Resolution 16-121 Support Standing Rock Lakota Tribe and Opposing the Dakota Access Pipeline

CITY OF HOMER

HOMER, ALASKA

Lewis

                                                                           RESOLUTION 16-121

A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF HOMER SUPPORTING THE STANDING ROCK LAKOTA TRIBE AND OPPOSING THE DAKOTA ACCESS PIPELINE.

               WHEREAS, The proposed Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) is a 1,168-mile, 30-inch   diameter pipeline being developed by the Energy Transfer Partners and its affiliates, which would carry as much as 570,000 barrels per day of Bakken crude from western North Dakota to Illinois; and

               WHEREAS, The DAPL would run across or beneath 209 rivers, creeks and tributaries, including the Missouri River, which provides drinking water and irrigates agricultural land in communities across the Midwest, serving nearly 10 million people; and

               WHEREAS, The DAPL would also run through the ancestral lands and waters reserved for the traditional use of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe by the Treaty of Ft. Laramie, include the Missouri River, burial grounds and gravesites, and other sacred sites of cultural, religious, and historical significance; and

               WHEREAS, Indian Treaties such as the Treaty of Ft. Laramie are recognized by the U.S. Constitution as “the supreme law of the land,” and require consultation and cooperation by the United States with the Indian Treaty partner before any federal action is taken that affects Treaty lands, territories, water or other resources; and

               WHEREAS, The American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978 affirms the need to “protect and preserve for American Indians their inherent right of freedom to believe, express, and exercise the traditional religions,” particularly in American Indian sacred places; and

               WHEREAS, Alaska recognizes that Native burial grounds and historic graves are “a finite, irreplaceable, and nonrenewable cultural resource, and are an intrinsic part of the cultural heritage of the people of Alaska;” and

               WHEREAS, Articles, 11, 12, and 25 of the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP), as endorsed by the United States in 2010, affirms that indigenous people like the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe possess the right to maintain and protect their culture, religion, practices, and relationship with their “traditionally owned and otherwise occupied and used lands, territories [and] waters;” and

               WHEREAS, The UNDRIP Article 32 further provides that governments shall consult with indigenous peoples “in order to obtain their free and informed consent prior to the approval of any project affecting their lands or territories and other resources, particularly in connection with the development, utilization or exploitation of mineral, water or other resources;” and

WHEREAS, The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers failed to consult with or obtain the free, prior, and informed consent of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe as required by the Treaty of Fort Laramie, Executive Order 13175, the UNDRIP Article 10, and other federal and international laws, before issuing a “Mitigated Finding of No Significant Impact” that would result in an easement for horizontal directional drilling for the DAPL; and

               WHEREAS, Any spill of oil into the Missouri River would irreparably harm the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s Treaty reserved lands, territories, waters and other resources; burial grounds, gravesites and other sacred sites of cultural, religious, and historical significance; and spiritual relationships and indigenous ways of life; and

               WHEREAS, The Mayor of the City of Seattle, City Councils of Portland, Oregon, St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota, Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians comprised of 59 Indian Nations in the Northwest, and nearly 200 Indian Nations, are among the governmental bodies that have taken formal action to support the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and oppose the DAPL.

               NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of Homer, Alaska, supports the Standing Rock Lakota Tribe and opposes the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL).

               BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the City Council of Homer, Alaska, that:

Section 1.  The City of Homer stands in support of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s opposition to construct the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) across the Tribe’s ancestral lands, water and sacred sites.

Section 2.  The City of Homer call upon the United States and the Army Corps of Engineers to obtain the free, prior and informed consent of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, prior to taking any federal action regarding the DAPL that would harm or destroy the Tribe’s ancestral lands, waters and sacred sites.

               PASSED AND ADOPTED by the Homer City Council this 21st day of November, 2016.                         

CITY OF HOMER

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                                                                                                         BRYAN ZAK, MAYOR

ATTEST:

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JO JOHNSON, MMC, CITY CLERK

Fiscal Note: N/A