Northern California Tribes Support Dakota Pipeline Protest

Several Native American tribes from the Klamath Basin in Northern California have declared their support for an ongoing protest in North Dakota at the intersection of the Cannonball and Missouri Rivers against the Daktoa Access Pipeline project.

A press statement from the True North Organizing Network reads (via the Eureka Times-Standard):

There is a national emergency in Indian Country, and a plea for assistance has gone out for allies and Tribal communities to gather at the location of encounter near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota. Over 150 Tribal Nations and allies are in a standoff at the confluence of the Missouri and Cannonball rivers over plans for a 3.7 billion dollar crude oil pipeline that will run just outside of the boundary of the Standing Rock North Dakota Reservation. Pipeline construction will disturb sacred ceremonial sites, and there is fear it will pollute local drinking and ground water.

The pipeline would deliver 400,000 barrels per day of oil from the Bakken region to an existing pipeline in Illinois, the San Francisco Chronicle reports, adding that the Army Corps of Engineers, which is in charge of the project, says that Native American tribes had plenty of time to raise their concerns during a lengthy review process.

On Saturday, the protest turned violent as members of the Standing Rock Sioux confronted members of a local private security firm. The Morton County Sheriff’s Department blamed the protesters, according to National Public Radio:

“Once protestors arrived at the construction area, they broke down a wire fence by stepping and jumping on it,” the sheriff’s office said. “According to numerous witnesses within five minutes the crowd of protestors, estimated to be a few hundred people became violent. They stampeded into the construction area with horses, dogs and vehicles.”

The True North coalition sent an initial wave of volunteers, and “sent a second delegation of almost 50 Yurok, Karuk, and Hoopa Tribal members to North Dakota to set up a kitchen to feed the massive gathering of tribal members and allies,” according to their statement.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. His new book, See No Evil: 19 Hard Truths the Left Can’t Handle, is available from Regnery through Amazon. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.