Statement of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe - Pipeline Blocked

Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s Statement on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Decision to Not Grant Easement

http://standwithstandingrock.net/

Portside Date: 

December 4, 2016

Author: 

Dave Archambault II

Date of Source: 

Sunday, December 4, 2016

Standing Rock Sioux Tribe

Cannon Ball, N.D.- The department of the Army will not approve an easement that will allow the proposed Dakota Access Pipeline to cross under Lake Oahe. The following statement was released by Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault II.
"Today, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced that it will not be granting the easement to cross Lake Oahe for the proposed Dakota Access Pipeline. Instead, the Corps will be undertaking an environmental impact statement to look at possible alternative routes. We wholeheartedly support the decision of the administration and commend with the utmost gratitude the courage it took on the part of President Obama, the Army Corps, the Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior to take steps to correct the course of history and to do the right thing.
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and all of Indian Country will be forever grateful to the Obama Administration for this historic decision.
We want to thank everyone who played a role in advocating for this cause. We thank the tribal youth who initiated this movement. We thank the millions of people around the globe who expressed support for our cause. We thank the thousands of people who came to the camps to support us, and the tens of thousands who donated time, talent, and money to our efforts to stand against this pipeline in the name of protecting our water. We especially thank all of the other tribal nations and jurisdictions who stood in solidarity with us, and we stand ready to stand with you if and when your people are in need.
Throughout this effort I have stressed the importance of acting at all times in a peaceful and prayerful manner - and that is how we will respond to this decision. With this decision we look forward to being able to return home and spend the winter with our families and loved ones, many of whom have sacrificed as well. We look forward to celebrating in wopila, in thanks, in the coming days.
We hope that Kelcey Warren, Governor Dalrymple, and the incoming Trump administration respect this decision and understand the complex process that led us to this point. When it comes to infrastructure development in Indian Country and with respect to treaty lands, we must strive to work together to reach decisions that reflect the multifaceted considerations of tribes.
Treaties are paramount law and must be respected, and we welcome dialogue on how to continue to honor that moving forward. We are not opposed to energy independence, economic development, or national security concerns but we must ensure that these decisions are made with the considerations of our Indigenous peoples.
To our local law enforcement, I hope that we can work together to heal our relationship as we all work to protect the lives and safety of our people. I recognize the extreme stress that the situation caused and look forward to a future that reflects more mutual understanding and respect.
Again, we are deeply appreciative that the Obama Administration took the time and effort to genuinely consider the broad spectrum of tribal concerns. In a system that has continuously been stacked against us from every angle, it took tremendous courage to take a new approach to our nation-to-nation relationship, and we will be forever grateful.
Learn more about the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe at standwithstandingrock.net [1]. For incremental updates please follow our Facebook page at Standing Rock Sioux Tribe or follow us on Twitter @standingrockst.

Support the Standing Rock Resistance

A pipeline for fracked oil that would go from North Dakota to Illinois must be stopped. Bernie Sanders issued a call to action to stand with activists who are fighting the Dakota Access pipeline.

Will you add your name to stop this pipeline?

I AGREE!
STOP THIS PIPELINE »


An oil company is trying to build a pipeline for fracked oil all the way from North Dakota to Illinois. It would carry some of the dirtiest oil on the planet and present a tremendous threat to our planet's fight against climate change.

It's called the Dakota Access pipeline, and it must be stopped.

Activists led by farmers and Native American tribal nations are fighting the pipeline with both grassroots activism and legal tools. Bernie Sanders issued this call to action to support their work:
"The major global crisis facing our planet today is climate change. The vast majority of scientists tell us that climate change is real, it is caused by humans and it is already causing devastating problems. They say that if we do not aggressively transition our energy system away from fossil fuels toward energy efficiency and sustainable energy, the planet we leave our children will be a much less habitable place.

May Revise Proposal Contributes to the Shortage of Latino Teachers

Kevin McCarty,

California State Assembly.

I watched today the hearings on the Education Finance subcommittee of the Budget Committee and the testimony on the May Revise in particular relationship to the recognized approaching shortage of teachers. 

It is good that the Governor’s proposal and the Dept. of Education response recognize this rapidly approaching problem, however their responses are inadequate. 

Outreach strategies and recruitment web sites are fine, but the proposals fail because  they fail to recognize that future teachers from the currently under represented Latino and Asian communities will not be there.  During the Great Recession the teacher preparation programs focusing on resolving the problem of under representation were cut back and eliminated. 

I will use Sacramento as an example, although the problem is state-wide. 

In Sacramento the Funds from the  Local Control and  Accountability Plan  were to be targeted to low income schools.  This increased funding has led to a dramatic need for new teachers.  Sacramento City Unified plans to hire 100 new teachers, and many other local urban districts will do the same.  This faculty growth will continue for from 3-5 years.

A more complete story of the Sacramento experience is here. http://antiracismdsa.blogspot.com/2016/01/latino-teacher-shortage-in-area-created.html

Significantly  credentialed teachers from the Latino community and several Asian communities will not be available to hire because the Sac State pipeline for minority teachers  has been broken.  A new generation of mostly Anglo teachers will be hired which will continue the past failure to integrate the teaching profession in this region. Ending the pipeline will shape the nature of the local teaching profession for decades. Latino students make up 37 % of Sac City Unified students, Asians 17.4 %, African Americans 17.7 %, and White students 18.8 %. Latino families now make up over 37 % of California residents and Latino descent children now make up over 50% of public school students.

What should you do?