Oceti Sakowin Camp For Immediate Release Oglala Sioux Tribe Calls for Protection of the Water Protectors and Condemns Army Corps’ Illegal Granting of Easement of Dakota Access February 8th, 2017 Rapid City, SD—President Troy “Scott” Weston of the Oglala Sioux Tribe today condemned the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer’s notice that it will grant an easement for the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) to cross Lake Oahe with a 24 hour waiting period. President Weston called for protectors saying: “The water protectors have our complete support. We thank them for protecting our sacred river and for protecting our treaty rights. We call on law enforcement to protect their rights to assemble, pray, and voice opposition to the DAPL and to the continued trampling of tribal treaty rights by the United States.” The Oglala Sioux Tribe is part of the Oceti Sakowin (Seven Council Fires), also known as the Great Sioux Nation. President Weston stated that the DAPL threatens the rights not only of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe but also of other tribes in the Great Sioux Nation. This threat extends to the Oglala Sioux Tribe’s treaty-protected water rights and its drinking water facility established under the Mini Wiconi Project Act. President Weston condemned the granting of the DAPL easement as “illegal.” He said granting the easement violated the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie, the tribes’ rights under the U.S. Constitution, indigenous human rights as recognized by the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, federal environmental law, and federal law governing the the United States’ trust responsibilities. “The Corps failed to analyze impacts to our rights and our Mni Wiconi Project in its environmental review, and the review it did was otherwise faulty and insufficient,” President Weston said. “Given the brutality law enforcement has inflicted on the water protectors in the past, the Oglala Sioux Tribe is deeply concerned that the Army Corps’ action in granting the easement will lead to bloodshed,” President Weston said. “Law enforcement needs to consult with our Tribe before taking any action that affects our citizens who are protecting the water.” Darla Blue Oglala Sioux Tribe Office of the President PO Box #2070 Pine Ridge, South Dakota 57770 1.605.867.5821 ext. (O) 1.605.8676076 ext. (F) Obtained from web:https://www.facebook.com/OcetiSakowinCamp/photos/a.1005331956278703.1073741828.1002053226606576/1104638839681347/?type=3&theater