Transcripts For KCSM Democracy Now 20160912

The pipeline. Well go to Standing Rock to speak with Standing Rock sioux chair Dave Archambault and with attorney Jan Hasselman, who brought the tribes case to federal court. Well also hear more voices from longtime native American Land and water protectors, including lakota grandmother debra white plume, on why they are fighting the Dakota Access pipeline. The presses wishes us over and on the desecration of mother. Arth next which asia amy and last thursday, the state of north dakota issued an arrest want for me for criminal trespassing. This after a democracy now special broadcast showed the Dakota Access pipelines guards unleashing dogs and pepper spray against native americans attempting to protect a sacred tribal burial site from being bulldozed. These people are threatening us with these dogs. That woman over there, she was charging them right in the face. Amy the dog has blood in its nose and mouth. Quite she is Still Standing here threatening. Amy why are you letting her dog go after all that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. The Obama Administration has ordered a halt to construction, part of the 3. 8 billion Dakota Access pipeline, which has faced months of resistance from the Standing Rock sioux tribe and hundreds of other tribes from across the United States and canada. In what is being described as the largest unification of native american tribes in decades. In a dramatic series of moves late friday afternoon, a federal judge rejected the Standing Rock sioux tribes request for an injunction against the u. S. Government over the pipeline. Then the army, department of justice, and department of the interior responded with an announcement that the army corps will not issue permits for Dakota Access to drill under the Missouri River until the army corps reconsiders its previously issued permits. The news was welcomed by the protesters who have gathered along the Cannonball River by the Standing Rock sioux reservation to resist the pipelines construction. This is francine garreau hall of the Cheyenne River sioux tribe. Grateful because in our government to government relationship, the federal government is bound by treaty law to protect our interests. And im glad they stepped up to the plate today and did that. Amy the agencies also asked Dakota Access to voluntarily cease construction 20 miles ease and west of the dam. In other Dakota Access pipeline news, last week, there was an arrest warrant issued for me. The charge criminal trespass, a misdemeanor offense. s stems from democracy now coverage in north dakota over Labor Day Weekend of the native americanled protests against the Dakota Access pipeline. On saturday, september 3, democracy now filmed security guards working for the Dakota Access Pipeline Company using dogs and pepper spray to attack protesters. These people are threatening us with these dogs. That woman over there, she was charging them right in my face. Amy the dog has blood in its as an mouth. And she is Still Standing here threatening amy why are you letting her dog go after protesters . Reportcy now has video went viral online. Our footage was rebroadcast on many outlets, including cbs, nbc, npr. Org, cnn, msnbc and huffington post. Also charged was cody hall for his alleged presence at the september 3 land defense action and for a subsequent protest on september 6. Hall is considered a lead organizer in the movement against the Dakota Access pipeline and was arrested at one of the checkpoints that have been erected by north dakota authorities to restrict access to the Standing Rock sioux reservation and the growing pipeline opposition camps. Hall was denied bail and remained in jail throughout the weekend. Halls attorneys and several others we spoke to confirmed that it is highly unusual for a defendant charged with misdemeanor trespass to be jailed and denied bail. According to the complaint, the charges are based on a viewing of democracy now s video report of the incident, conducted by the north Dakota Bureau of criminal investigation. Special agent lindsey wohls sworn affadavit states that i was there as a journalist. Wohl wrote amy goodman can be seen on the video identifying herself and interviewing protestors about their involvement in the protest. The criminal complaint was approved by assistant states attorney for Morton County, gabrielle j. Goter. To date, none of the private security personnel shown in the video both assaulting protesters and commanding their dogs to attack them have been charged or arrested. Democracy now is consulting with attorneys in north dakota as well as at the center for constitutional rights. Ccr legal director baher azmy said this is clearly a violation of the first amendment, an attempt to repress this important Political Movement by silencing media coverage. Well have more on the Dakota Access pipeline after headlines. In news from the campaign trail, Hillary Clinton canceled plans to visit california today after falling ill with what her doctor described as pneumonia and dehydration. On sunday, clinton was seen abruptly leaving a ceremony in Lower Manhattan commemorating the 9 11 attacks. Video showed her stumbling as secret Service Agents helped her into a van. Clinton was taken to the manhattan apartment of her daughter chelsea and emerged about 90 minutes later waving to reporters. Are you feeling . Mrs. Clinton great. What happened . Mrs. Clinton it is a Beautiful Day in new york. Amy Hillary Clintons dr. Doctor later said in a statement the candidate was being treated with antibiotics and was rehydrated and recovering