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The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples spent 10 days collecting information from tribes and U.S. government officials. Victoria Tauli-Corpuz heard comments about the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota and oil and gas exploration in New Mexico and Arizona. Among other things, she says she recognizes a need for better consultation and a consistent federal policy for projects that affect tribes.
Guests:
Jennifer Denetdale (Diné) – Prof. Jennifer Denetdale
Chairman Harold Frazier (Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe) – Tribal Chairman
Break music: Place I Call Home (song) Native Roots (artist) Most High (album)
Hear an interview with Victoria Tauli-Corpuz:
NPR interviewed the South Dakota official who led the pipeline project. She said she called the Standing Rock Sioux Chief’s Office 14 times over a few years. Left a voicemail every time. Over those years there were more than 200 changes to the proposed route because of various activists and archeologists.
If the tribe things that nobody contacted them, well, have they made it easy for people to figure out how to contact them? Do they have a tribal website?
In this day and age, if somebody doesn’t have a website and you don’t already know them, how else are you supposed to figure out how to contact them?