Osage Nation Joins Support Efforts for Sioux Tribe at Standing Rock in Pipeline Protest

Pawhuska, Okla. – The Osage Nation is supporting the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in their protest of the plans for the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Thousands of Native Americans are camping on the banks of the Cannonball River in North Dakota as a peaceful protest in hopes to stop the progress on the planned pipeline under the river, land the Standing Rock Sioux hold as sacred.

“The Osage Nation supports the people of Standing Rock who are protecting the land and waters,” said Osage Nation Principal Chief Geoffrey M. Standing Bear of the situation.“People everywhere should think hard about the priorities of our society. Should the earth be used up by the human race or should we respect the limits of the earth?”

The Sioux at Standing Rock have been seeking – for more than two years – meaningful dialog and consultation with the U.S. Government, the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers and the local pipeline ownership to took to responsible stewardship of nature, the Tribe’s cultural lands, and safety for water the community residents and area wildlife need on their reservation.

The Osage Nation is providing emergency supplies to the protesters at Standing Rock. Some of the items the Osages have shipped to those camped at Cannonball River include: 720 blankets, 72 all-weather heavy-duty flashlights and batteries, and 100 hand-held flashlights with batteries. More supplies will be coming from the Osage Nation and Osage Casinos.

“Our Chief asked our casino staff last week to mobilize vendors and resources in support of our brothers and sisters at Standing Rock, after we heard the water supply had been cut off to the Cannonball River gathering,” said Byron Bighorse, CEO of Osage Casino.

“After finding out that water was in route to them, we asked what other vital provisions they needed. It was determined that blankets, flashlights and batteries were a priority, so we immediately arranged for those items to be rush shipped to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe organizers. We are honored to help,” added Bighorse.

According to the Stand with Standing Rock website, “the Sioux Tribe has been locked in a legal battle to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline from impacting its cultural, water, and natural resources.”

The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) is a planned 1,168-mile long crude oil pipeline with the capacity to transport nearly 570,000 barrels of oil each day from North Dakota to Illinois. According to the Sioux, the Army Corps of Engineers has approved several sections of the process without fully satisfying the National Historic Preservation Act, various environmental statutes, and its trust responsibility to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.

The Sioux Tribe website calls this “another chapter in the long history of the federal government granting the construction of potentially hazardous projects near or through tribal lands, waters, and cultural places without including the tribe.”

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