Standing Rock Tribal Council Approves Evacuation Order for All Camps

Jenni Monet • January 22, 2017

(Fort Yates, ND) In a unanimous vote, Standing Rock Sioux tribal council members voted to close the network of encampments behind the Dakota Access Pipeline protests within 30 days, including the main Oceti Sakowin, Rosebud, and Sacred Stone camps. Council members also voted against providing any temporary camps or shelters to individuals who should remain at the camps after the February 19 deadline. The decision was made in an emergency meeting held on Friday, January 20 at the tribe’s headquarters in Fort Yates, North Dakota.

The talks were scheduled following a motion approved by tribal members of the Cannon Ball District two nights earlier on Wednesday, January 18. In that meeting, residents voted in favor of closing the sprawling network of camps where an estimated 1,000 people remain living on lands bordering the reservation.

“The main objective of the people of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe was to stop the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, which has been achieved to a degree,” said Cody Two Bears, the district representative from Cannon Ball.

“All the individuals at all the camps in and around Cannon Ball need to leave,” Two Bears continued, a directive that would be repeated in eight out of the ten points his constituents had raised on Wednesday.

The evacuation decision was made following a week of renewed clashes between police and pipeline protesters who call themselves water protectors. Since Monday, January 16, 35 people have been arrested from demonstrations, or actions, carried out at various sites blocking access to the pipeline drill pad, bringing the total number of arrests to 624 since August 10.

The scene of many of the week’s confrontations was carried out at the Backwater Bridge, the heavily fortified blockade slightly north of the main Oceti Sakowin camp, named for the Seven Council Fires of the Great Sioux Nation.

Wednesday night, police crossed the blockade to raze a tipi that had been erected by water protectors. The incident sparked a violent stand-off by police who shot bean-bag rounds and sprayed chemical gas on dozens of people. One water protector who remains unidentified was hospitalized with injuries to the face, according to officials with Morton County.

“What’s that bridge got to do with the DAPL,” asked the Kenel District representative, Frank White Bull. “We need that bridge.”

State officials closed the Backwater Bridge October 27 following the massive militarized sweep on the prairie where two vehicles were set ablaze near the river crossing. Last week, January 12, state transportation officials declared the bridge was structurally sound and could be re-opened. But North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum and Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier applied conditions: the clashes at the bridge had to come to an end.

In a meeting with campers held January 5, Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault II called on protesters to practice restraint from further actions on the bridge. He told them that the blockade needed to be removed. The bridge is on Highway 1806, the main route Cannon Ball residents use for work and access to services. Its closure has led to financial hardships at the Prairie Knights Casino and Resort, its main economic engine. According to the Chairman, the shortfall has cut into tribal programs for children and elders. Meanwhile, to make up for the loss, the tribal council recently voted to dip into its $6.5 million raised in donations to its legal fund to help offset some of the financial burden.

Standing Rock Sioux tribal member, Edward Black Cloud criticized the tribe. “I know how much money is involved, what’s in the pocket of the council,” said Black Cloud. “You guys are wrong for sending these guys home. They gave their heart to you.”