Chairman Harold Frazier leads riders from the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe at Fort Laramie in Wyoming, following a 350-mile trek from South Dakota. Photo by Richie Richards / Native Sun News Today

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Tribes await updated decision on Dakota Access Pipeline

Monday, August 6, 2018

The Trump administration is supposed to release a revised decision on the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline by the end of the week.

In a status report filed in federal court in June, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers promised a decision by August 10. As of Monday afternoon, there have been no changes to that deadline.

A revised decision is needed because a federal judge ruled that the Trump administration approved the final portion of the pipeline without considering all of the impacts. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the Yankton Sioux Tribe have raised concerns about oil spills, water resources and their treaty rights.

Ironically, the revised decision comes just after the tribes marked the 150th anniversary of the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868. The Trump administration did not send any senior officials to the historic gathering, Reuters reported.

"They (the United States government) ought to be ashamed of themselves," Cheyenne River Sioux Chairman Harold Frazier told Reuters. "They have a moral obligation to uphold the honor of the Great Sioux Nation."

The seven tribes of the Sioux Nation rode hundreds of miles from their respective reservations in North Dakota and South Dakota to Fort Laramie in Wyoming, where the treaty was negotiated and signed in 1868. According to Reuters, it was the first time the tribes officially met in one place since the breakup of the #NoDAPL encampment in early 2017.

"People think Standing Rock has come and gone," said Danielle Ta’Sheena Finn, a spokesperson for Standing Rock, told Reuters. "But we will continue this fight until we are heard and the world knows what happened to us."

Four days after taking office, President Donald Trump ordered the Army Corps "expedite" consideration of the final portion of the pipeline. He did so without consulting any of the affected tribes.

Two weeks later, the Army Corps approved the last segment while the then-chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe was in an airplane on his way to the White House for a meeting. Cheyenne River leaders were told after the fact in a phone call.

The swift action -- which Trump had promised during the presidential campaign -- enabled the wealthy backers of the pipeline to complete their $3.8 billion infrastructure project. Oil began flowing on June 1 but two weeks later, Judge James Boasberg ruled that the Army Corps did not address all of the tribal concerns.

Still, Boasberg repeatedly refused tribal requests to halt operations of the pipeline. It continues to transport crude oil through Sioux Nation territory.

Read More on the Story:
Out of Spotlight, Tribes Keep Fighting Dakota Pipeline (Reuters August 2, 2018)
Riding with Native Americans to mark pact anniversary (Reuters August 2, 2018)
Treaty reservations (Reuters August 2, 2018)
A 400-Mile Ride to Mark 150 Years of the Fort Laramie Peace Treaty (The Atlantic August 2, 2018)