The president of South Dakota’s Rosebud Sioux (Sicangu Lakota Oyate) tribe has called the House of Representatives’ vote to force approval of the Keystone XL pipeline an “act of war,” the Summit County Citizen’s Voice reported on Saturday.
“The House has now signed our death warrants and the death warrants of our children and grandchildren. The Rosebud Sioux Tribe will not allow this pipeline through our lands,” President Cyril Scott said in a statement. “We will close our reservation borders to Keystone XL.”
Scott said he and other tribal elders have not been appropriately consulted on the pipeline, which would run through the tribe’s land. He also contended the House vote violates the 1851 and 1868 Fort Laramie treaties, which gave the Black Hills to the Sioux Nation, according to the Summit County Citizen’s Voice.
We have been breaking treaties with the Indians for centuries. I doubt if this will stop us from doing it again if someone really wants that pipeline.
I think the questions to ask are as follows:
1. What will the Keystone XL pipeline do for the nation?
2. What is the impact on the environment?
3. What is the impact on the people where the XL actually goes through?
All of these questions need to have a positive answer before anyone approves this thing. I hope that the Keystone XL pipeline isn’t just another political consequence that has not been thought through thoroughly.
