By Regina Brave At 8 a.m. on Saturday, March 29, we left Oglala for a meeting held at the resistance site 8 miles north on Highway 183. A prayer ceremony was conducted by our spiritual leaders for all the people who committed to protect treaty lands through peaceful, non-violent action against the Keystone XL Pipeline. A meeting was held and people came forward to talk about pipeline leaks. Should a leak occur it would affect our aquifers and our land. We cannot allow this pipeline on any part of Indian Country. We would invoke both: Fort Laramie Treaties of 1851 and 1868. The 1868 is a Nation to Nation agreement ratified by Congress and Article VI of the United States Constitution Treaties is the Supreme Law of the Land. On Sunday, March 30th at the meeting on the Keystone XL Pipeline at Lower Brule, Deb White Plume showed pictures and talked about the devastating effects of mining. The land was the size of Florida and caused the extinction of many species of birds. It also affected the migration of animals. There are buffalo in the area eating contaminated grass. When a meeting held at the Ramkota in Rapid City concerning the Keystone XL Pipeline, Standing Rock presented documents and a map showing the counties that the pipeline would be crossing and markers where electric power stations would be built, it also showed where “Man Camps” would be built. Several days ago three trucks tried to cross at Bridger, two courageous, unarmed 16 & 17 year old young men stepped in front of three trucks to stop them and protestors came to stand with them. OST representative Ed Widow came and tribal police officers “encouraged” the third truck driver to leave after he got off his truck and struck a male protester with a wrench. At the meeting in Lower Brule, Attorney Bernice Delorme drew up a document for Bryan Brewer, OST President which reads:
DECLARATION OF THE OGLALA SIOUX TRIBE INVOKING THE TREATIES OF 1851 AND 1868 FOR THE PREVENTION OF WAR WITH RESPECT TO THE KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE THE OGLALA SIOUX TRIBE FINDS: 1. Although the United States was one of the last Nations to accept the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, President Barack N. Obama signed the document on behalf of the United States of America, and 2. That; among the indigenous rights acknowledged by the United Nation are the following: The General Assembly acknowledging that the charter of the United Nations; the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, as well as the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, affirm the fundamental importance of the right to self- determination of all peoples by virtue of which they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development, Convinced; that the recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples in this Declaration would enhance harmonious and cooperative relations between the State and indigenous peoples, based on principles of justice, democracy, respect for human rights, non-discrimination and good faith, Encouraging states to comply with and effectively implement all their obligations as they apply to indigenous peoples under international instruments, including the Fort Laramie Treaties of 1851 and 1868, in particular, those relating to human rights in consultation and cooperation with the peoples concerned, Recognizing and reaffirming; that indigenous individuals are entitled without discrimination to all human rights recognized in international law, and that indigenous peoples possess collective rights which are indispensable for their existence, well-being and integral development as peoples, Solemnly proclaims; the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous peoples as a standard of achievement to be pursued in the spirit of partnership and mutual respect; 3. That; the Oglala Band is a signatory to the Treaties of 1851 and 1868 with the United States of America. 4. That; Treaties are the Supreme Law of the Land. United States Constitution, Article VI, 5. That; the Congressional Record, Vol. 148, No. 125 Senator Tim Johnson (SD) discusses the Legal standing of Treaties. He states: “Indian treaties stand on essentially the same footing as treaties with foreign nations. Because they are made pursuant to the Constitution, they take precedence over any conflicting State laws by reason of the Supremacy Clause U.S. Const., Article VI, Section 2, Worcester vs. Georgia, 31 U.S. (6 Pet.) 15 (1832).” 6. That in Treaties with the Sioux Nation, the United States pledged the following: Treaty of 1851, Article I:For these reasons, the Oglala Sioux Tribe notice to the United States that we are hereby invoking Article III of the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 and Articles I and V of the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 asking President Obama and the elected officials to honor their commitment to: “Protect the aforesaid Sioux Nation against the commission of depredation” and to protect our non-Indian people who are now also at risk, by refusing to allow the issuance of an Executive Permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline. The above was modified, edited and a copy given to Ms. Bernice DeLorme on April 1, 2014 who asked me to help her. Thank you for the honor Ms. DeLorme and thank you Mr. Brewer for stepping up and speaking on behalf of our Oglala Lakota Oyate. (Regina Brave can be reached at 605-441-0833) Copyright permission Native Sun News
From this day forward all war between the parties in this agreement shall forever cease. The government of the United States desires peace and its honor is hereby pledged to keep it. The Indians desire peace and they now pledge their honor to maintain it. If bad men among the whites or among other people subject to the authority of the United States shall commit any wrong upon the person or property of the Indians the United States will, upon proof made to the agent and forwarded to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs at Washington city, punished according to the laws of the United States and also reimburse the injured person for the loss sustained. Treaty of 1868, Article V:
The United States agrees that the agent for said Indians shall, in the future, make his home at the agency building; that he shall reside among them and keep an office open at all times for the purpose of prompt and diligent inquiry into such matters of complaint by and against the Indians as may be presented for investigation under the provisions of their treaty stipulations, also for the faithful discharge of other duties enjoined on him by law. In all cases of depredation on person or property he shall cause the evidence to be taken in written and forwarded, together with this findings, to the commissioner of Indian Affairs, whose decision, subject to the revision of the Secretary of the Interior, shall be binding on the parties to this Treaty. 7. That; by article XV of the Oglala Sioux Tribe Constitution is to promote the welfare of the Oyate, and, 8. That; by Article XV of the Oglala Sioux Tribe Constitution the Tribal Council and Executive Committee of the Oglala Sioux swear to uphold the human rights of the Oglala Lakota Oyate and the human rights of other peoples as recognized in international laws and treaties including the 1851 and 1868 Treaties and declarations, and 9. That; the human rights on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation includes the rights to have safe drinking water and habitable land where the Oyate to continue to live on, and 10. That; the human rights that the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council swear to uphold includes the human rights of our non-Indian neighbors in South Dakota and Nebraska with whom we are standing to protest against the desecration of our land and the pollution of our water. 11. That Keystone XL Pipeline puts our families, our land, aquifers, animals and plants at risk of an environmental disaster. We will be facing a major food shortage as this corridor produces much of the food found on grocery shelves. 12. That the United States is willing to allow our lands and our people to be disposable (a genocidal act) so that Canadian tar sands can be refined and shipped to international markets, providing nothing to the people of the United States yet forcing our people to make substantial risk of oil spills and water table contamination, and 13. That; the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council is not willing to take this risk with our families and future generations, our ancestral lands or those of our non-Indian neighbors.
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