Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chairman: Sacred Burial Sites Desecrated on Saturday by DAPL Construction
Consturction workers desecrated sacred burial grounds on Saturday.
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Standing Rock Sioux Tribe condemns destruction and desecration of burial grounds by Energy Transfer Partners
Published September 3, 2016
CANNON BALL, NORTH DAKOTA – Sacred places containing ancient burial sites, places of prayer and other significant cultural artifacts of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe were destroyed Saturday by Energy Transfer Partners, Tribal Chairman David Archambault II said.
The desecration came one day after the Tribe filed court documents identifying the area as home to significant Native artifacts and sacred sites on Friday, before the Labor Day weekend.
“This demolition is devastating,” Archambault said. “These grounds are the resting places of our ancestors. The ancient cairns and stone prayer rings there cannot be replaced. In one day, our sacred land has been turned into hollow ground.”
Construction crews removed topsoil across an area about 150 feet wide stretching for two miles, northwest of the confluence of the Cannon Ball and Missouri Rivers.
“I surveyed this land and we confirmed multiple graves and specific prayer sites,” said Tim Mentz, the Standing Rock Sioux’s former tribal historic preservation officer. “Portions, and possibly complete sites, have been taken out entirely.”
Thousands of people from across the United States have joined the Standing Rock Sioux to protest Energy Transfer Partners’ building of the 1,200-mile Dakota Access Pipeline. If built, a half-million barrels of crude oil would pass through the line daily.
The Standing Rock Sioux have filed suit in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to stop construction. The Tribe says it was not properly consulted before the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers fast-tracked construction approval.
A decision in that case is expected by September 9.
“We’re days away from getting a resolution on the legal issues, and they came in on a holiday weekend and destroyed the site,” said Jan Hasselman, attorney for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. “What they have done is absolutely outrageous.”
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About The Author
Editor
Levi Rickert, a tribal citizen of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, is the publisher and editor of Native News Online. Previously, he served as editor of the Native News Network. He is a resident of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
I don’t understand how this is happening, I thought tribal lands were protected from abuses like this.
New Zealand just made one of their lands a legal personhood in order to protect their land. May we do something like this will all treaties lands in the US? It’s a valid option.
Dan Katchongva, an 80 year old Hopi spiritual leader in his 1955 testimony at a Washington Congressional Hearing repeated a prophecy within the oral tradition of the “peaceful ones” as the Hopis called themselves are narratives foretelling the future of mankind, “..In ancient times it was prophesied by our forefathers that this land would be occupied by the Indian people and then from somewhere a White Man would come. He will come either with a strong faith and righteous religion which the Great Spirit has also given to him, or he will come after he has abandoned that great Life Plan and fallen to a faith of his own personal ideas which he invented before coming here. It is known that the White Man is an intelligent person, an inventor of many words, a man who knows how to influence people because of his sweet way of talking and that he will use many of these things upon us when he comes. We knew that this land beneath us was composed of many things that we might want to use later such as mineral resources. We knew that this is the wealthiest pat of this continent because it is here the Great Spirit lives. We knew that the White Man will search for the things that look good to him, that he will use many good ideas in order to obtain his heart’s desire, and we knew that if had strayed from the Great Spirit he would use any means to get what he wants. These things we were warned to watch, and we today know that those prophecies were true because we can see how many new and selfish ideas and plans are being put before us. We know that if we accept these things we will lose our land and give up our very lives.”
The other day they turned dogs loose on protesters like it’s Alabama in the 60’s and national media is where?
For God’s sake!! how far does this go?????? Where are the protection for the protectors? Where are the media showing this desecration, removal of water and help for the protectors???? Who hired the massive attacks by dogs and a private security business? and who the heck uses dog attacks in a private security business? THIS IS WRONG!!!! Even Christ wouldn’t allow this? How many Christians are out there that can promote this kind of action????????? Where are you in all this?
there seems to be no end the the greed destroying this once great and good land. piece by piece it is being destroyed in the name of the great god “progress”. if the people perpetrating this slaughter are heartless, and soulless. are they human at all? or do they only take on the appearance of human beings? i have been warned not to dehumanize these creatures of greed and destruction, for the sake of my own well being. but i truly wonder: how can they be human? surely it is not just the upright flesh and blood form of people that makes us human beings? that distinguishes us from a nightmare world where morality is an afterthought, empathy is a weakness, strength of character an anachronism of the past? but- we are now living in a world where corporations are considered “people” by the supreme court. how is this possible? i am not naive; but i do think there are a lot more evil people in power, and a lot more ignorant people who let them do as they wish than is healthy for this world. i am constantly reminded of the saying: “all it takes for evil to flourish, is for good men to do nothing”. never more true than today.
Richard, I humbly Thank you for your comments. You said the words I have some difficulty in saying myself. Blessings. Cante ogna welucan ki waste, (It is good to think through your heart). Lakota pi ki cante pinzapi. (Lakota have strong hearts).
i’m an archaeologist with a cultural resources firm in albuquerque, and i can’t understand how this could have happened. does the site have a number? is it listed on the nrhp?
breaking ground without an archaeological survey having been done is absolutely illegal, going against Section 106, a federal act protecting prehistoric and historic sites. if they HAD done a survey, but ran into unrecorded cultural materials, they would have to stop immediately and notify the state or BLM archaeologist. if they went in without having done a survey and encountered cultural materials, they would have to pay for a complete excavation (a mitigation, as called for in Sect. 106).
i ask myself why no arch survey was done of the construction area (with a cultural buffer)…
here’s my answer: it appears that this cultural clearance under Sect. 106 was fast-tracked. here’s a link: http://www.ecowatch.com/fate-of-dakota-access-pipeline-1994168034.html