Danny Grassrope was among the #NoDAPL resisters who were part of a September 3, 2016, confrontation at a Dakota Access Pipeline construction site in North Dakota. Photo: Sacred Stone Camp

Environment | Law | National

Standing Rock Sioux Tribe fires back as court hears #NoDAPL case

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe isn't letting a last-minute filing from the backers of the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline go unanswered.

Sacred sites and burial grounds were bulldozed by construction crews on September 3, Jon Eagle Sr., the tribe's historic preservation officer asserted on Tuesday.

"This terrible and intentional action was taken without consulting with tribal or state historic preservation officials," Eagle said in a sworn declaration to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.

But Eagle said no one from the tribe was allowed to visit the area in question even though the State Historical Society of North Dakota sent a team of seven archaeologists there on September 21. According to a one-page memo that was submitted to the court on the eve of a critical hearing, no "cultural material" or ancestral remains were found.

A one-page memo, accompanied by a map and three photos, was prepared after seven archaeologists from the State Historical Society of North Dakota visited a Dakota Access Pipeline construction site on September 21, 2016.

Eagle, however, said there's a simple explanation for that: Dakota Access had already destroyed those sites. During a September 26 meeting in which the state memo was discussed, he compared the area the seven archaeologists visited to the survey previously submitted by Tim Mentz Sr., a well-respected tribal cultural expert.

"I was able to show the state and federal officials that substantial portions of a stone feature and sacred site identified by Tim Mentz on September 2, were gone – either damaged or destroyed by the bulldozing and grading done by Dakota Access on September 3," Eagle told the court. "The comparison made clear that portions of the sacred site, including burial cairn that Mr. Mentz identified, were gone."

Eagle also questioned how Paul Picha, North Dakota's chief archaeologist and the author of the one-page memo, knew that no burial grounds were harmed during construction.

"I asked whether they had taken apart the berms created by the bulldozing, and Mr. Picha said they had not," Eagle said in his declaration. "I asked how he could state that there were no human remains without examining the berms."

Dakota Access LLC, the partnership behind the pipeline, has since purchased the land in question from a rancher who had invited Mentz to examine the property in late August. The tribe disclosed the dramatic cultural finds on September 2 and a widely-seen confrontation between #NoDAPL resisters and construction crews on September 3 helped draw more attention to the cause.

The sacred sites and burial grounds are a key issue as the D.C. Circuit meets on Wednesday morning for the hearing, which takes place at 9:30am Eastern in Courtroom 31 of the federal courthouse. Audio will be posted by the court later in the day.

D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals #NoDAPL Documents:
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's Emergency Motion for Injunction Pending Appeal (September 12, 2016)
Dakota Access LLC Opposition (September 14, 2016)
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Opposition (September 14, 2016)
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's Reply (September 15, 2016)
Injunction Blocking Construction of Dakota Access Pipeline (September 16, 2016)
Order Setting October 5 Hearing (September 21, 2016)
Order Allocating Oral Argument Time (September 21, 2016)