Native Americans disrupt Keystone XL Pipeline construction

Dozens of Native Americans made a human blockade to keep trucks transporting materials for the Keystone XL Pipeline from entering their land this week. The peaceful protest ended with at least five arrests.

As many as 75 members of a Native American tribe in the state of South Dakota attempted to create a man-made road block on Monday in hopes of halting two tractor trailers that were en route to Canada. According to reports, two trucks hauling materials to be used on the Keystone XL Pipeline attempted to cross into the Pine Ridge Reservation, prompting natives opposed to the oil project to gather en masse and effort a blockade.

Members of the Oglala Lakota tribe are against plans for the pipeline, saying construction could compromise their water supply in two locations, potentially damaging the Earth and poisoning their people for the sake of profit.

“America is built on stolen land and was built with stolen hands. XL Pipeline equipment, anything that has to do with the destruction of Unci Maka (Mother Earth), we don’t want any part of it. They need to stay out of our territory,” Lakota activist Olowan Martinez tells Raw Story.