nicely. Her Campaign Says she will rest at her home in chappaqua, new york. Clinton canceled fundraising events planned for los angeles and san francisco, as well as a scheduled appearance on the Ellen Degeneres show. The illness follows weeks of speculation and conspiracy theories about clintons health put forward by donald trump and other clinton opponents. In august, Trump National spokeswoman Katrina Pierson claimed, without evidence, that clinton was suffering from dysphasia, a form of brain injury. Hillary clintons illness came less than two days after she suggested half of Donald Trumps supporters are bigoted. Clinton made the comments friday during a fundraiser at an lgbtq event in new york. Mrs. Clinton we are living ina volatile political environment. You know, to just be grossly general a stick, you could put half of trumps supporters and to what i call the basket of deplorables. Right . Rapist, homophobic, xenophobic, islamaphobic, you name it. Amy Donald Trumps campaign seized on clintons comment. This is trumps running mate, governor mike pence. Mr. Pence i campaign on a regular basis with donald trump. I campaign all across this country for donald trump. Hillary clintons low opinion of the people that support this campaign should be denounced the strongest possible terms. Amy Hillary Clinton said in a statement on saturday she regretted calling half of Trump Supporters bigots, but added whats really deplorable is that donald trump hired a major vocate for the socalled altright movement to run his campaign and that david duke and other White Supremacists see him as a champion of their values. Rudolph giuliani is defending Donald Trumps Statement Last week that the u. S. Should have taken iraqs oil as part of the spoils of war. The former new york city mayor, who is a top adviser to trump, made the remarks sunday on abcs this week. He said leave a forced back there and take it. Leave a forced back there and take it and make sure it is distributed in a proper way. That is not illegal, is it . Of course its legal. It is war. Amy governor mike pence 2015 tax returns on friday, showing the Vice President ial candidate and his wife took in 113,000 last year. Hillary clintons 2015 tax returns show she and bill clinton earned 10. 6 million in 2015, down from nearly 28 million the year before. Donald trump has refused to make his tax returns public. In international news, the u. S. And russia say warring factions in syria are set to begin a tendays hes fire ceasefire at sundown tonight. Secretary of state john kerry said he reached the deal during talks in geneva with his russian counterpart, sergei lavrov. Today the United States and russia are announcing a plan which we hope will reduce violence, ease suffering, and resume Movement Towards a negotiated peace and a political transition in syria. , aswe believe that the plan it is set forth, if implemented if followed, has the ability to provide a turning point, a moment of change. Amy scores were killed in heavy fighting after news of the ceasefire broke. Witnesses said at least 61 died and over 100 were wounded after a warplane bombed a market in idlib. The syrian observatory for human rights said another 30 people were killed in aleppo province. The ceasefire calls for syrias government to stop bombing cities and allow humanitarian aid corridors. Russia will cease bombing all targets except for isis, and the u. S. Will force the rebel groups it arms to break allegiance with a group that has pledged support for alqaeda. The u. S. And russia may also begin joint bombing campaigns. Several previous ceasefires in syria have collapsed. In new york city on sunday, bells rang out at 8 46 a. M. To mark the moment fifteen years ago that the first of two hijacked airplanes crashed into the World Trade Center. Thousands gathered in Lower Manhattan for a solemn ceremony marking the anniversary. Memorials were also held at the pentagon and at the site in western pennsylvania where a hijacked plane crashed on september 11, 2001. The bush administrations former top environmental official has apologized for telling the public the air in Lower Manhattan was safe to breathe after the 9 11 attacks. Christine todd whitman was head of the Environmental Protection agency in 2001. In the days after the World Trade Center towers collapsed, whitman repeatedly stated there was no threat of toxic air pollution. Everything we have tested for, which includes asbestos, lead, and vocs of them below any level of concern. Amy speaking to the guardian, whitman acknowledged for the first time that her statements put peoples lives in jeopardy. She said im very sorry that people are sick. Im very sorry that people are dying and if the epa and i in any way contributed to that, im sorry. Whitmans apology came as the guardian reported the death toll among those sickened by the toxic fallout of ground zero will soon exceed the number of People Killed on the day of the 9 11 attacks. In chiles capital santiago, thousands marched to the citys Main Cemetery on sunday to mourn victims of the former dictatorship. On september 11, 1973, democratically elected president Salvador Allende died in the palace in a u. S. Backed coup, ushering in 17 years of brutal dictatorship under augusto pinochet. Imprisoned Army Whistleblower Chelsea Manning has begun a Hunger Strike to protest her prison conditions. In a statement, manning said she would only consume water and medication until shes provided minimum standards of dignity, respect, and humanity. Shes demanding a written promise from the army that she will receive medically prescribed recommendations for