Let's Get Down to Business: DAPL
It’s finally time to talk about what comes to everyone’s minds when we talk about current Native American issues- DAPL. The Dakota Access Pipeline, that is. Now we hit an issue that more than a quarter of you probably know about. DAPL has been a big point of controversy over the past year, and it gained a record amount of attention for current Native American issues. The American people heard about DAPL, read articles, heard about it on the news, and it became highly publicized.
The first time I saw action for DAPL was at a Hilary Clinton rally in Phoenix. There were protestors holding signs, walking in a line around the area where everyone was waiting to enter the field for the rally. Protestors like that are exactly why DAPL gained so much publicity and is something we have to talk about. Part of what makes DAPL so important is the amount of attention it got from the general public and the media.
If we’re going to talk about the importance of DAPL, let’s first break it down. The Dakota Access Pipeline is a pipeline to carry crude oil from North Dakota to Illinois, and the company Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) is building it. The controversial part of the pipeline is in North Dakota, where a section of the planned route laid near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation. There are several elements that are problematic. First, the pipeline runs under land that was unjustly taken from the Sioux in a treaty from 1868, and they claim the land is still theirs. Second, a section of the pipeline runs under the Missouri River upstream from the reservation, and that is the tribe’s only source of drinking water. If the pipeline leaks or spills at all, that is very dangerous for the tribe. Finally, the pipeline runs under sacred burial grounds, and building underneath would destroy the site and interrupt the journey of the dead to the spirit world.
Unfortunately, we lost this battle against ETP, and the pipeline was built just where they planned it, which does not come as a big surprise after reading all of the court cases from past sacred land cases. Though, there was a period of time when it didn’t look like it would turn out that way, and that’s what makes DAPL so important. Thousands of protestors set up camp, traveling from near and far to stand with Standing Rock. There was a period of time when the whole country had its eyes on the protests, waiting to see what would happen, and it made a difference. On December 4th , 2016, the Army Corps said it would not grant the easement for the pipeline to be built near the reservation. It wanted to reevaluate the impact on Native American tribes and conduct a full environmental impact statement. Even though this was reversed when the new administration took office, it was a huge victory for the protestors.
Imagine if the San Francisco Peaks case had received so much attention and support. Would anything be different? I have no idea, but I know that if more people cared this much about other Native American religious freedom issues, it could have the power to sway our public policy in a more positive, sacred land-friendly direction. Maybe that is one of the elements we need, simply for more people to know about these issues, because often times the more people know, the more they care.