Frontline South Dakota Indigenous Groups Shut Down Illegal KXL Man Camp Construction

November 11, 2020 (Maurine, SD.) -Yesterday, Cheyenne River Grassroots Collective, 2KC Media and 7th Defenders shut down an illegal KXL Man Camp for the day to remind Joe Biden and Kamala Harris of their promise to stop the KXL pipeline. For a decade tribal nations threatened by the pipeline have spoken out against it and the impact it would have on their water sources and communities with its industrial man camps.

“Today we held space at a pre-construction man camp site near Maurine, SD, to bring awareness to the illegal construction of the KXL pipeline. We know with these man camps come increased drug trafficking and violence against our women and children. We are demanding United States President Elect, Joe Biden, honor his word on ‘killing,’ the Keystone XL pipeline. Water is not a trade make or an accessory, it’s a necessity and giver of life.” said Danny Grassrope of the Cheyenne River Grassroots Collective.

In May, President-elect Biden promised to stop the KXL pipeline and during her Presidential bid Vice President elect Harris also signed the #NoKXL Pledge. This commitment was a sharp turn from the plans of Trump who has been tied up in lawsuits with tribal governments and environmental justice groups. The new administration can expect to see further actions to hold them accountable to their promise as TC Energy influences foreign officials try to push Biden to allow the pipeline to continue,

“We are not only holding space today for ourselves and stopping the Keystone XL pre-construction, man camps are bad for the people and environment just as much as the pipeline that plans to go underground in 1851 Sioux Treaty territory.” said Joseph White Eyes with Cheyenne River Grass Roots Collective.” We halted construction with our ancestors behind us, and our future generations before us.”

Photo from Cheyenne River Grassroots Collective

Contact:

Jennifer K. Falcon, jennifer@ienearth.org, +1 218-760-9958