her gender dysphoria. Manning is serving a 35year sentence at fort leavenworth, kansas. And in new york, students at the brooklyn campus of Long Island University plan to walk out of classes at noon today to protest a lockout that has seen everything a professor kicked off payroll and replaced. Over Labor Day Weekend, just before the start of fall classes, all 400 faculty members sawiys for clean campus the Health Insurance cut in the email accounts frozen. They have been warned they could be permanently replaced. This is liu professor, larry banks. Ive been at the university for 15 years. Theoutside the gate because administration has locked us out. This is the first time this has happened in the country. And i feel horrible. There has never, ever been the a administration saying, teachers cant teach, we wont allow it. That is never happen. Never happened before in the history of education in this country. Amy last week, Long Island University Faculty Union voted 226 to 10 against a labor contract that sought to slash pay for adjunct professors and failed to provide salaries comparable to those earned by colleagues at a satellite campus. The Faculty Senate overwhelmingly approved a no confidence measure against liu president kimberly r. Cline. To see our full coverage of the liu walkouts, you can go to democracynow. Org. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. We begin todays show with Major Updates in the fight by native americans to stop the proposed 3. 8 billion Dakota Access pipeline, which would carry about 500,000 barrels of crude a day from the bakken oilfields of north dakota through south dakota, iowa, and into illinois. The project has faced months of resistance from the Standing Rock sioux tribe and members of hundreds of other tribes from across the United States and canada who flocked to north dakota in what is being described as the largest unification of native american tribes in decades. In a dramatic series of moves late friday afternoon, a federal judge rejected the Standing Rock sioux tribes request for an injunction against the u. S. Government over the Dakota Access pipeline. Then the army, department of justice and department of the , interior responded with an announcement that the army corps will not issue permits for Dakota Access to drill under the Missouri River until the army corps reconsiders its previously issued permits. In a statement, the department of justice said construction of the pipeline on army corps land bordering or under lake oahe will not go forward at this time. The federal agencies also asked the Dakota Access Pipeline Company to voluntarily cease construction 20 miles east and west of lake oahe. The governments intervention was welcomed by the thousands of native americans who have gathered along the Cannonball River by the Standing Rock sioux reservation to resist the pipelines construction. Here are some of their reactions. I am with the Cheyenne River sioux tribe. I am very grateful because in our government to government relationship, the federal government is bound by treaty interests. Ect our and im glad they stepped up to the plate today and did that. People all the american need to recognize and they need to realize that this isnt a racial deal. This is something that impacts all of us. We all as children of god have a clean water. And that is what this fight is about. It is about recognizing that water is life. And without it, we all die. And so we are protecting water for the future generations. I had to be here because i wanted it was my time to be accountable. Seven generations from now, i want my grandkids and their stood soto say, she that we could have clean water. Im a member of the Cheyenne River sioux tribe. Like everyone else, i think im pretty happy with the decision for them to step in. I know maybe it is not the end of the battle, but at least today, you know, we celebrate a small victory. You know, there are still things to be considered. I think, at least for me, it is it appears they want to do things fairly. Hopefully, there will be more trouble consultation and not just with Standing Rock, but with all tribal nations in the future. Maybe this will show the united iates and the world that think native American People are tired of being walked on, tired of being taken for granted, tired of being invisible. And that we are going to stand up for ourselves. I speak from atrocious the girl that was bit in the chest was my cousin, you know . There were pictures on facebook of that. I was heartbroken for her. I think i can say im proud of the way we behaved and we have acted. My father is from here, Standing Rock. Im a student as sitting bull college. It is not a solid victory right is just feeling that weight that i have been caring for the past couple of months now lifting. Can read right now. Amy the native americans who call themselves protectors, not protesters, have repeatedly forced the Dakota Access Pipeline Company to stop construction by locking themselves to machinery. On saturday, september 3, over Labor Day Weekend, Dakota Access Pipeline Company unleashed dogs and pepper spray on native americans as they attempted to stop the company from destroying a sacred tribal burial site. These people are just these dogs. That woman over there, she was charging them. Amy the dog has blood in its nose and mouth. And she is Still Standing here threatening amy why are you letting her dog go after protesters . 