Minneapolis Third City to Pass Resolution Supporting Standing Rock Sioux Nation

Northwest Delegation arrived in Standing Rock Camp this week. Photo by Jean Roach, Lakota.

Banner drop in Minneapolis celebrating resolution and support

Minneapolis, Saint Paul and Seattle pass resolutions supporting Standing Rock Sioux Nation and halt of Dakota Access Pipeline

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News

MINNEAPOLIS -- Minneapolis is now the third city to pass a resolution in support of the Standing Rock Sioux Nation's fight to halt the Dakota Access Pipeline.
The Cities of Seattle and St. Paul previously passed resolutions in support of halting the pipeline that threatens the water source, the Missouri River, of the Dakota, Lakota and Nakota peoples.
Members of the Minneapolis City Council and St. Paul City Council will deliver the resolutions in person to the camp, where thousands are camping, on on Monday, Sept. 5, 2016, at 10:00 a.m.
Over 180 resolutions have been received from around the world supporting the Standing Rock Sioux Nation and halting the pipeline.
Minneapolis said in its resolution, "The Dakota Access pipeline – a project also financially supported by the Enbridge company – has received weeks of resistance from the Oceti Sakowin, or the Seven Council Fires comprised of the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota Nations."
"The Oceti Sakowin established the Sacred Stone Spirit Camp in Cannon Ball, North Dakota to halt the project due to its lack of environmental review and consultation with Tribal leaders."
"If built, this line would carry as many as 570,000 barrels of fracked crude oil per day for more than 1,100 miles from the Bakken
oil fields of North Dakota to Illinois," Minneapolis said. (See resolution below.)
Seattle Mayor Edward Murray said the City of Seattle is located within the treaty territory of several tribes. The city understands "the importance of outside jurisdictions respecting tribal cultural and natural resources."
Mayor Murray describes how the City of Seattle stood with its neighbors to the north, the Lummi, and came together with Indian Nations and others, to halt the Cherry Point coal port. Finally, the U.S. Corps of Engineers rejected the plan.
Pointing out the unfortunate and inaccurate name of the Dakota Access Pipeline, Mayor Murray hopes the same rejection will occur for the Standing Rock Sioux Nation, and its sacred places and water will be protected for future generations.
In its resolution, the City Council of Saint Paul recognizes the struggle and appreciates the efforts of Chairman Dave Archambault and the response of the world. Further, the Saint Paul Council states there are many residents in Saint Paul from the Sioux Nations. Saint Paul shares its own efforts to honor sacred places within the city.

Press statement of Minneapolis City Council


On Monday at 10:00 a.m. Minneapolis City Council Member Alondra Cano, St. Paul City Council Member Jane
Twin Cities Deliver No Dakota Access Resolutions
Municipal representatives from Minneapolis and St. Paul travel to
Sacred Stone Camp to present Standing Rock Sioux Nation with
Supportive City Council Adopted Resolutions
When: Monday, September 5, 2016
Time: 10:00 a.m. (CT)
Where: Sacred Stone Spirit Camp, Cannonball, North Dakota
What: City of Minneapolis and City of St. Paul representatives present officially
approved municipal resolutions in support of the “No Dakota Access”
movement to the Standing Rock Sioux Nation, environmental protection
groups and their allies
September 2, 2016 (MINNEAPOLIS) – Today, through a unanimous vote, the Minneapolis City Council and
Mayor Betsy Hodges passed a resolution backing the efforts led by the Standing Rock Sioux Nation to stop the
proposed Dakota Access oil pipeline. The “Supporting Indigenous Resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline”
resolution builds on the environmental protection efforts that recently halted Enbridge’s Sandpiper line – an
oil pipeline that would have cut through Minnesota’s White Earth Reservation and was heavily opposed by
Honor the Earth, MN350 and other Indigenous and environmental advocacy groups.
The Dakota Access pipeline – a project also financially supported by the Enbridge company – has received
weeks of resistance from the Oceti Sakowin, or the Seven Council Fires comprised of the Lakota, Dakota, and
Nakota Nations. The Oceti Sakowin established the Sacred Stone Spirit Camp in Cannon Ball, North Dakota to
halt the project due to its lack of environmental review and consultation with Tribal leaders. If built, this line
would carry as many as 570,000 barrels of fracked crude oil per day for more than 1,100 miles from the Bakken
oil fields of North Dakota to Illinois. Hundreds of Minneapolis American Indian Standing Rock Sioux members
and descendants as well as residents concerned with climate change applaud the efforts of their municipal
Office of Ninth Ward City Council Member Alondra Cano
Cano
government in backing the over 150 Tribal Governments and First Nations who have come together to protect
the land, waters and natural habitat the pipeline would impact.
On Monday at 10:00 a.m. Minneapolis City Council Member Alondra Cano, St. Paul City Council Member Jane
Prince’s representative Mary Anne Quiroz, and Danza Mexica Kalpulli Yaocenoxtli will present the official Twin
Cities resolutions to Standing Rock Sioux Nation Council Member Dana Yellow Fat and the Sacred Stone Spirit
Camp participants. “The White House has recognized the City of Minneapolis for our innovative policies
addressing climate change. As such, we are proud to stand with Indigenous people as they resist the most
destructive practices of the resource extraction industry thereby helping us to fulfill our commitment to
mitigate the negative impacts of climate change,” said Council Member Alondra Cano, chief author of the
Minneapolis resolution and the municipal representative for the nation’s largest concentration of urban
American Indian families. “Native Americans have been treated poorly by the Government throughout the
history of this country,” said Minneapolis Council Member Lisa Goodman, a champion of the resolution and
Chair of the Community Development and Regulatory Services Committee. “As elected officials we must work
together to take action to fix the broken trust between Native American communities and government, and
joining hundreds of tribal nations in passing this resolution of support for Standing Rock is an important step in
this ongoing process,” she said.
The Standing Rock Sioux have filed for an injunction in federal court asserting that the requirements for
environmental review and tribal consultation were skirted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers when they
granted a permit to Texas based Energy Transfer Partners, Inc. to begin construction on the pipeline’s crossing
of the Missouri River just over a mile upstream of the Tribe’s water intake valves. Winona LaDuke, Executive
Director of the Indigenous led environmental group Honor the Earth, has been supporting the camp since it
began. “The historic gathering at the Standing Rock reservation is not just about a pipeline, it is a struggle for
freedom and dignity, a struggle for the future of a people. This is a moment of opportunity, a moment for
cities and nations and people all over the world to stand up and demand that no more rivers be poisoned, and
no more people be sacrificed,” said LaDuke.
Last week, the St. Paul City Council passed a similar resolution. To view each city’s actions on this matter you
can visit these websites:
City of Minneapolis - http://www.minneapolismn.gov/meetings/legislation/WCMSP-185368
City of St. Paul - https://stpaul.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=2819057&GUID=93D7778D-4FCB-4916-A99E-31F935C59767&Options&Search