News summary:
- The group Indigenous Women Rise is making a strong statement in support of immigrants that the Trump administration is trying to keep out.
- Once economically booming, the state of North Dakota is facing large revenue drops because of declining oil and agriculture revenue. It begs the question: If oil production is down, why build the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL)?
- Today is the Native Nations Rise March in Washington D.C. What you can do.
- U.N. Official: Trump administration retreating on Indian Rights
Keep reading for the details on these stories.
Native Women Stand for Immigrants
The group Indigenous Women Rise sent out an email this week titled: “Standing United with (Im)migrant communities. It read:
As Indigenous women to this land, we stand with those who came to this country to seek refuge and those whose homelands are not defined by colonial settler borders. We rise to remind this Administration and the world that Indigenous Peoples are the original inhabitants of what is now known as the United States and we were the first to greet (im)migrants to the shores of this continent. This country’s prosperity relied heavily on the lives of our ancestors. Also, the survival of Indigenous Peoples relied heavily on fearless hearts who prayed and stood up, united and acted, while thinking for the next seven generations. We encourage the (im)migrant community to also stand fearless, draw on the resilience of your ancestors, know your rights and organize.
Click here for the full statement.
Indigenous Women Rise started with this year’s Women’s March on Washington and will continue to support grassroots organizing, its Facebook Page says. It is a partnership between many native-led organizations, including Native Americans in Philanthropy, the National Indian Women’s Resource Center, Americans for Indian Opportunity, Indigenous Environmental Network, and other key groups and individuals working to advance Indigenous rights and issues.
North Dakota Faces Large Budget Shortfall, Declining Oil Revenue
“North Dakota legislators who already are dealing with a massive budget shortfall learned Thursday they have even less money to spend due to a prolonged slump in oil and agriculture economies,” according to a Friday story in the Bismarck Tribune. Gov. Doug Burghum said: “No Legislature since the Great Depression has had to take this size of a percentage out of the budget.”
And things don’t look likely to improve. Forbes magazine published an article March 1 titled: The Beginning Of The End For The Bakken Shale Play. It said:
The decline in Bakken oil production that started in January 2015 is probably not reversible. New well performance has deteriorated … More drilling may increase daily output for awhile but won’t resolve the underlying problem of poorer well performance and declining per-well reserves.
So again the question: Why the big push for DAPL?
Today is the Native Nations Rise March in Washington D.C.
From a Sierra Club email:
Today, hundreds of tribes and thousands of allies will march in D.C. to rise in solidarity with the indigenous peoples of the world as part of the Native Nations Rise March on Washington.
If you can’t be there in person, you can still show your support for Standing Rock and the rights of tribal nations across the country by calling on Wells Fargo to defund the Dakota Access Pipeline….
- If you are a Wells Fargo customer, go here to send a customized letter.
- If you’re not a Wells Fargo customer, go here to send a letter.
Wells Fargo, the second biggest bank in America, is providing $120 million in direct project-level financing for the Dakota Access Pipeline
U.N. Official Worried About U.S. Retreat from Protecting Indigenous Rights
U.N. Special Rappoteur Victoria Tauli-Corpuz was in the United States for 10 days to meet with tribal and U.S. government agencies on the impact of extractive industries on Native nations, according to an article in Indian Country Media Network.
Though diplomatic in her tone and choice of words, her verdict was clear: the United States had made little progress since 2012, and might now be seen as perhaps intentionally retreating from recognizing and protecting the inherent human rights of Indigenous Peoples given recent actions by the Trump administration when it comes to making money from oil, gas, coal, and uranium extraction by private industry in Indian country.
The article also observed that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson failed to deliver the United States’ Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices in person on March 3, a sign to Indian Country — intentional or not — of a lack of interest in human rights – and by extension on indigenous rights.
Click here for the full article.
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