3. that was september to see our full report, go to democracynow. Org. The bulldozers and Company Security guards were ultimately forced to retreat. Were going to go to break. When we come back, we will speak with dave ahambault, the chair of the Standing Rock sioux tribe. And Jan Hasselman, staff attorney with earth justice who brought the tribes lawsuit a federal court. Stay with us. [music break] amy the song was released on sunday on 9 11. Allende of salvador chile died in the palace as the pinochet forces came to power. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. As we continue our coverage of the standoff at Standing Rock, where thousands of native americans from hundreds of tribes across the United States and canada are resisting construction of the 3. 8 dakota dakota 3. 8 billion access pipeline. It is the largest unification of native american tribes in decades. For more on fridays District Court ruling in the Standing Rock sioux tribes lawsuit against the u. S. Government and the white houses dramatic intervention less than an hour later, were joined now by two guests. Dave archambault, chair of the Standing Rock sioux tribe, joins us via democracy now video stream. And in seattle, washington were , joined by Jan Hasselman, a staff attorney with earth justice. He is representing the Standing Rock sioux tribe in its lawsuit against the army corps of engineers over the Dakota Access pipeline. Lets go first to Standing Rock, chairman Dave Archambault, your response to what happened on friday . First, we were disappointed by the judges decision, but then a few minutes later, we were elated. It was something that was encouraging because we knew that we were standing for something that was not right. There were a lot of prayers, and i think those prayers were answered. So it was a good feeling. It still is a good feeling knowing that there is the opportunity for us to look at Public Policy and reform so that are Indigenous Lands and our indigenous rights are not infringed on. And with the ruling, i know that it was something that we had to do. I felt that all along the deck was stacked against us. But we had to do it to Start Building awareness, and when you look at whatever laws we could we had to look at whatever laws we could to get the issue to the forefront. It is just an ongoing battle we will appeal, we are appealing, and we will be asking for a full eis, Environment Impact study, for the project. The work is not done. We have a long ways to go and were going to be doing whatever we can. Amy i want to go back to the joint ailment released friday, just 15 minutes after the Standing Rock sioux tribe was defeated in federal court. The Statement Released friday by the Obama Administration, by the departments of interior, justice, and the army corps of engineers. It reads this case has highlighted the need for serious discussion on whether the should be nationwide reform with respect to considering tribes use on these types of infrastructure projects. Therefore, this fall we will invite tribes to formal government to government consultations on two questions one, within the existing statutory framework, what should the federal government do to better ensure meaningful tribal input and infrastructure related reviews and decisions of the protection of tribal lands, resources, and treaty rights. Two, should new legislation be proposed to congress to alter the statutory framework and promote those goals [captioning made possible by democracy now ] chairman Dave Archambault, what does that mean to you . That means there is a crack in the door and we will start nudging and we will see what we can do to open it as white as we can so that our indigenous rights in our Indigenous Lands are no longer infringed on. Amy i want to go to Jan Hasselman for a moment. Youre the lawyer who brought the case of the Standing Rock sioux tribe to federal court. Can you just describe for us this dramatic series of events that took place on friday . Yeah, good morning, amy, thank you for having me back. Everybody knew the court case was a nuptial struggle. An uphill struggle. We took our best shot. We were reading this opinion that denied the relief we were asking for and it was crushing because everyone had put a lot of effort into that. 15, 20 minutes later, the world turned upside down with this announcement from the administration which is really what the tribe has been asking for all along. This is the situation that calls out for intervention and leadership at the highest levels to deescalate the tensions out there, to address the really fundamental unfairness of the process. And so we were very heartened the Obama Administration step in and took a leadership role. So theres going to be a timeout on additional permitting and were going to have the kind of conversation the tribe has been asking from from the beginning. Amy just to understand this, i dont know if this is unprecedented, the Standing Rock sioux tribe was fighting the Justice Department in federal court. So it was the Justice Department lawyers who experienced this victory for them when the federal court ruled against the tribe. Was it what, 15 minutes later that their own department with the Justice Department, together with the army corps of engineers and the department of interior, made this announcement . Yeah, thats right. , as is pretty stunning pretty stunning move the changes the equation of where we are going from here. Were going to take them at their word that this is going to be a serious top to bottom review of the permitting. And what that means under the law, theyre going to have to consider all of the options that are on the table. One of those options is not building a pipeline. Another option is put it back in its original route, north bismarck, and