:Livestream: https://www.facebook.com/NativeOrganizersAlliance/
The Keystone 1 pipeline spill in South Dakota last week is a tragic example of why the KXL opposition has opposed the KXL Pipeline from the beginning.
“There are no guarantees about the ability of TransCanada to safely operate a pipeline. South Dakota tribes and non-Native farmers are investing in alternative energies, that’s the future of South Dakota not oil, not fracking,” said Judith LeBlanc, director of the Native Organizers Alliance.
Tribal representatives, landowners and climate justice allies will also sign the International Treaty to Protect the Sacred from Tar Sands Projects. It was originally signed in 2013, and brought together a powerful alliance of pipeline fighters who were successful in stopping the KXL in the first round.
“Nothing has changed at all in our defense of land, air and water of the Oceti Sakowin Lands,” said Faith Spotted Eagle, a member of the Yankton Sioux Nation. “If anything it has become more focused, stronger and more adamant after Standing Rock.
“It’s clear that the Trump administration, through its dirty energy policies, is intent on destroying our homelands with no regard to any group; we are all seen as dispensable, taxable, and voiceless,” she said. “The Native vote is the swing vote in South Dakota. Native and non-Natives are rising up for now, for the future and certainly for the coming elections.”
The Nebraska Public Service has a range of options, from approving one of the three proposed routes, to rejecting all three a victory for Native Americans and tens of thousands of supporters and allies throughout the country.
The Wiconi Un Tipi Camp at Lower Brule Reservation hosts the gathering, in cooperation with Dakota Rural Action, Ihanktonwan Treaty Committee and the Brave Heart Society. Participants include hundreds of Lakota and Dakota activists, Native community groups and tribal entities. National groups are also in attendance from Greenpeace, the Sierra Club, 350.org and the Native Organizers Alliance.
Lewis Grassrope is the organizer of the the Wiconi Un Tipi Camp of Lower Brule.
“We the oyate of Wiconi Un Tipi have put up camp to continue living and protecting this way of life for all,” said Grassrope. “Where we choose to live, we choose life! We are here to continue to restore balance and save mother earth from any atrocious acts against her.”
What: No KXL Pipeline Press Conference
When: 11:15 a.m. Central, Monday, Nov. 20, 2017
Where: Golden Buffalo Convention Center, Lower Brule, South Dakota.
Livestream: https://www.facebook.com/NativeOrganizersAlliance/
Monday Events:
11:15 a.m. Central A press conference of tribal leaders and landowners will be held as a response to the pipeline permit decision.
1:15 p.m. Signing of International Treaty to Protect the Sacred from Tar Sands Projects
3:00 p.m. Roundtable on Protecting the Sacred: Treaty representatives; Tribal Historic Preservation Officer; Tribal elected leaders; Winyan Okodakiciye; International Indigenous Youth Council; Climate Justice Groups