Seattle, WA – On May 7th 2018, a coalition of Native and non-Native water protectors shut down JPMorgan Chase’s head quarters in downtown Seattle due to their financing of extreme fossil fuels.

Inside of Chase’s headquarters, Native and non-Native women occupied the lobby shutting down the building. They demanded to speak with the CEO of the Northwest regional office to express their concerns over Chase’s lending to extreme fossil fuel projects.

They also highlighted that with the extraction of fossil fuels in places like the tar sands and Bakken shale comes man camps leading to the exploitation of Native women.

Representatives from the Tsleil-Waututh 1st Nation joined in the action raising concerns over the proposed TransMountain tar sands pipeline.

The Trans-Mountain pipeline, backed by Houston based Kinder Morgan, would transport an estimated 890,000 barrels of tar sands crude from Alberta to Buraby, BC where it would be stored for export to Asian markets. An estimated 700 supertanker trips per year would carry the crude to foreign markets.

The tankers would navigate through the Salish Sea, which Seattle is located next to.

“My hope is that yesterday’s actions made more people realize how important it is for us to address with these banks about climate change, the abuse of indigenous rights, and the seriousness of how dangerous the Canadian Tar Sands industry is to so many of us. Since banks are not listening to us, taking to the streets and doing actions like yesterday is our answer until we start seeing change. Banks like JP Morgan Chase need to stop investing in the fossil fuel industry and stop ruining the chance of a decent future for our generations to come. They are the direct recipients of the decisions we make today.” ~Rachel Heaton (Muckleshoot) co-founder of Mazaska Talks

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=10156435361302417

Outside of the headquarters, 4-tipis were erected along the block in front of the building shutting down the street. By the end of the day police arrested 14 people while removing people from the building and the tipi’s. Police used power saws to cut the tipi’s in half.

“We know that what we did was an inconvenience to people, but the inconvenience experienced by commuters today is nothing compared to the climate disaster, colonialism and environmental racism being financed by JP Morgan Chase. For the sake of all humanity, JPMorgan Chase must stop investing in the tar sands industry now.” Alec Connon, 350 Seattle

The action was a part of a National day of action against the massive Wall Street bank.

Photo by Matt Remle

A recent report by the Rainforest Action Network found that JPMorgan Chase, alongside the Royal Bank of Canada and Toronto Dominion Bank, increased their funding of “extreme fossil fuels” to become the biggest bankers of extreme fossil fuels.

JPMorgan Chase is the number one funder of tar sands having invested nearly $6 billion last year.

https://www.facebook.com/lastrealindians/videos/1825531224135166/

Extreme fossil fuels are defined as: tar sands, Arctic, and ultra-deepwater oil; coal mining and coal-fired power; and liquefied natural gas (LNG) export.

by Wakíƞyaƞ Waánataƞ (Matt Remle- Lakota)

Matt Remle (Lakota) is an editor and writer for Last Real Indians and LRInspire and the co-founder of Mazaska Talks. Follow @wakiyan7

May 9, 2018 - Water Protectors Shut Down JPMorgan Chase HQ in Seattle