Technology in Social Justice Movements

Technology in Social Justice Movements: Annotated Bibliography

Victoria L. Wellman-Teeple

Department of Education, Michigan State University

MAET Overseas Summer

July 22, 2022

Mengden, W. H. (2017). INDIGENOUS PEOPLE, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND CONSULTATION: THE DAKOTA ACCESS PIPELINE. American Indian Law Review, 41(2), 441–466. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26492269 

"There are myriad laws, regulations, and procedures that must be adhered to when private companies extract natural resources on federal lands that impact Native Americans.  The nature of the natural resources being extracted will determine which regulation applies."

Executive order 13175: Consultation

The section following this quote addresses executive orders (EOs), with the first covering consultations. "Tribes are to be afforded the maximum administrative discretion possible and meaningful timely input into administrative decisions that have tribal implications." however, it does not identify a party to be held accountable, and "there is no obligation to act on [tribal governments'] wishes. The only existing requirement expects agencies to listen to tribal representatives before they act."

Executive Order 13007: Sacred Sites

The order instructs administrative agencies to "(1) accommodate access to and ceremonial use of Indian sacred sites by Indian religious practitioners and (2) avoid adversely affecting the physical integrity of such sacred sites."

Similar to the EO regarding consultations, "tribes must use procedural defaults to bring claims on the basis of inadequate consultation in courts of law. And there is no guarantee that agencies have to act on tribal wishes, only that they listen to the tribes. This EO is merely a document that is meant to improve the internal workings of executive agencies, and not actually benefit America's tribes."

Tribal Response to Consultation

"Effective consultation strengthens the trust between the federal government and Native Americans. When consultation is not taken seriously, Native [American] rights are not protected."

"Consultation becomes even more important when tribal resources are in jeopardy. This aspect is highlighted with the following conflict between the Sioux Nation, the federal government, and an oil company clamoring to finish installing a pipeline."

The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL)

"The [DAPL] is intended to carry oil 1172 miles from the Bakken oil field in North Dakota to existing pipeline infrastructure in Patoka, Illinois. ... [DAPL is] meant to transport approximately 470,000 barrels of oil a day... through North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Illinois...."

"The DAPL's projected completion date was the end of 2016 but protests on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation delayed its completion."

Standing Rock Sioux Trive v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

"The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe sued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) under the Administrative Procedures Act for violations of the NHPA in its permitting procedures. The disputed pipeline route is approximately half a mile upstream on the Missouri River from the Standing Rock Reservation on Lake Oahe. Aside from concerns that the construction of the DAPL will disrupt Sioux sacred land, the Tribe is also concerned about the potential for the entire Tribe's water supply to be contaminated."

"Ultimately, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia found that the Corps followed the correct procedure and only had jurisdiction over the portions of the pipeline that crossed federal lands and waterways. Even though the court ruled against the Sioux Tribe, it received a small victory from after heavy media coverage of its protest of the pipeline.  The Corps agreed to review the permitting process and look for alternative routes for the DAPL ... ."

"Energy Transfer Partners took several steps to find a route that would cause the least amount of controversy by participating in forty-three open houses, public meetings, and regulatory hearings ... to allow for public input. It also held 559 meetings with community leaders, tribes, businesses, agricultural and civic organizations, state and federal regulatory and permitting agencies over a two-and-a-half year period. The result was 140 route adjustments to the DAPL. Of these adjustments, seventeen were the result of concerns from interested parties."

"The Standing Rock Sioux received a lot of outside support to help protest the DAPL's construction under lake Oahe. In recent years, environmentalists have collaborated with Native American tribes to protest the construction of oil pipelines."

"It took months of heavy media coverage and outside support to pressure the Departments of the Army, Justice, and Interior to review the approval of the DAPL's crossing of Lake Oahe. Unfortunately, the second look t the pipeline crossing may only have been for the excessive media attention."

"Unfortunately, looking at the turn of events, there is a greater likelihood that domestic oil pipeline construction will see more regulation rather than an increase in tribal authority regarding the consultation process."

Schwab, D. J. (2016). Statistical Analysis of Straits of Mackinac Line 5: Worst Case Spill Scenarios. Graham Sustainability Institute - University of Michigan. https://graham.umich.edu/media/pubs/Mackinac-Line-5-Worst-Case-Spill-Scenarios.pdf

Conclusions and suggestions for future work 

"The main conclusion of this report is that a quantitative analysis of 840 oil spill cases in the Straits of Mackinac using a “worst-case discharge” from Line 5 shows that more than 1,000 km of Lake Huron-Michigan shoreline and specific islands are potentially vulnerable to an oil release in the Straits. This conclusion strongly supports the assertion that under the right weather conditions, a spill in the Straits could affect a significant amount of shoreline and open water area in either Lake Michigan or Lake Huron in a very short time."

Wong, J. C. (2016, November 21). Dakota Access pipeline: 300 protesters injured after police use water cannons. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/21/dakota-access-pipeline-water-cannon-police-standing-rock-protest

Zambelich, A., & Mordant, A. (2017). Photos: The Final Hours of a Dakota Access Pipeline Protest Camp. NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/02/23/516920484/photos-the-final-hours-of-a-dakota-access-pipeline-protest-camp