Over 300 people came together in the Lloyd Center district earlier today to call on the Army Corps of Engineers to deny a permit for construction of the Dakota Access pipeline under Lake Oahe (oh-WAHEE) on the Missouri River.
A largely woman-led demonstration with a significant Portland-area Indigenous presence gathered at 11 a.m. in Holladay Park and then marched to the nearby office of the Corps of Engineers.
Native Elder John Nelson, whose grandson is Dave Archambault (AR-shambo), Chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Nation, opened things up: (audio clip)
The Corps of Engineers originally approved the pipeline river crossing in July over the objections of the EPA, the Department of the Interior and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.
After the Standing Rock tribe filed suit, a federal judge denied a request for a temporary injunction to halt constructionon either side of the river until the case could be heard in court.
That same afternoon, a virtually unprecedented joint declaration was issued by the Departments of Justice, the Army and the Interior, stating that pipeline construction would not be authorized on Corps-controlled land bordering or under Lake Oahe until it could “reconsider any of its previous decisions regarding the site.”
The declaration also asked the pipeline company, to voluntarily halt construction within 20 miles on either side of the river. The company has clearly refused that request, as they continue full-speed ahead on pipeline construction, even working through the night, trying to meet their January deadline for completion.
While the Corps of Engineers continues their review of the river crossing, opposition to the pipeline has grown into a major nation-wide movement. Native people and their allies across the world see this as an historic moment to break through marginalization and invisibility and to fight against the pollution of the land and waters of indigenous homelands.
Delia Sanchez, a non-federally recognized Multnomah Chinook, spoke about the Corps of Engineers’ role both in the Dakota Access pipeline and the damming of her ancestral N’Chi-wana, or Columbia River. (audio clip)
At the end of the rally, around fifty people marched around the building, chanting “Water is Life,” the main slogan of the No DAPL movement. After a brief scuffle at the north door, they were able to enter the building. (audio clip)
That was audio from the demonstration earlier today at the Army Corps of Engineers, with Paul Roland reporting.
- KBOO