they see how much the politicians and bismarck are excited about crude Oil Pipelines when it is there water supply at risk instead of the tribes. All of that is going to take a little bit of time. The tribe is ready to begin engaging in the process and having that conversation. Amy just to be clear, when it comes to the Dakota Access pipeline, the statement the triple statement from army, justice, and interior, so clearly, from the white house on high, is asking the pipeline to voluntarily not build on the places, for example come a that we recorded, that standoff on september 3 Labor Day Weekend where the pipeline security unleashed dogs and pepper spray on the native americans who were there. They are asking them to voluntarily not build . They can build . Lets be clear about exactly what the statement was. The area where the federal government has the clearest permitting authority is the tunnel underneath lake oahe and they say they will not issue that without a permit. So they cant do that work. Theyve asked the company to stand up on construction on 20 miles on either side. This will be a test of the companys good faith in the process if they heed that. We are one to be asking the federal Appeals Court to enforce that 20 mile no build zone. We will be filing a court order today. We will see where that happens. To the extent the Company Needs additional permits from the army corps, it was into me theyre thumbing their nose thumbing their nose and ignoring this request would be a very bad strategy. Amy Dave Archambault, can you describe what happened on thursday in preparation . The governor of north dakota called out the National Guard. In the describe the scene and preparation for the court ruling decision. Could you then describe the scene, increase in road checkpoints, which you have had for a long time now, describe that scene for us and what happens to people as they drive . Ok, amy. When the governor first set up the blockade and started rerouting our members, i nearly called him and asked him to take the blockade down. And i had multiple calls with him and my requests for the same every time. In our discussions, i let him know you can if your concern is safety and that is what he said, concern safety with itrians on highway 1806 so we could add additional signs and you could allow people to go through, but just have them be aware. Give them notice that there may be some people on the roads and we could of multiple signs to slow the traffic. Andthis, amy, about everything first started on Standing Rock, i have about eight officers total for my reservation and there are 2. 3 million acres, 12 communities, eight officers, maybe two or three at a time working five days a week, 12 hour shifts. As the camp began to grow, attention with tension with officers began to circle around the community of cannonball. I made a request for additional bia Law Enforcement. Not to patrol or to observe or to monitor the camp, but to assure that safety is throughout Standing Rock. So i was able to get 31 officers. Bia it helped amy bureau of Indian Affairs. Bureau of Indian Affairs Law Enforcement. It helped because there is safety in the communities. That was my concern for my nation was to make sure that. Afety is priority now when the governor made the announcement, i called him immediately and i asked what this was about. The resources that the governor has within the state with Highway Patrol and within the counties were all focused on the blockade. So what he had said was, it is not a fullblown National Guard deployment. It is minimal. And what it is when a be used for is to inform traffic. Were going to open up the blockade so they can go through, but just inform them this is what i asked, to allow people to come through 1806 rather than rerouting them and how it patrol, the Law Enforcement in burley county and Morton County can then be used throughout the state, throughout other parts of the state. So i understand where the governor was coming from. There is a lot of emphasis that the National Guard is deployed and were going to shut this camp down. And that wasnt the case. The National Guard that is manning the blockade and allowing people to go through 1806, they are really friendly guys. They are informing people that there may be pedestrians on the road, just because his. 25, 30 miles down the road. There is an encampment. Everybody knows what went on. Amy s facial Recognition Technology being used . That is a crazy question and im glad you asked a because when you have a lot of people in an area, there is all of this paranoia that is present. We dont have to be paranoid anymore. We need to be proud of who we are. This is a bigtime in history. We need to hold our chins high and show our faces. Were not doing anything wrong. The facial Recognition Technology is out there. I would doubt it is here. All authorities have to do is go on facebook. Go on democracy now videos and they will see peoples faces there. And that is where authorities are getting information. The people who are videoing incidents determine we create the evidence on ourselves with our iphones and social media. I would highly doubt that facial recognition is something we have our own website, our own facebook pages. We give all of the information that is out there to the authorities through social media. Amy but for example, if someone has a warrant out for their arrest, that is the place where they will be picked up. If theyre just driving, they wont be. If theres a roadblock a checkpoint, that is where they get to up. Well, if they have something they have done wrong, you should you should be