“You’re not welcome here… We’ve said no from day one.”
And with these firm words the TransCanada representatives were kicked
out of Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation last week. The seemingly aloof
TransCanada officials showed up at the Tribal Office in Eagle Butte,
South Dakota in an attempt to win the tribe over to the pipeline, but
were met with a swift, firm response. Robin LeBeau, Cheyenne River Sioux
Councilwoman for District 5, saw them in the parking lot and promptly
told them off.
The encounter was caught on video:
Robin LeBeau:
“I don’t want no TransCanada people here…I’m going to fight hard
and if I find anyone else here I’m going to bring more people in
abundance to tell you guys to leave.”
“This pipeline is the most destructive pipeline. You’re going to
rape, steal and destroy everything that is for us….everything, our land,
our culture, our water.”
And what do the TransCanada reps suggest the Tribe do with these
valid concerns? Write a letter to the CEO. What’s his name, again? Their
response:
“I don’t even know the guy’s name….. um…they have a website…”
Really?! Thats the best these guys can do? Like writing a letter to
Russ Girling is going to convince this multinational corporation to stop
building their multi-billion dollar project and respect the lives of
indigenous peoples. This corporation has demonstrated numerous times
that they only care about their profits and will bully and bankrupt
anyone who stands in their way.
Tribal members know it. They aren’t buying TransCanada’s false
promises and understand the threat that toxic tar sands pose to their
Sacred Water, burial grounds, and historic landmarks. The Keystone XL
pipeline would cut right through their Treaty Territory and some of
their most Sacred Sites. (You can watch part 2 of the video
here.)
Cheyenne River Crossing: Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe
Google
Earth map depicting proposed Keystone XL Pipeline crossing Cheyenne
River at Milepost 430.07. Cheyenne River Indian Reservation is
indicated. Source: NCAI Analysis – figure 4.
The last several months has seen the indigenous resistance along the
proposed KXL Northern segment continue to grow. Just this last week the
Native News Network
reported that the National Congress of American Indians, “the nation’s
oldest, largest and most representative American Indian and Alaska
Native organization in the country,” publicly released a statement of
opposition to Keystone XL and criticized the State Department’s flawed
“Environmental Impact Statement”.
Additionally, the
Moccasins on the Ground Tour of Resistance will travel to Cheyenne River in mid-June to continue to build this resistance and
unite the Lakota, Nakota, and Dakota peoples against this toxic intruder.
By now Russ Girling shouldn’t need a handwritten letter to know the
message coming from Red Nations along the pipeline route: “Go Away!”
