In this blog:
- ‘Healing for these traumatic times’ essay
- “This is Dakota land” lawn signs available
- Line 3 update: Beltrami County Sheriff seeks reimbursement for weapons under the guise of personal protective equipment
- DAPL decision delayed
‘Healing for these traumatic times’
Christine McCleave, CEO of the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition, says President Joe Biden’s call for “healing” a form of “artificial reconciliation.”
Here’s her takeaway about what healing requires, in her blog on ‘Healing in these traumatic times’:
Healing requires that we acknowledge the harm, the injustices, and what those who have benefited from the injustice have gained.
Healing requires that we transform the systems of inequity and oppression into systems of equity and liberation AND abide by the promise to do no further harm.
Once we change, then we can heal. In the meanwhile, healing requires us to stand up and work for what is right—we stand up for the truth and for justice.
Christine McCleave
Please click on the link above and read the whole blog.
‘This is Dakota Land’ yard signs
Lower Phalen Creek Project is selling “This is Dakota Land” lawn signs for $25 each. Pre-order here.
Located on St. Paul’s east side, the Lower Phalen Creek Project’s mission is “to engage people in honoring and caring for our natural places and the sacred sites and cultural value within them.” Its work includes building the Wakan Tipi Center, “sharpening its focus to truly engage and honor the uniquely Dakota space in which we work.”
Line 3 update: Beltrami County Sheriff tries to get reimbursed for weapons under the guise of personal protective equipment
Healing Minnesota Stories wrote earlier this year about the Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office efforts to get reimbursed for nearly $200,000 for its Line 3-related work.
As part of the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission’s (PUC’s) Line 3 permits, it required Enbridge to set up an escrow account to reimburse law enforcement agencies for the added costs around Line 3.
The Intercept picked up on story and did additional digging. In Minnesota Police Want a Pipeline Company to Pay for Weapons Claimed as PPE, it wrote that last fall the PUC refined the language about what qualifies as a reimbursable expense. The change said “the Public Safety Escrow account may not be used to reimburse expenses for equipment, except for personal protective gear for public safety personnel.”
According to The Intercept’s analysis, the Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office is asking for $130,000 in equipment-related expenses.
Other invoices describe weapons as “PPE Equipment to use during Civil Disobedience events.” The sheriff’s office used the label on a request for reimbursement for an array of “less than lethal” weapons purchased last summer, when the department spent $1,074.40 on 40 CS tear gas grenades, $551.75 on 25 CS tear gas projectiles, and $1,975 on a launcher — all manufactured by Defense Technology
The Intercept
Decisions are still pending on whether the Beltrami County Sheriff will get reimbursed or not. Click on the link above for the full story.
Other law enforcement agencies are expected to submit expenses throughout Line 3 construction. Stay tuned.
DAPL decision delayed, sign-on letter to Stop Line 3
The Biden administration asked for and received an additional two months to decide on the fate of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), Bloomberglaw.com reports.
The courts have sided with DAPL opponents, who argued that the government had done inadequate environmental review where the pipeline crosses the Missouri River near Standing Rock. The decision voids existing DAPL permits.
The Army Corps of Engineers was to appear in Federal Court for the District of Columbia today to explain how it would proceed. That decision is now postponed.
Native nations and environmental groups are pressuring the Biden administration to shut down both DAPL and the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline in Minnesota.
If you want to add your voice, here are two sign-on letters asking President Biden to Stop Line 3.
healingmnstories.wordpress.com 