Nov 21, 2017   SOURCE: BusinessWire

Rosebud Sioux Tribe Promises Continued Vigilance on Keystone XL Pipeline

President William Kindle of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe (Sicangu Lakota Oyate) promised continued vigilance in light of the Nebraska Public Service Commission’s decision today to permit TransCanada Corp.’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline to cross that state’s lands. The Rosebud Sioux Tribe has retained the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) to represent its interests with regard to the Keystone XL pipeline.

The pipeline’s proposed route crosses through traditional Lakota homelands and treaty territories, and will affect not only the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, but also Native Nations in Montana, South Dakota, and Nebraska. It also endangers the Ogallala Aquifer, which supplies water for Native and non-Native users’ residential and agricultural needs on the High Plains in eight states.

“The land, water, tribal sovereignty, and governmental services were not ‘given’ to us in those treaties,” President Kindle said. “They were bargained for with the blood of our ancestors. We will not dishonor our relatives and unnecessarily endanger our health, safety, and well-being. The Rosebud Sioux Tribe will take any and all necessary steps, up to and including litigation, to protect our people, our land and water, and our cultural and historic resources.”

“As we have seen, spills from such projects can be catastrophic,” said NARF Staff Attorney Matt Campbell. “The Rosebud Sioux Tribe – just like South Dakota, Nebraska, and Montana – has a duty to protect the health and welfare of its citizens. NARF will help the Tribe consider all of its options for ensuring the safety of its citizens, territory, and resources.”

“This is their land, their water,” said NARF Staff Attorney Natalie Landreth. “They have laws protecting their water; those laws must be respected. Keystone XL will need permission from the Tribe, so this is not over.”

View President Kindle’s letter on the Tribe’s position.

About the Rosebud Sioux Tribe: The Rosebud Indian Reservation was established in 1889 by the United States' partition of the Great Sioux Reservation. The reservation includes all of Todd County, South Dakota, and communities and lands in the four adjacent counties.

About the Native American Rights Fund: NARF is the oldest and largest nonprofit national Indian rights legal services organization in the country. NARF has represented over 275 Tribes in 31 states. For more information, visit narf.org.