Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 17, 2017)
News Page 8 Street Roots • Feb. 17-23, 2017 Street Roots • Feb. 17-23, 2017 News Pipeline projects’ revival hits close to home in Northwest Page 9 s illi BY STEPHEN QUIRKE Trump has tapped two Republican senators from Washington state to lead his transition at the Environmental Protection Agency: Don resident Donald Trump made headlines Benton of Vancouver and Doug Ericksen of last month when he signed executive Ferndale. Ericksen’s state Senate district has orders fast-tracking the Dakota Access been the battleground for the dead-for-now Pipeline in North Dakota and Keystone XL proposal to build the largest coal export pipeline in South Dakota - two oil pipelines terminal on the continent - directly adjacent to that have generated unprecedented opposition Native fishing sites and directly on top of the from Native American tribes and an enormous burial grounds for the Lummi Nation. Benton’s solidarity movement from non-native district holds the still contentious Tesoro- supporters. Savage oil terminal - a proposal that would In early December, the Army Corps of handle 15 million gallons of oil per day, and Engineers refused to grant the final permit move an additional 36 oil trains per week needed for the Dakota Access Pipeline but through the Columbia River Gorge, making it quickly reversed course after Trump’s Jah. 24 the largest oil terminal of its kind in the United executive orders, granting the final easement States — one vigorously opposed by the Yakama to drill under Lake Oahe early this month. N ation. T h e R o se b u d Sio u x of S o u th D a k o ta have In May, the Army Corps of Engineers dealt a called the approval of Keystone major blow to the Gateway Pacific terminal XL “an act o f war against our when it affirmed Lummi treaty rights and people,” and the Cheyenne River denied the company a major p erm it And in Sioux have already filed a lawsuit January, Washington’s outgoing Public Lands to block further construction and Commissioner, Peter Goldmark, officially operation of the Dakota Access followed that up by adding the Lummi Nation’s Pipeline, which they say threatens burial grounds at Xwe’chieXen (pronounced their only source of drinking Coo-chee-ah-chin) to the Cherry Point Aquatic water. Reserve - 45 acres the company wanted for On Feb 11, demonstrators shut construction. Ericksen responded by down the northbound lanes of introducing Senate Bill 5171, which would force Interstate 5 in Bellingham, Wash., the new commissioner to rescind this order for an hour to demonstrate and potentially clear the way for another federal opposition to the Dakota Access reversal. Pipeline and the executive order. Elden Hillaire is the chairman of the Lummi But as more people mobilize to Natural Resources and Fisheries Commission. take the streets and organize Street Roots spoke to him to get a Lummi against the pipelines, some are perspective of Standing Rock Indian keeping their eye on similar Reservation, the primary site of resistance to projects closer to home. the Dakota Access Pipeline; the Gateway Like these two oil pipelines, energy projects Pacific coal terminal; and Ericksen’s intentions. in the Pacific Northwest have stumbled over Native treaties - the same foundational S te p h en Q uirke: The Lum mi have spent documents that allowed the Oregon years fighting this terminal at Cherry Point. How Constitution to be enacted and provided the did it feel when the Army Corps finally denied the first grants of land that served as the legal company’s permit in May? foundation for statehood. In exchange for these E lden H illaire: Well, it was definitely a good land grants, the treaties guaranteed the tribes time. I don’t know if I’m a half-full or half-empty continuous cultural access to traditional kind of a guy. It’s just one of the battles. It ecological resources - including the traditional wasn’t the war - the war continues. But it was food and water whose health rests on the a shining moment for a community to know absence of strip mines, gushing oil pipes, and that we’re protecting all of our ancestors that mountains of coal d u st are buried there. Many of these fossil fuel export projects S.Q.: Did you see a connection between what have faltered due to opposition from tribes, happened at Standing Rock and what happened with government agencies citing Native to the burial grounds at Xwe’chieXen? positions when denying permits. But like the government’s flip on the Dakota Access and E.H.: Yeah - they’re protecting water; we’re Keystone XL pipelines, some of these protecting water. And they’ve got that island proposals may be up for a sudden reversal - there that has remains on i t They particularly where a federal permit is their only demonstrated in Seattle that the uplands are major obstacle. going to shift, regardless of the state of their STAFF WRITER P Eiden Hillaire Elden Hillaire, of the L um m i Nation, discusses threats to the region’s tribal lands on the heels o f Trump’s executive orders concerning the Dakota Access and Keystone X L pipelines "One of the amaz ing things about Standing Rock is that it brought so many different cultures together, from the Maoris, the Alaskan, from South