Local authorities in Cushing, Oklahoma forced Native Americans protesters of President Obama’s pro-Keystone speech to hold their event within a cage constructed in Memorial Park, miles away from the president’s event.
The Indigenous Environmental Network had the following report:
We’d like to thank all those who took action against the approval of the Keystone XL Pipeline bill in the US Senate last week. Activists across the country called, tweeted, and facebooked their senators encouraging them to vote against a transportation bill that included approval for the construction of the tarsands pipeline. We especially applaud the courage of the Lakota community on Pine Ridge Reservation for their heroic efforts to block the tran
Late Monday afternoon five Lakota tribal members were arrested when they formed a blockade to prevent trucks carrying equipment for the Keystone pipeline across the Pine Ridge Oglala Lakota Reservation. Some 75 members of the Lakota tribe arrived to the town of Wanbli, South Dakota, responding to a call to action from KILI Radio, a community radio station of Pine Ridge Reservation.
TransCanada announced on Monday that the company will proceed with the construction of the southern half of the Keystone XL pipeline, the segment that would extend from Cushing, Oklahoma, to the Gulf of Mexico. Since this segment would not cross the Canada-US border, it does not require US government approval. TransCanada plans to begin construction despite a lack of approval for the northern leg of the pipeline.
January 2012 marked four years since Cultural Survival launched Endangered Languages Program partnerships with critically endangered Native American language communities. Since Spring 2008, Cultural Survival’s grassroots collaborative of four local language program directors and administrators serving 6 tribally-run programs has raised nearly three quarters of a million dollars in direct support for five partner programs, while leveraging nearly $2 million in total new investments in language revitalization efforts.
Tomorrow’s vote in the Senate could reverse Obama’s decision and greenlight construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. During the next 24 hours, Native Americans, environmentalists, and concerned citizens are joining together to send an urgent petition to senators to block efforts to revive the pipeline.
Land Acknowledgement
We acknowledge that we are headquartered on Massachusett land, in Cambridge, MA, and we thank the past, current, and future Indigenous stewards of this territory.
