December 1, 2016
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Obama:
I am writing to support your hold on the Dakota pipeline and ask that you do something to resolve this conflict. I am aware that American Psychological Association (APA), an organization in which I am a member, wrote a similar letter on behalf of all members of the association. However, I feel compelled to add my voice and perspective to this important matter.
I am deeply concerned about what is happening to the Standing Rock Sioux. As APA outlined, native people in America have been manipulated and mistreated by the American government for centuries. Despite current “liberal” attitudes about political correctness and all the statements officials have made about regretting historical maltreatment of native peoples, mistreatment is going on today at Standing Rock. In the first place, the land currently in dispute was given to the tribe and described as their land. Yet, as has been the case numerous times over the years across the country, here is another example of the government saying essentially “this is your land until we want it back.”
America has evolved to be more honorable with minority rights, or has it? Is tribal sovereignty another trinket the government used to mislead native people or is it an actual legal concept that both sides should honor? This is a real and current concept at play right now in North Dakota. The company in the center of this conflict, Energy Transfer Partners, was forced to move its planned pipeline away from Bismarck, ND because the people there considered it too risky. Now the company is trying to force the Standing Rock Sioux to accept the same pipeline. If it’s not OK for people of Bismarck, why is it acceptable for the tribal members who live on the reservation? Is tribal sovereignty a legal agreement to uphold or is this racism at work in 2016? The government’s actions in the Dakota Access pipeline conflict will help answer this question.
The territory of the Great Sioux Reservation was created in 1868 by the Fort Laramie treaty. According to Article 12 in the document no reduction in territory would be valid unless approved by ¾ of the adult male tribal population. Yet, Congress took it upon themselves in the Act of February 28, 1877 to remove the Sacred Black Hills from the Great Sioux Reservation. They did not obtain approval of ¾ of the tribal male population as was required by the 1868 Treaty. In the Act of March 2, 1889, Congress further reduced tribal land and divided the area into 6 distinct reservations, including that of the Standing Rock Sioux. In a case titled United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians, 448 U.S. 371m 388 (1980), the U.S. Supreme Court stated that “A more ripe and rank case of dishonorable dealings will never, in all probability, be found in our history.”
Yet, here we are again. The Standing Rock Sioux, like most other federally recognized tribes in the United States, were led to believe they were granted tribal sovereignty along with reservation land. That means that the tribal government is responsible for tribal matters and that it interacts with the federal government as a separate and distinct government. Tribal members believe their government is equal to federal and state governments. This is so according to original treaty documents. However, the U.S. government has a long history of infringing on these agreements when it suits them to do so, like now with the Dakota Access pipeline. The Army Corps of Engineers has often been troublesome to tribal nations across the U.S. as it advocates for federal concerns against the rights of tribal nations.
Secondly, it is important to recognize that although the tribal right to determine access to an oil pipeline on tribal land is extremely important, the origin of the resistance to federal rule goes back to before the signing of original treaties and includes a long string of broken promises since then. Tribal territory has been taken from the Sioux tribes for various reasons, including gold in the Black Hills, for homesteading, and for dam construction on the Missouri River. In fact, the dams flooded hunting grounds, farmland, and villages, destroying 90% of the tribe’s timberland, again without tribal agreement as stated in the original treaty. Placing the pipeline on reservation land without consent of tribal members is yet another example of the federal government asserting its own priorities over those of tribal members.
Many native people, perhaps even most, do not trust the U.S. government because of the long history of broken treaties. Other Americans are coming to realize that the federal government has historically been dishonorable in its treatment of native peoples. This is not news. What is news is happening today on the Standing Rock Sioux reservation. Yet, the federal government has harassed and imprisoned journalists who have tried to report on this story. In fact, the FCC has now forbidden drones from flying over the contested reservation. It does not take a suspicious person to wonder why. Could it be that drones are recording events on the ground that the oil company and government officials do not want the public to see? What is going on there that would justify such extreme actions? Limitations on the rights of journalists should not happen on American soil! The First Amendment of the Constitution establishes freedom of the press. Americans pride ourselves on our freedom and our honor, both of which seem to be in jeopardy in this situation.
Could it be that what people are saying is true? The federal government honors international treaties, but casually tosses aside treaties with tribal nations, the original Americans. In addition to the failure to uphold native treaty agreements, the police have also acted violently against the protesters! They have used water cannons for hours in below freezing weather, shot rubber bullets, used pepper spray, and forced people into dog kennels. Can this be happening in America? Can this be happening during the tenure of America’s first minority President? It wasn’t so long ago that Americans couldn’t have imagined that we would have a Black President. Have we learned nothing from this historic event? I urge you to put a stop to the violent treatment of Native American protesters and their supporters!
Mr. President, our country is changing and the results of our recent election prove it. It may not look good for such important values as freedom and honor in our future. Yet, you are in a position to support these values in the Standing Rock conflict. You have been a leader whom I have always believed valued people over corporations. Your days in office may be numbered, but your actions now can help sustain Americans through these changing times and cement your legacy as such. Please support American values, the Standing Rock Sioux, and honor federal treaties with Native Americans. Call off the police and their violent mistreatment of protesters and insist that the corporation look elsewhere for their land grab.
Sincerely,
Margaret V. Austin, Ph.D.