JT Shining Oneside shared stories about her Ojibwe and Anishinaabe inheritance during the Native American Heritage Month Celebration on Nov. 15. She spoke about the coming-of-age and traditional birth ceremonies. (Photo credit/ Adrianna Adame)
Fort Berthold: Oil trucks killed seven children and youths
By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
HASKELL INDIAN NATIONS UNIVERSITY, Kan. — The trucks ofthe oil and gas industry are responsible for the deaths of seven children and youths, while destroying the land,water and air at Fort Berthold, land of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara, in North Dakota.
Still, Three Affiliated elected tribal politicians continue to push for more death and destruction.
Those oil and gas semi-trucks have resulted in the deaths of seven children and youths in the past the three years, including two children who were three and five years old. Speaking at the Rights of Mother Earth Gathering, Kandi Mossett, Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara, said the energy companies are spending billions on propaganda in North Dakota, and her people are dying.
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| Oil and gas trucks on Fort Berthold land, headed into New Town, N.D. The dust and destruction makes it look like a scene from a war movie. Photo Brenda Norrell. |
“They have billions of dollars to run campaigns with their propaganda.”
Mossett said even though North Dakota is among the windiest states, the oil and gas industry continues to be the focus.
“It is all about oil. People are dying where I come from, literally being killed by semi-trucks.”
Mossett said seven youths have been killed in the past three years, and two of them were only three and five years old. (Listen to the video below.)
She pointed out that the US and tribal officials are now talking about expediting the process.
Mossett was referring to the push by tribal officials to Congressional committees to expedite the oil and gas industry that is destroying the land, poisoning the water and air and killing the people.
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| Kandi Mossett arrested at the White House in Sept., protesting the tarsands and Keystone pipelines. Photo Shadia Fayne Wood/Tarsands Action. |
US Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced new initiatives in April to expedite the oil andgas industry, following a meeting with Chairman Tex Hall who has been pushing for more oil and gas drilling. Hall has also pushed to remove regulations for fracking.
The truth about the oil and gas expansion on tribal land in North Dakota, and the effect of tribal leaders pushing for more drilling, are among the most censored issues.
Mossett, cancer survivor, was among the hosts at last summer’s Protecting Mother Earth Gathering in her homeland. She joined Lakota for a hunger strike in solidarity with Bella Bella to protest of the pipelines and mega-trucks. She also recently traveled to Durban, South Africa, for the UN Climate Conference to tell of the devastation of the oil and gas industry in her homeland. In September, she was arrested at the White House, among the Indigenous Peoples protesting the tarsands and Keystone pipelines.
At the Haskell conference, April 4-6, Mossett, staff memberof Indigenous Environmental Network, said IEN has four full time staff members. Describing how they appreciate support, she thanked Firefly for sendingcookies, and cookies for diabetics.
“Food brings us together in a good way,” Mossett said,welcoming those gathered to the traditional Osage dinner at the Rights ofMother Earth Gathering.
Listen to Kandi Mossett on this video from the open micsession at the gathering:
Recorded by the Indigenous Environmental Network and Earthcycles.
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Copyright Censored News.
Censored news reporter Brenda Norrell
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com
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