Nunatukavut People Case Study

In this article, the Terry Wade and Ernest Scheyder discuss the protesters citing a treaty in order to occupy the land. Protestors are advocating for the rerouting of the pipeline on the grounds that further construction carries potential spills into drinking water and damage historical tribal sacred lands. The article cites the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851, in which the protestors cited, and further discusses how treaty has not been taken seriously in the court of law. The article suggests that at one point the Energy Transfer Company planned to run the pipeline near Bismarck and far from the reservation, but instead decided to choose Standing Rock Sioux Land. This article is useful to point out a solution to the problem as well as the impact of protestors have on this

Laduke, Winona. All Our Relations: Native Struggles for Life and Land. Cambridge: South End Press, 1999. Print. 200 pages. Index.

The Standing Rock Sioux tribe has not given up their fight to end this project. The tribe claims that they had no consent of the route of this project until the construction began. This caused major controversy and also caused the halt in the construction of the pipeline. The tribe also accused the government of illegally taking land from them and it is the law to consult with the land owners before construction.

The first relation should be between the natives and their land in connection with the potential petroleum production and the world. This issue is global in scope as 95% of Canada and 12% of the world's oil is in Alberta. A secondary relation is not only in terms of domestic resources, but the global effects of extraction, as NASA supports that the domestic and international effects would be catastrophic with twice the amount of CO2 being emitted from this Canadian extraction than all of the oil used in history (McCreary & Milligan, 116.) As stated initially, the merit of this article focuses on the actions taken by First Nations and their supporters. Enbridge's proposed pipeline project has initiated research in Aboriginal Traditional Knowledge to supposedly help guide them through a means of working with protesting groups. The findings of this research ultimately leaned towards ways of rerouting maps due to regulatory requirements. Enbridge is an example of a corporation that does not recognize the authority of First Nations groups. A neo-colonial relationship is produced and practiced in territory and development (McCreary & Milligan, 117.) There is very little mention on the media about the improvements of First Nations rights. Though there have been triumphs in aboriginal rights, indigenous development according to McCreary are deeply political/material advancements that not only coincide with the events, but are dependent on returns of resource extraction and consumption (McCreary & Milligan,

The impetus to buy land is as much practical as it is spiritual. “The tribe needs more space to meet growing demand from Oneida members to live on the reservation” (Rodewald, 2015). The number of Oneida living on the reservation has almost doubled over the last 20 years, since casino gaming has helped to create more job opportunities and dollars for additional amenities, including a medical center, school, and police force. More than 100 Oneida members are currently on waiting lists for land and housing on the reservation (Rodewald, 2015). Recovering the land "creates a sense of place and a unique area where our community members can practice their culture and have a very special place to live and have needs around quality of life answered” (Rodewald,

The pipeline route has caused some Native American leaders to be come aggravated at the proposition of its placement. "Even if the pipeline would not cross their property, tribal leaders say, it would pose a threat to drinking water and to ancestral homelands on the rolling plains and hilly riverbeds where they still hold treaty claims" (Thune, John, and Anna Eshoo). It is ridiculous for TransCanada and the supporters of the Keystone Pipeline to propose this route with the knowledge of where the Natives are. This is an intentional insult, one they should not get away with. With an already unstable relationship, why would these polluters think it would be wise to antagonize them. This project already had many issues following it, but "so strong is their opposition that members have maintained a spirit camp on tribal property near the planned route. Despite the camp's rustic accommodations -- a tent, a trailer and no running water -- members have kept a vigil there for more than a year, and have vowed to use the site as a base camp for protesters if construction ever begins. Several activists...have said they would risk arrest through civil disobedience" (Thune, John, and Anna Eshoo). Native Americans were promised rights when they first lost their land to white settlers and the

The Tribe sees the pipeline as an environment and cultural threat. The pipeline traverses ancestral lands, where their ancestors hunted, fished and buried. They are also are concerned that it would break near the Missouri River, their only water source. The tribe filed a lawsuit saying they was never consulted. Guy Jones member of the tribe said “he had never seen a greater assembly of Native Americans than the week leading up to the decision.

For the decades the first nation peoples are not being treated properly. Whether in terms of signing treaties or getting compensation of using their water from shoal lake 40. The Canadian government has carried out against Indigenous people, their land and their water as well. A centaury ago when the demand for water was increasing in Winnipeg city because of growing population , the federal government forcefully captured their reserve land on shoal lake 40 in order to construct aquaduct which is used to carry water extracted from shoal lake into the Winnipeg city. The federal government did not think about the consequences the first nation people will face who actually depend on shoal lake for their survival. T

The tribal members are against the dam because it ruins their life style. The Native Americans use the Columbia River as a source of food and a way of life. Moreover, the damming of the Columbia River forced the Native Americans to resettle. The dam is an issue to them because they fish for salmon, an anadromous fish and once they're through the dam, there is no way for them to come back up it to spawn; this leads to the disappointed commercial fishermen. The environmentalists are upset because the construction of the dam means there would be habitat loss and alteration of a variety of wildlife, including plants. The taxpayers in the Northwest Region of the United States are the ones who paid for the majority of the irrigation construction costs (“Columbia Basin Project” 2015). Currently, there are no efforts for removing the

Protests continue to grow as the weeks continue to get long for the decision whether or not the pipeline with be repositioned. One of the most talked about controversies talked about in the last 3 months sadly is not over yet, but is hoping to be done in future weeks to come. The Standing Rock Sioux Indian tribe and Energy transfer Partners are hoping the government will see it their way. Both sides have valid reason for why they want it to continue or not to continue ,but it is up to the government as they will have the final say in the finishing of the

Dallas Based Energy Transfer Partners, the company responsible for the construction of the pipeline, claims they have met with tribal leaders “many” times over the past two years, but, “the Standing Rock Sioux claims that meaningful consultations with their leaders were never held and that their concerns have been ignored” (Dakota Access Pipeline 12). This is blatant discrimination of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and disregards any concerns they may have. Cooperation with the tribal leaders would allow the tribe to communicate any further concerns with construction. Instead they have ignored the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and decided to do what they think is best for themselves. An ideology that has always haunted the Native American people. The discrimination continues with the Pipeline being built on Sioux territory and further violates treaties. Sincere Kirabo, coordinator at the American Humanist Association, states, “[the pipeline] does cross through territory that belongs to the Sioux, which directly violates the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie that states the land is reserved for ‘undisturbed use and occupation’ of Native inhabitants” (26). The treaties once created by the government to create peace, is now being disregarded and not being upheld. This is denying their freedom of being equal before the law and further shows discrimination against the

While the Natives have won this battle, they know that they have not yet won the war. They currently have as many as 7,000 people at their occupation, waiting for an official halt to the project. This is one of few small victories Native people have had in a very long time (Jaffe).

The best method that could lead to productive policy would be negotiation between the Canadian Government and the Indigenous

In July 2016, the Army Corps of Engineers determined that the Dakota Access Pipeline presented no significant environmental risks and could go forward as planned by its developers. However, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe whose lands the pipeline would cross, as well as other indigenous groups, and allies including scientists, have urged the Army Corps of Engineers to reconsider this judgment. Perhaps due to this pressure, the Army Corps of Engineers has since delayed the easement, to the resistance of Energy Transfers Partners (ETP), who say they will build anyway, even without the permit (Heavey). While this struggle over legal rights as well as economic, environmental, and health concerns continues, we should understand why the Army Corps

Ethical agreements with the First Nations that gone past open deliberately about past grievances and now they are focusing on opportunities for employment and the growth of economic for the future, which they did in making the new aboriginal domain of Nunavut.