accountable for yourselves. If theres a warrant for your arrest, why are you out . Why arent you going to authorities in getting it taken care of . Amy i want to read a joint Statement Released friday by the Obama Administration which notes john willfuls support the rights of all americans to assemble and speak freely. We are to everyone involved in protest or pipeline activities to it here to the principles of nonviolence. Of course anyone who commits violence or destructive acts may face criminal sanctions from federal tribal, state come or local authorities. The department of justice and interior will continue to deploy resources to north dakota to local, and tribal authorities, and the communities they serve, better communicate, diffuse tensions, support peaceful protest, and maintain public safety. There has been a war for my arrest issued for covering the protests on september 3. As i understand it, others who are wanted who are wanted, that is where the point of contact is, where you wont be picked up on the road in general, but if there is a checkpoint in that direction, that is what happens. Again, i think that there are things that are legal and are completely wrong. And it is ok to stand up for them. There are things that are illegal, but are completely right, and it is ok do stand up for them. And so if you do something in that way like you did, amy it is ok. It is good. Because the coverage that you did is liable to the cause valuable to the cause. When you do something and commit an act and it is because illegal but Everybody Knows theres a natural law that it is right, then it is ok to own up. Amy yourself were arrested, as that right, and one of the protests . Yes, i was. Amy what are your plans now . The decision came down against the tribe, but the Obama Administration released this joint statement of army, interior, and justice. Are the camps going to continue . You have thousands of people at the camps and more and more joining every day. Like i said, the door is cracked open. What i feel is until it is blown pipeline nod this longer infringes on our lands youour rights, i cant tell i know there are more tribes, there are more organizations it is worldwide now. People coming from all over. We just had tribes from ecuador and the chief from ecuador come in, and the same concerns. There is this building awareness on Indigenous People in the lands that they have and the protection they want to offer. This awareness is coming around. We have people from hawaii trying to protect their sacred mountains from development, from corporations or their government. It is a shared concern. What i like to call it is this spirit awakening. So the amy has the Dakota Access pipeline folks told you theyre going to voluntarily stop the construction and bulldozing . I have not spoke to them. That is a good question for them. Amy Jan Hasselman, as a lawyer who has been fighting the pipeline, have you gotten any word . We dont know. I think they were probably as surprised as we were with the announcement on friday. We will be going back to court and having that conversation. I think the week ahead, we will know a lot more about where things are going. Amy i want to thank you both for being with us, Dave Archambault, chair of the Standing Rock sioux tribe. And Jan Hasselman is a staff attorney with earth justice. When we come back, we will hear voices of the largest gathering that we have seen of native tribes in decades. We will hear among others from indigenous leader winona laduke. Stay with us. [music break] amy happy birthday to producer sam alcoffs father larry. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. While democracy now was covering the standoff at Standing Rock earlier this month on Labor Day Weekend we spoke to , winona laduke, longtime native american activist, and executive director of the group honor the earth. She lives and works on the White Earth Reservation in northern minnesota. She spent years successfully fighting a pipeline similar to Dakota Access, the sandpiper pipeline. We met her right outside the red warrior camp, one of the encampments where thousands of native americans representing hundreds of tribes across u. S. And canada are currently resisting the pipelines construction. Her tepee is the do with animals that are threatened by climate change. We began by asking winona why communities are now protesting pipeline. The fossilme to end fuel infrastructure. These people on this reservation, they dont have adequate infrastructure for their houses, adequate energy and how a highway infrastructure. This will only help oil companies. Were here to protect this land. Amy explain what happened to the sandpiper pipeline, the one that you protested, the one that you opposed. For four years, the Enbridge Company said they absolutely needed a pipeline that would go from clear brook, minnesota, just superior, wisconsin. That was a critical and only possible route. The proposed a brandnew route that would go to the heart of and territory, skirting the reservations but within our treaty territory. They did not consult with us and made some serious errors in the process. They underestimated what was going to happen. For four years we battled them in the minnesota regulatory process, a process more danced slightly more functional than north dakota process. In that process, we attended every hearing and intervened it legally. We wrote our horses against the current of the oil. We have ceremonies. They canceled the pipeline is what they did after four years. Very ardent opposition by minnesota citizens, tribal governments, tribal people on