Canada: 99 Detained at Protest Demanding End to Tar Sands Pipelines

As reported by Democracy Now! as part of its top-of-the-show digest news headlines:

In Canada, 99 people were detained by police Monday at a demonstration on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, demanding Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reject the expansion of the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline, as well as all new tar sands pipelines and infrastructure. Among those arrested was Clayton Thomas-Muller, a climate activist from the Cree Nation in northern Manitoba.

Clayton Thomas-Muller: "We know that they’re just trying to test the waters for tar sands pipelines to get that controversial tar sands oil that’s been killing Dené, Cree and Métis people in Northern Alberta with cancer, poisoning their food systems, poisoning their water systems, spreading climate chaos across the planet. Justin Trudeau is not the Disney prince that the media has been painting him out to be. He is in collusion with Big Oil. And we’re here today to support these young people, these brave warriors, for the sacredness of Mother Earth, to let him know that he needs to reject the Kinder Morgan pipeline."

Meanwhile, in Iowa, residents fighting the Dakota Access pipeline say at least one person has been arrested as a group blockaded a waste dump site being used by the Dakota Access pipeline company as it bores underneath the Mississippi River. The group Mississippi Stand says two residents locked themselves to a barrel to blockade the road leading to the dump site, halting drilling underneath the river for hours. This comes as court documents show Hollywood actress Shailene Woodley is slated to stand trial on January 25 on charges related to a protest on October 10, Indigenous Peoples’ Day, against the Dakota Access pipeline in North Dakota. Click here to see our full interview with Shailene Woodley on Monday on her arrest.

Recent Democracy Now! coverage of the DAPL resistance at Standing Rock Sioux Tribe reservation and beyond

Standing Rock: Police Arrest 120+ Water Protectors as Dakota Access Speeds Up Pipeline Construction (Oct. 24)

North Dakota: Water Protectors Erect New Frontline Camp Directly in Path of Dakota Access Pipeline (Oct. 24)

Actor Shailene Woodley on Her Arrest, Strip Search and Dakota Access Pipeline Resistance (Oct. 24)

Meet the Journalist Facing 45 Years in Jail for Filming Tar Sands Pipeline Protest in North Dakota (Oct. 24)

Josh Fox: Arrest of Journalists and Filmmakers Covering the Dakota Pipeline is a Threat to Democracy (Oct. 24)

Part 2: Native Americans Most Likely to Be Killed by Police Than Other Groups, Investigation Reveals (Oct. 24)

On Strip Searches and Press Freedom in North Dakota (Oct. 20)

See all of Democracy Now's coverage, posted online at: http://www.democracynow.org/topics/dakota_access

Today's Midwest Energy News headlines/links re: DAPL resistance

PIPELINES:
• Dakota Access pipeline protesters set up a new camp on private property they say belongs to Native Americans under a more than century-old treaty, moving into the project’s direct path for the first time. Local officials say they won’t be immediately removed due to a lack of manpower. (Associated Press)
• Police departments in Wisconsin, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wyoming, Indiana and Nebraska are sending in extra officers to help manage Dakota Access protests. (Associated Press)

Clinton’s Troubling Silence on the Dakota Access Pipeline

Oscar Ortega has published an article at Counterpunch.

New Encampment in Pipeline Path and 2 Blockades Established on Unceded Territory

Press release, as posted at Honor the Earth's website:

For Immediate Release:  October 23, 2016

Contact: LaDonna Allard (CSS), ladonnabrave1@aol.com, (701) 426-2064

Dallas Goldtooth (IEN), dallas@ienearth.org, 708-515-6158

Tara Houska (HTE), tara@honorearth.org, (612) 226-9404

Cody Hall (RWC), cody.hall.605@gmail.com, (605) 220-2531

Cannon Ball, ND - This morning, at approximately 8am central, water protectors took back unceded territory affirmed in the 1851 Treaty of Ft. Laramie as sovereign land under the control of the Oceti Sakowin, erecting a frontline camp of several structures and tipis on Dakota Access property, just east of ND state highway 1806. This new established camp is 2.5 miles north of the Cannon Ball River, directly on the proposed path of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). This site is directly across the road from where DAPL security dogs attacked water protectors on September 3rd.  

To ensure the protection of this new camp from overtly militarized law enforcement, water protectors have established two road blockades.  One north of the Frontline Camp, on Highway 1806, and another immediately west of Highway 1806, on county road 134.  

Police have discharged weapons, using rubber bullets to shoot down drones being used to document the police activity and actions.  

This frontline camp is located on the final three 3 miles of the proposed pipeline route, before it connects with the drill pad that will take the pipeline beneath the Missouri River. Active construction of the Dakota Access pipeline is 2 miles west of this frontline camp. Oceti Sakowin water protectors continue an on-going pledge to halt active construction as frequently as possible. 

Mekasi Camp-Horinek, an Oceti Sakowin camp coordinator states, “Today, the Oceti Sakowin has enacted eminent domain on DAPL lands, claiming 1851 treaty rights. This is unceded land. Highway 1806 as of this point is blockaded. We will be occupying this land and staying here until this pipeline is permanently stopped. We need bodies and we need people who are trained in non-violent direct action.  We are still staying non-violent and we are still staying peaceful.”

Joye Braun, Indigenous Environmental Network organizer states, “We have never ceded this land. If DAPL can go through and claim eminent domain on landowners and Native peoples on their own land, then we as sovereign nations can then declare eminent domain on our own aboriginal homeland. We are here to protect the burial sites here. Highway 1806 has become the no surrender line.”

Ladonna Bravebull Allard, Sacred Stone Camp, “We stand for the water, we stand on our treaties, we stand for unci maka- we stand and face the storm.”

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