FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 15, 2019
Contact:
Faith Spotted Eagle, eagletrax@hotmail.com, (605) 481-0416
Dani Heffernan, dani@nokxlpromise.org, (305) 992-1544
Resistance to Keystone XL Grows as More Tribal Nations and Allies Sign the “International Treaty to Protect the Sacred Against the Keystone XL Pipeline and Tar Sands”
Six years since the historic treaty was signed in 2013, alliance to stop Keystone XL grows. Livestream here.
Lake Andes, SD: Following TransCanada’s announcement that they hope to begin construction on Keystone XL in June, dozens of Tribal Nations from the U.S. and Canada gathered today on the Yankton reservation in South Dakota to sign the “International Treaty to Protect the Sacred Against the Keystone XL Pipeline and Tar Sands,” continuing their decade long fight to stop this project.
First signed in 2013, the treaty unified the Oceti Sakowin, Ponca, Pawnee, Oglala and 10 First Nations in Canada, Treaty Councils, grassroots groups, environmental organizations, non-Native landowners, ranchers and farmers from Nebraska and South Dakota, including Bold Nebraska and Nebraska Easement Action Network (NEAT) in the protection of land, water, and climate against toxic tar sands.
In November, U.S. District Court Judge Brian Morris vacated a crossborder permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, ordering TransCanada to cease pre-construction. The ruling also found that the Trump administration’s reversal of an Obama-era decision on the project required a new environmental review.
In the coming weeks, the Nebraska Supreme Court is expected to rule on an alternative route permitted by the NE Public Service Commission (“PSC”) in November 2017. As Indigenous peoples and allies gather and prepare for action, the courts may yet bring this project to a halt.
QUOTE SHEET:
Faith Spotted Eagle, Brave Heart Society & Chair of the Ihanktonwan Treaty Committee:
“Dakota beliefs remind us to give thanks for gifts received, and as Keystone XL pipeline fighters we have much to be thankful for. It is the 6th year of the signing of the International Treaty to Protect the Sacred and over a decade since TransCanada proposed this project. Indigenous peoples are united to stop this dirty pipeline to protect our land, water, and communities.”
Larry Wright, Chairman of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska:
“It’s humbling to be around all the pipeline fighters and all those that come together in solidarity to try to prevent these pipelines from being built. I’m honored to be here today to represent the Ponca Tribe and thank all those that are here to be part of these events.”
Darla Black, Vice-President of Oglala Sioux Tribe:
“I am humbled by the invitation to be here representing the Oglala Sioux Tribe as the Vice President. I am from the Ogala band of the Oceti Sakowin. The ceremony of giving thanks is an important ceremony for the Great Sioux Nation. As we gather today we have our ancestors in mind. To see the fog, the ice on the trees, reminds us of what our ancestors went through so that we may live. Our voices are in unison for our sacred children, our sacred elders, our sacred mother earth, the pejuta (water) – Mother Earth’s first medicine.
We gather together as relatives in unison with all nations for the protection of that which is sacred, our nation, our homeland, our people, and for the safety of our women, some who have not returned home, some who vanished. That which are sacred to us. Mitakuyé Oyasín.”
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