that line. Havepipeline we still six pipelines in northern minnesota to go to superior, the furthest inland port. With the new proposals are not going to happen. Enbridge was to continue with line three, the first pipeline they want they want to abandon. The beginning of the whole new set of problems, the abandoning of 50yearold pipelines with no regulatory clarity as to who is responsible. Were opposing them on that, that they cannot abandon and they still cannot get a new route. When they announced that, in my area, i couldve said, hey, good luck, yall, good luck. We said, were going to follow them out here because we believe we could spend our lives writing one pipeline after another, after another, but someone needs to challenge the problem. This is not the way to go, america. Everyone who is out here. There are a lot of people out here. I feel like i have been the Standing Rock switchboard, the travel guide for the past two weeks. Everybody hits me up, facebook, calls me up, hey, laduke, i want to bring us and winter coats, was should i do . Its like, oh, my gosh. Unit. Pple mie i go walk in there and i see people from wounded knee in 1973. I have seen people i worked with an opposing mining in the 1970s and 1980s. I have an at this for a while. It is like old home week. Ive seen people from oklahoma opposing the keystone pipeline, nebraska, people from our territory opposing the pipeline to, the tribal chairman of fond du lac is here. A whole host of native and nonnative people. There are a lot of people who do not believe this should happen anymore in this country that are willing to put themselves on the line nonindian people as well as tribal members. Beautiful place to defend. Amy for people watching in new york and louisiana and california and india, china, south africa, why does this matter to them . Because it is time to move on from fossil fuels. This is the same battle they have everywhere else. Each day were each week there are some new leak, some new catastrophe the fossil fuel industry, as well as the ongoing and growing catastrophe of climate change. The fact there is no rain in syria has to record to do with these fossil fuel companies. All that the catastrophes happening elsewhere in the world has to do with the fact that north america is retooling its infrastructure and going after the dirtiest oil in the world, the Tar Sands Oil and the oil out of north dakota, rather than they were working with venezuela. It also has to do with crushing venezuela. Venezuela has are just Largest Oil Reserves in the world. They were bound and determined to take oil from places i did not want to give it up. This carbon this oil is heavy in carbon and will add hundreds of millions of tons of co2 to the environment. It affects everyone. Are for theibes pipeline. Can you describe the division . I would say some interest in ending country have been for the pipeline. Historically, the three affiliated tribes are oilproducing tribe, but they came down here to support the opposition to the pipeline. Their whole Tribal Council came down here a couple of days ago. The fact is, some tribes have ofn forced into production fossil fuels. 85 of the navajo economy is fossil fuelbased. About the same percentage of another. Just to give a little historic picture, you come out with the smallpox and wiped out a majority of people in the early 1800s. They live along these villages just trying to hang in there. Then you come in and you flood their lands. The agricultural crops they produce are now owned by stopnto ands and gentle your out here in north dakota and everybody in the country flies over north dakota and looks down and says, well, that is north dakota. Nobody comes out here. For 100ntinues out here years were these people are treated like third class citizens. They have no Running Water and never will company is coming out here and you have high rates of abuse and violence against women and children and it accelerates and increases in the oilfields and to you have an epidemic of drugs, which now its this community. This committee doesnt get any benefit from oil. Of heroin came appearance all those indian people and said, we will just go there. These reservations are full of it. Then you say to that tribe up bia cuts deals. Bureau of Indian Affairs. You and up with has and havenots and the oilfields. You end up with the tribe the now has oil revenues coming in. They look out there and say, things havent been going too well, so we are going to sign a few more of these leases. After all, nothing has ever worked out well for us. We will get a little bit of money. That is how you get you force people into that with a gun to their head and they end up destroying their land. Which is what is happening up there on that reservation. Investigationse into corruption of the leadership. You forced poor people, you force people into that situation and it is a perfect storm. Amy you have talked and written about native americans having ptsd. We have ongoing i still have it. You say enbridge was quote and you get this little quirk. What you get is intergenerational trauma. Historic trauma. You have a genetic memory. You look out there and everyday you wake up and see your land was flooded. The big power line that runs through his land . That doesnt benefit you. Everything out here was done in your expense. You still have to pay for it. Every day you go out and you have a roadblock that the white people put up coming into your reservation and every day you go out and you look at your houses and you see you have crumbling infrastructure and nobody cares about it. In thean epidemic highest suicide rates in the country, but nobody pays attention. You just try to survive. 