This doesn’t seem to be getting much coverage in the US mainstream media (this is an exception: http://tinyurl.com/zu27cx6), but the Dakota Sioux opposition against an oil pipeline over the Missouri appears to be fast-turning into the biggest confrontation between Native American tribal groups and the US Government for decades – thousands of people are camped there.

There’s been some confrontation between protestors and private security (complete with poorly-controlled dogs) after what seems to have been the pre-emptive bulldozering of cultural sites. And now the National Guard are being deployed…

Have you got an opinion on the situation?

Opinion? I’m in Bristol, UK, at some distance…

BUT: as a sometime/ex archaeologist, the bulldozering of sites of cultural value, prior to official survey, appears to be a very cynical act. Moreover, I imagine everybody downstream of that pipeline is fearful of the consequences of a spill… it was re-routed away from the State Capital for that very reason.

And for what is turning into a major stand-off, it’s getting *very little press in the US media. Silence is bought & paid for, I guess.

Sincere apologies, I’m very tired and grumpy. If you hadn’t replied I’d have deleted my comment.

No need to apologise. 😀

Anyway, for anybody interested, worth keeping an eye on. The proposed pipeline is not on (existing) reservation land, and there is (I believe) an existing gas pipeline…. but you can understand the concern about a large-scale oil spill into the Missouri. The consequences would be immense.

Perhaps the Dakota Sioux should have styled themselves as a militia group. That seems to get media coverage.

The worry about spills is a red herring IMO, look at Alask, or the hundreds of petrochemical pipelines criss crossing the UK.

Doesn’t make the builders right, does make the protesters a bit NIMBY.

As for media coverage, I only ever read about keystone XL in the engineering journals and that had some serious routing controversies.

a bit NIMBY

Hmm, given US history, I wouldn’t say that to the Dakota Sioux…

Pipelines: sure – good infrastructure is safe, but not failsafe e.g.the Kalamazoo river in Michigan.

Keystone XL – stopped by POTUS, I think?

[Edit: I have to get back to work, so cannae reply, but I’m interested in the media-avoidance thing… worth watching, IMO]

This is worth watching (and might explain American reluctance to cover this protest too deeply).
[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwsCuG1kSRk[/video]

Doesn’t make the builders right, does make the protesters a bit NIMBY.

It’s their land, they have at least 50,000 years of history living in what is now called the United States of America, and they have an absolute right to be pissed.
I’m sure if some developer decided that a large chunk of your back yard would be better utilised by running a road/pipeline/high-speed railway right through it, and you came home to find they’d already bulldozed most of it in anticipation, you’d meekly shrug your shoulders and suck it up…
A little history on the US government and its treatment of indigenous peoples:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wounded_Knee_Massacre
#redlivesmatter