Rosebud Sioux Tribe Promises Continued Vigilance on Keystone XL Pipeline

BOULDER, Colo.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#NOKXL–President William Kindle of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe (Sicangu Lakota
Oyate) promised continued vigilance in light of the Nebraska Public
Service Commission’s decision today to permit TransCanada Corp.’s
proposed Keystone XL pipeline to cross that state’s lands. The Rosebud
Sioux Tribe has retained the Native
American Rights Fund (NARF) to represent its interests with regard
to the Keystone XL pipeline.

The pipeline’s proposed route crosses through traditional Lakota
homelands and treaty territories, and will affect not only the Rosebud
Sioux Tribe, but also Native Nations in Montana, South Dakota, and
Nebraska. It also endangers the Ogallala Aquifer, which supplies water
for Native and non-Native users’ residential and agricultural needs on
the High Plains in eight states.

“The land, water, tribal sovereignty, and governmental services were not
‘given’ to us in those treaties,” President Kindle said. “They were
bargained for with the blood of our ancestors. We will not dishonor our
relatives and unnecessarily endanger our health, safety, and well-being.
The Rosebud Sioux Tribe will take any and all necessary steps, up to and
including litigation, to protect our people, our land and water, and our
cultural and historic resources.”

“As we have seen, spills from such projects can be catastrophic,” said
NARF Staff
Attorney Matt Campbell. “The Rosebud Sioux Tribe – just like South
Dakota, Nebraska, and Montana – has a duty to protect the health and
welfare of its citizens. NARF will help the Tribe consider all of its
options for ensuring the safety of its citizens, territory, and
resources.”

“This is their land, their water,” said NARF Staff
Attorney Natalie Landreth. “They have laws protecting their water;
those laws must be respected. Keystone XL will need permission from the
Tribe, so this is not over.”

View
President Kindle’s letter on the Tribe’s position.

About the Rosebud Sioux Tribe: The Rosebud Indian Reservation was
established in 1889 by the United States' partition of the Great Sioux
Reservation. The reservation includes all of Todd County, South Dakota,
and communities and lands in the four adjacent counties.

About the Native American Rights Fund: NARF is the oldest and
largest nonprofit national Indian rights legal services organization in
the country. NARF has represented over 275 Tribes in 31 states. For more
information, visit narf.org.

Contacts

NARF
Natalie A. Landreth, NARF Senior Attorney
907-276-0680
or
Matthew
L. Campbell, NARF Senior Attorney
303-447-8760