90 of my community generally i would say is just trying to survive. We still havey, our wild rice and we can go and wild rice. Harvest we can still live off of our land. These people have a much tougher time living off of their land. The buffalo were wiped out. This is their stand. They got a chance to not have one more bad thing happen to them. From my perspective, 3. 9 billion pipeline of these guys dont need a pipeline. What they need is solar. What they need is wind. Look at this window. That have class 7 wind. They need solar on their houses, solar thermal. They need housing that works for people. They need energy justice. This is the chance, america, to say, look, this Community Needs real energy independence. They call this energy independence. Shoving a pipeline down peoples throats so canadian oil, these can benefit. So a bunch of people it is not energy independence. Wind,when you have solar, control over your future. That is what these people want. Amy that was when on a laduke. Winona laduke. That same day, we spoke to longtime lakota water and land rights activist debra white plume, born and raised on the primary reservation, living along the banks of wounded knee creek. I asked her what it means to her. It pushes us further over the Tipping Point of not only fossil fuel extraction but the desecration of mother earth and the exploitation of native peoples in the area as well as the threat to drinking water. Six hours from here when i turn on my cap, the water that comes out is from the Missouri River. 0 50 mix the aquifer is badly contaminated by decades of uranium mining. There only portions of the aquifer on the heinrich reservation that has the Environmental Protection agencys maximum contaminant level for emitters. So we have to mix halfandhalf with the Missouri River water. Amy what would happen to the Missouri River water . Well, if the pipeline is put in, it will leak or spill or burst or explode and oil is going to get into the water. The code access pipeline says that will be area 30 feet under, and assuring everybody that it will be safe. Scienceink western doesnt really know everything it thinks it knows. And we need to make our decisions based on what is best for mother earth and our coming generations. And that includes protecting our water. Water is under threat all over the world right now most of the are people who have no access to clean thinking water. Amy do you call yourself a protester . Know, i call myself first and foremost, im just a regular human being. Im a mother and a grandmother, greatgrandmother, im a lakota, im a woman. Water is the domain of the women in our nation. So it is our privilege and our obligation to protect water. You know, if somebody wants to label me, i guess it would be water protect your. To the pineway back ridge reservation where you live today, 1973. Could you describe what happened then . Sure. Congress in place in 1934 governance most native nations in the United States. Our ira government at that time was very oppressive to lakota people. They were keeping us from having whatever few are services the federal government provided because we held onto the lakota way of life. And we also wanted to reclaim not only our identity, but our lands and the care of our land and the responsibility of caring for our land. And at that time, the tribal president was dig wilson. He a been working with the federal government to sign away 1 8 of our homeland to the federal government and it just happened to be where there was a lot of dust what the fat take her calls the resources and they want to mine it, coal, gas, uranium, whatever it may be, water. We said, a ruckus and no, youre not when a do that because our coming generations need that. So there were a lot of shooed touts and armed struggles going on in those days. In the socalled border towns around us, which we called organized territory, indians were getting killed and their murderers were not being held for justice. They were charged with the be,st felony there could doing two years of probation. It was just enough is enough. Womens movement, a civil rights movement, the vietnam war stuff going on. We just said that is enough for us, too. Were not going to take this anymore. And we stood up and we fought. We had to fight our own government and they called in the fbi and the marshals and the army, basically, it was a military occupation of our homeland. Amy and what happened then . Well, wounded knee was liberated by relatives from the four directions. The military came in and surrounded the little tiny village of wounded knee. And the rest is history. But we were able to get our spiritual way of life removed as a criminal act in american law. Prior to that, it had been a crime to practice our way of life. We have many people that went to prison in those days or were in, and died held at statement on stitches shoulds for having a sacred pipe or conducting any of our ceremonies. Amy lakota leader debra white plume of the hydrogen reservation speaking from greg warrior. Democracy now is looking for feedback from people who feedback from people who appreciate t today on americas test kitchen, becky cooks eggs piperade, dan makes Chocolate Hazelnut spread, jack challenges chris to a tasting of maple syrup, and julia uncovers the secrets to 100 whole wheat pancakes, right here on americas test kitchen. Americas test kitchen is brought to you by dcs. Dcs manufacturers of professionally styled indoor and outdoor kitchen equipment. At dcs, our mission is design that delivers,