On Wednesday, we posted Missing from AP report on Biden's revoking Keystone XL pipeline: indigenous voices.
That news is now available. In the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, Danielle Ferguson reports in South Dakota tribes applaud cancellation of Keystone XL Pipeline, Thune decries 'bad decision':
Tribal leaders in South Dakota are applauding President Joe Biden's day one move to halt the Keystone XL Pipeline at the country's northern border, calling the action a willingness to listen to Native American voices.
Tribes in South Dakota have been opposed to and protesting the pipeline's construction for more than a decade. Biden canceled its permit as part of a number of promises to address climate change.
President of the Oglala Lakota Nation, Kevin Killer, said Wednesday night the cancellation of the pipeline permit “sends a strong message to tribal nations, and symbolizes a willingness to build on government-to-government relationships established through our treaties,” referencing the 1851 and 1868 Fort Laramie treaties of the Great Sioux Nation.
Chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Harold Frazier said the project posed a danger to tribal land and people.
“This project has scarred our territorial and treaty lands with its presence and threatened our people like a dagger to our throats,” Frazier wrote Wednesday night. “We have witnessed the invasion of our land and the genocide of our families – this project is an extension of the racial, environmental and social injustices we have suffered." . . .
Read the rest in the Argus Leader.
In Minnesota, two Indigenous Minnesota House members released this statement, Lawmakers Support Biden Decision to Halt Keystone XL Pipeline:
Yesterday, on his first day in office, President Joe Biden cancelled the cross-border permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, effectively halting its development. Representatives Jamie Becker-Finn (DFL – Roseville) and Heather Keeler (DFL – Moorhead), released the following statement in support of this decision, with several House colleagues joining in solidarity:
“First and foremost, we would like to thank President Biden for taking this important proactive step towards addressing climate impacts and hearing the voices of the people over the demands of international oil companies. This is great news for our nation's environment, Indigenous rights, and landowners located along the pipeline’s route.
The Keystone XL project holds many key similarities with Enbridge’s Line 3 and the Dakota Access Pipeline projects. Like Keystone, Line 3 and Dakota Access would endanger our valuable water resources, cause irrevocable harm to our climate, and have been pushed forward despite opposition from impacted tribal communities. As a state and nation, we must strive for a green energy future and make decisive steps to address the harm to our environment perpetuated by the fossil fuel industry. It is our hope that the Biden-Harris administration will continue to listen to the voices of the millions of Americans who see addressing climate change as a top priority.”The Keystone XL pipeline was first proposed 15 years ago and was expected to carry 830,000 barrels of dirty tar sand oil per day through Canada and the United States. Similar to other pipeline projects, it has been plagued by controversy and numerous lawsuits from the start. President Obama rejected the permit in 2015, but the right of way was later granted by President Trump.
Representatives Patty Acomb (District 44B), Esther Agbaje (District 59B), Kaela Berg (District 56B), Liz Boldon (District 25B), Jim Davnie (District 63A), Sandra Feist (District 41B), Cedrick Frazier (District 45A), Peter Fischer (District 43A), Aisha Gomez (District 62B), Emma Greenman (District 63B), Jessica Hanson (District 56A), Hodan Hassan (District 62A), Alice Hausman (District 66A), Sydney Jordan (District 60A), Kaohly Her (District 64A), Athena Hollins (District 66B), Frank Hornstein (District 61A), Fue Lee (District 59A), Todd Lippert (District 20A), Jamie Long (District 61B), Sandra Masin (District 51A), Carlos Mariani (District 65B), Rena Moran (District 65A), Kelly Morrison (District 33B), Liz Reyer (District 51B), Ruth Richardson (District 52B), John Thompson (District 67A), Samantha Vang (District 40B), and Jay Xiong (District 67B) join in solidarity with this statement.
Becker-Finn is a Leech Lake Ojibwe descendant, while Keeler is a member of the Yankton Sioux Tribe.
The statement notes:
The Keystone XL project holds many key similarities with Enbridge’s Line 3 and the Dakota Access Pipeline projects. Like Keystone, Line 3 and Dakota Access would endanger our valuable water resources, cause irrevocable harm to our climate, and have been pushed forward despite opposition from impacted tribal communities.
That brings us to another story related to Indian country.
For the Star Tribune, Patrick Condon reports in Minnesota tribes blast Rep. Pete Stauber for opposing Interior nomination:
Leaders of Minnesota's biggest American Indian tribes are criticizing U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber for his efforts to build opposition to President Joe Biden's pick for Interior secretary, who is herself a tribal member.
Most egregiously, state tribal leaders said, Stauber — a Republican whose northeastern Minnesota district is home to several of the state's largest bands — did not even give them a heads-up that he would be trying to sink the nomination of Democratic Rep. Deb Haaland of New Mexico to lead the Department of the Interior.
"We felt like we were blindsided," Faron Jackson Sr., chairman of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, said Thursday. "You know, we might not change his opinion or his outlook, but at least give us the consultation."
Several groups of tribal leaders sent blistering letters to Stauber last week after learning that he had been reaching out to House colleagues seeking co-signers for a letter to the new Biden administration asking that Haaland's name be withdrawn from consideration. . . .
Minnesota tribes have raised concerns about several high-profile mining and pipeline projects in northern Minnesota, while Stauber has been an outspoken proponent.
"We want to make sure we're protecting our clean water, our forests, our air," Jackson said. "We're caretakers of the Earth here, and we want to look at different avenues for producing energy."
In a separate letter to Stauber about his opposition to Haaland, Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Chief Executive Melanie Benjamin pushed back at Stauber's argument that policies championed by Haaland would be bad for jobs in his district.
"Collectively, the five tribal governments in your district are the largest employees in the 8th District and the vast majority of jobs we have created are held by non-Native people," she wrote.
Tribal leaders noted particular disappointment in Stauber given his membership on the House Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples. Haaland has also been a member.
"Your opposition to the first and only American Indian ever nominated to a Cabinet position is likely to reverberate across Indian country," wrote the leaders of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, the Grand Portage Band of Superior Chippewa, the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa and the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.
We'll keep an eye out for additional developments.
Map: The Keystone XL pipeline route.
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