America to South D akota.... The things they're bringing out right now are bringing us a ll together, tribally and non- tribally. It's just amazing the support and the outcry for them, and that continues today." ELDEN HILLAIRE, CHAIRM AN OF THE L U M M I NATURAL RESOURCES AN D FISHERIES COMMISSION P H O T O BY STEPH A N M IC H A E L S W W W .2 N D W IN D P R O D U C T IO N S .O R G Lum m i tribal members bum a faux multimillion-dollar check in protest of a proposed coal terminal in Cherry Point, Wash. drilling apparatus. So these graves could collapse on themselves, and they’re off into the river, and they’re lost for years, lost forever. So there are a lot of similarities. We canoed; they rode horses - it’s a different mode of transportation. Their only recourse is litigation at this point, so I’m hoping tomorrow we start that discussion about how we’re going to support it. I’ve been bugging our lawyers in the hallways for a couple of weeks. S.Q.: In October, traditional Lum mi tribal chief Bill James traveled with a delegation to support the Standing Rock Sioux and to share the experience of defending fishing rights against the coal terminal. Do you think people are now learning lessons from Standing Rock? E.H.: Yes, I think so. One of the amazing things about Standing Rock is that it brought so many different cultures together, from the Maoris, the Alaskan, from South America to South Dakota. It’s kind of like this immigration thing; it’s bringing so many minorities together, and we’re finding those connections. We felt it all along with genocide. As much as people want to deny it, it happened right here in America. The things they’re bringing out right now are bringing us all together, tribally and non-tribally. It’s just amazing the support and the outcry for them, and that continues today, up to the blocking of 1-5 on Saturday. It’s just drawing us together, as much as Trump and his new administration is trying to find a way of tearing us. a p a rt The ink had barely dried on his immigration order, and they were shutting down airports all over the country! I’m just so amazed and appreciative of how people will come together and stick together. S.Q.: Do you think demonstrations like the large highway demonstration in Bellingham against the Dakota Access Pipeline are helping create awareness? E.H.: It spoke loudly, and it got the attention of a considerable amount of people. It was in support of Standing Rock, but the other thing is this immigration law that Washington is fighting with the president, which was definitely layered into th a t Especially being First Nations people, we can kind of relate to immigration from a larger perspective (laughing). Interesting that a president of European descent can talk about immigration. This country was built on i t We have to co-exist S.Q.: Since the Army Corps acknowledged Lummi fishing rights and rejected the permit, the state of Washington took a surprising step this January and added Xwe’chieXen to the Cherry Point Aquatic Reserve. Now, Sen. Ericksen has introduced a bill to remove this protection. Could that really happen? I f so, could the Army Corps also reverse its decision? E.H.: Definitely. At least, that’s my belief. I’ve seen the Corps do it for environmental factors. They did a complete impact Study when they wanted to put in the harbor down in Oregon, and the environmental impact study said, “No no no,” but they put it in anyway. S.Q.: I f the Army Corps were to reverse its decision to protect Lum mi fishing rights, will the Lum mi Nation take them to court? E.H.: It’d likely be our first avenue of response. S.Q.: In some ways, adding Lum mi land to the Aquatic Reserve seems to act like a backstop for treaty rights enforcement. Could other steps be taken by state and local governments to protect similar places under threat? E.H.: There always is. Our tribal council recently had a meet-and-greet with city of Bellingham, City Council of Ferndale, Whatcom County Council, and they’re'talking about these very same things. A lot of it gets into the economics of the region, but you know we’re the third-largest employer in Whatcom County right now, and probahly the second if you include Northwest Indian College. It’s not like we’re sitting dormant and draining the economy around us. I think it was a good testam ent when (the tribal) council chose to give every tribal member $1,000 this December. That’s $5 million in the local economy, an infusion all at once. A lot of discussion early on in public hearings over coal was people saying they’re losing tax revenue. An 11-year-old girl from Bellevue schools was up here, and she questioned how they could lose something they don’t have. She told them, “You can’t lose it if you don’t have it” (laughs). It took an 11-year- old to open people’s eyes, and I couldn’t have said it any better. S.Q.: There have been a lot of ups and downs in this fight over the years. Has the persistence of the coal lobby taken away from other work? What more could be done if people simply acknowledged and respected Lum m i fishing rights? E.H.: I’ve always pondered that question internally, but the fight is the fight The war continues. We were kind of set on that path in 1855 by some of our ancestors.
