Joe Biden has said he’ll revoke the presidential permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. Sources say that revocation could happen Wednesday, after the inauguration. A Cheyenne River woman who has fought against South Dakota permits for years says she hopes this time the pipeline project will die.
Elizabeth Lone Eagle’s fight against the Keystone XL pipeline has been prolonged and personal. Now she believes Joe Biden will bring an end to that battle.
“If it actually happens, we’ll be dancing for joy and trying to see when we can plan a party. Can’t do it during a pandemic, but you know.”
The Cheyenne River woman has testified many times since 2014 before the state Public Utilities Commission and the Water Management Board. Although disappointed, she has not been surprised by the state’s granting of permits.
But she has been discouraged by the on-again, off-again nature of the presidential permit marked by changes in administration and years of studies, state and federal hearings, and lawsuits that have alternately shot down or resurrected the project. She calls it the zombie pipeline because it keeps coming back from the dead.
Lone Eagle says the years of doing battle have led to insecurity, a sense that she and her family are not safe. But she says tribal traditions and beliefs have supported her.
“As tribal people, you know, in our way, our traditional spiritual beliefs are the pipe.”
Lone Eagle refers to the canunpa, the sacred ceremonial pipe. She tells of an exchange between the late Debra White Plume, another water protector, and Canadian tar sands promoters.
“One of the things that she said in a meeting they were trying to have, she told them that our pipes are stronger than your pipes.”
The Keystone XL pipeline is still tied up in lawsuits in Montana and Nebraska. Even so, TransCanada has already constructed about two miles of pipe across the U.S.-Canada border and has done construction on pump stations and worker camps in Montana and South Dakota.
Elizabeth Lone Eagle hopes this latest presidential proclamation will put a final end to all that.