Tesoro High Plains Pipeline Appraisal: Am I Invisible?

Am I invisible?  Well, yes and no.  Obviously, I am a living, breathing animal, according to my numerical status under the Department of Interior. Yet, my rights as an allottee and a human being seem to remain non-existent under the same federal umbrella.

The Tesoro High Plains Pipeline Company is the plaintiff in a case versus the United States of America; the United States Department of the Interior; and the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), as part of the Interior Department. The feds are named defendants involving me and the properties of the other allottees on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation regarding trespass. The case number is Case No. 1:21-CV-00090 in the United States District Court for the District of North Dakota, Western Division. 

Strangely, there was absolutely no mention of me or any other allottee as a party to any of the legal proceedings. How is that even possible?  How can a multibillion-dollar corporation and the federal government both propose to usurp my rights as a United States citizen and American Indian property owner? They do it without a second thought; that’s how. 

In reaction, lawyers have made motions to intervene on the allottees’ own behalf. How can we not be a party to an action involving our own property? As ridiculous as it sounds, it is true.  Who do those politically-connected predators think they are? Do they think they can just nullify our rights on our own land, treat us like we do not exist, and we won’t say anything?  Definitely.

Do they think they can just separate us from our property rights with no legal basis to do so?  Probably.

It all started on June 18, 2013, when the pipeline operator willfully let its lease lapse and, as a result, became a trespasser on my land. 

“I wondered who Tesoro negotiated with. Did they have a turd in their pocket? I asked this because it sure as hell wasn’t me, the controlling interest owner, on the said tract of land.”

Todd Hall, Allotted Land Owner Fort Berthold Reservation

Then, on or about June 18, 2018, after five years of trespass, I received a package in the mail from Crowley Fleck, a law firm in Billings, Mont. Within the package were land appraisals where I would be tasked with reviewing a land valuation conducted on my property by Norman H. Lee, an appraiser based out of Hamilton, Mont.  I was not contacted by, nor did Mr. Lee have my permission to do so. Nor did he have permission to enter upon my property to accomplish his task.

There was a cover letter. 

The heading stated: NEGOTIATED OFFER FOR ACQUISITION OF RIGHT-OF-WAY, Allotment ####.

I wondered who Tesoro negotiated with. Did they have a turd in their pocket? I asked this because it sure as hell wasn’t me, the controlling interest owner, on the said tract of land. 

I found out later that the “negotiated offer” was a term being loosely thrown around in an effort to conceal and justify the already five years of trespass. Why? So, the offending party could possibly utilize a legal loophole, which would not hold water anywhere else in the United States except on allottee land on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation.

It was a line of bull-crap, though, because they left one part out of the equation; both parties have to inform the BIA of “good faith” negotiations, not just the offending trespass party.

The problem? The true value of the trespass action far exceeds what the corporation was “willing” to offer. It was and still is trying to settle for pennies on the dollar. The Bureau of Indian Affairs and Department of Justice has, so far, been more than accommodating to the offending party.

In the true spirit of the Meriam Report, the feds enjoin with the offending party to covertly paint us as greedy sneaky Indians, out to get something for nothing instead of being the private citizens pursuing justice that we truly are. 

Tesoro officials maintained it was negotiating in good faith with the allottees, which, when it comes to me, is a bold-faced lie. The BIA apparently accepted the lie as truth, however, because here we are, another five years later, and still no end to this FUBAR quagmire in sight. Tesoro had seemingly negotiated with the “Invisible allottee” and not me. In the meantime, the corporation kept using the pipeline as it enjoyed record-breaking profits, unjustly enriching itself at my and the other allottees’ expense.

“The BIA apparently accepted the lie as truth, however, because here we are, another five years later, and still no end to this FUBAR quagmire in sight.”

Todd Hall, Allotted Land Owner Fort Berthold Reservation

Upon receipt of the package, out of curiosity, I reviewed the appraisal.  In my opinion, its flaws were too many to mention. But the point that caught my eye in the report which is relevant to this opinion piece is this: the purpose of the appraisal report and the intended user list. Guess who is missing from the list of users? You guessed it.  Me and we, the allottee. Sound familiar?

I read. It is quite apparent that the Fort Berthold allottees are not alone in Indian Country when it comes to the federal government’s failures to act, protect, and uphold the law. I am very aware of the lawlessness taking place here and throughout the Great Plains and the pain and suffering associated with the issues we face individually and collectively. 

Yet, the feds seem to do little or nothing. They have and continue to fail us as human beings since the day they began to mandate our camps be placed in concentration around agency proximities and called “reservations.”

Currently, the United States does not oppose the allottees’ motion to intervene in the case at hand. It clarifies, however, that it does not agree that the movants are entitled to intervene of right pursuant to federal policy on the grounds that the interests of the movants are adequately represented by the United States.  I disagree wholeheartedly. It is just another effort to mute, marginalize, and intentionally subjugate; rather than represent our best interests in Indian Country.

How can they represent our best interest when all they want us to do is sit down, shut up, and sign our rights away?