The Indigenous Environmental Network and other Indian activists will protest the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline as President Barack Obama visits Oklahoma today.

But the protesters will be forced to hold their event inside a cage at a park in Cushing, according to a press release from organizers. Obama is in the city to discuss his national energy priorities, which include a fast-tracking of the southern route of the pipeline through Oklahoma and Texas.

“President Obama is an adopted member of the Crow Tribe, so his fast-tracking a project that will desecrate known sacred sites and artifacts is a real betrayal and disappointment for his Native relatives everywhere,” Marty Cobenais of the Indigenous Environmental Network said in the press release.

The northern route of the pipeline remains controversial. Obama rejected a permit for the project but TransCanada plans to resubmit its application.

The 1,700-mile pipeline starts in Canada and would run through Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. The project affects treaty lands and former reservation lands of tribes along the route.

Get the Story:
Press Release: Native Americans Protest Keystone XL From A Cage (Indigenous Environmental Network 3/22)
Obama putting Oklahoma pipeline on fast track (AP 3/22)

Related Stories:
Tim Giago: Lakota views missing from Keystone XL debate (03/12)
Native Sun News: Oglala Sioux arrested in Keystone blockade (03/07)
TransCanada to resubmit proposal for Keystone XL Pipeline (02/28)