SO, RIGHT NOW THERE IS A STANDOFF WITH THE DAKOTA ACCESS
PIPELINE,
THEY'D LIKE TO BUILD A GIANT PIPELINE, WITH $3.8
BILLION, AND THE STANDING ROCK TRIBE IN DAKOTA.
THE STANDING ROCK TRIBE SAYS THAT THEY ARE BUILDING ON
PROTECTED LAND, AND THEY WANT TO PROTECT THE WATER, THE MISSOURI
RIVER, WHICH THE PIPELINE WOULD LIKE TO DRILL UNDERNEATH.
AND THE DAKOTA ACCESS PIPELINE SAYS THAT IT IS ALL PRIVATE
LAND, SO THEY HAVE THE RIGHT TO DO THAT.
THERE ARE SOME ENVIRONMENTAL INTERESTS, BUT THE PART OF THE
STORY THAT I WANT TO FOCUS ON TODAY IS ABOUT WHO IS RIGHT AND
WHO IS WRONG ABOUT THE LAND.
THE MORE YOU DELVE INTO THAT, YOU REALIZE IT IS
COMPLICATED, AND A FASCINATING HISTORY.
I THINK JORDAN SHERATON HAS DONE AN AMAZING JOB, HE'S GOT A
NUMBER OF VIDEOS THAT LAY THIS OUT.
GO TO YOUTUBE.COM/TYTPOLITICS TO CHECK THOSE OUT.
TO THE BEST OF MY ABILITY, LET ME LAY OUT THE STORY IN A SIMPLE
WAY AS I CAN.
SO, OBVIOUSLY WHEN THE IMMIGRANTS CAME TO THE COUNTRY
IN THE FIRST PLACE ñ WHAT, NOW WE WOULD CALL UNDOCUMENTED
IMMIGRANTS ñ SETTLERS, ETC., THEY IMMEDIATELY RAN INTO NATIVE
AMERICAN TRIBES.
THROUGHOUT THE HISTORY OF AMERICA THERE IS A LOT OF
CONFLICT, AS THAT HAPPENED BOTH FIRST IN THE EAST AND THEN LATER
IN THE WEST.
EVERYBODY KNOWS THIS ONE, RIGHT?
AT TIMES, THE CONFLICT WOULD RAGE AND THERE WOULD BE KILLINGS
ON THE OTHER SIDES, BECAUSE THE LOCAL TRIBES WOULD THINK THEIR
TERRITORY WAS BEING ENCROACHED UPON, AND ALMOST ñ
A LOT OF TIMES IT ALMOST CERTAINLY WAS.
AND YET, THOSE IN THE EAST, THE SETTLERS AND THE AMERICAN
GOVERNMENT EVENTUALLY WANTED TO KEEP EXPANDING WEST, SO
THEY WOULD CONSTANTLY HAVE CONFLICTS.
FROM TIME TO TIME THEY WOULD SETTLE THOSE CONFLICTS WITH
TREATIES.
MAKES SENSE.
THERE WAS THE FORT LARAMIE TREATY OF 1851, AND IN THAT
TREATY, THE NATIVE AMERICAN TRIBES, ESPECIALLY THE SIOUX
NATION
SAID, YOU CAN HAVE THE OREGON TRAIL, THIS IS THE SECTION
YOU CAN HAVE AND WE WON'T BOTHER YOU THERE, THAT'S NOT A PROBLEM.
IN RETURN YOU WILL GET THIS BLOCK OF LAND HERE, BUT YOU
WON'T ENCROACHED THERE.
THAT IS BACK IN 1851, OKAY THAT SOUNDS GOOD.
NOW, LOOK, THEY HAD ALL THE LAND BEFORE, BUT HERE THEY ARE
SIGNING A TREATY SAYING, YOU CAN HAVE THAT PORTION AND YOU CAN
HAVE UNINTERRUPTED ACCESS TO WHERE YOU WANT TO GO.
JUST DON'T BOTHER US, AT LEAST ON THIS PORTION OF THE LAND.
THAT IS A TREATY SIGNED BY THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
AND OUR WORDS SHOULD BE OUR BOND.
I WOULD HOPE IF YOU ARE A GOOD AMERICAN YOU WOULD THINK, IF WE
SIGN A TREATY, WE MEAN IT.
WELL, LATER, IN THE 1860S THEY HAD TO DO ANOTHER TREATY
BECAUSE, HONESTLY, THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT AND HOMESTEADERS,
ETC., KEPT VIOLATING THE EARLIER TREATY, AND RECOGNIZES THAT IT
WAS NOT THE SIOUX THAT WERE VIOLATING THE TREATY, IT
WAS THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT AND THE SETTLERS THAT WERE.
SO IN THE 1860S THEY DID AN ADDITION TO THAT TREATY, AND IN
THAT THEY EXPLAINED, HERE'S THE NEW MAP, THERE IS THE GREAT
SIOUX RESERVATION, THEY CAN LIVE THERE AND BUILD THEIR.
NO QUESTION THAT IS THEIRS IN ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM.
THE YELLOW PART IS UNSEATED INDIAN TERRITORY, WHICH IS ALSO
THERE'S.
IT IS SIOUX NATION LAND, IT IS WHERE THEY COULD HUNT, AND THE
AMERICANS SHOULD NOT BE GOING INTO THAT LAND.
THEY AGREED NOT TO BUILD THERE, THE SIOUX NATION AGREED NOT
TO BUILD THERE, BUT THEY OWN IT, THEY COULD HUNT THERE, AND THE
SETTLERS ARE NOT TO GO INTO THAT LAND; THAT'S WHAT THE TREE SAYS.
TO MAKE THE STORY SHORTER, BETWEEN 1868 AND 1944, THE
SETTLERS KEPT ENCROACHING ON THE LAND AND VIOLATING THE TREATY
OVER AND OVER AGAIN, AND FROM TIME TO TIME CONGRESS WOULD JUST
SIMPLY PASS LAWS SAYING, I DON'T THINK THAT'S YOUR LAND ANYMORE.
THOSE ARE NOT TREATIES, THEY DID NOT ASK THE SIOUX, AND THOUGH
SHOULD NOT HAVE THE FULL FORCE AND WEIGHT OF THE LAW, BECAUSE
IT WAS NOT AGREED UPON BY BOTH PARTIES.
CONGRESS TO SIMPLY WENT, WE'RE GOING TO TAKE IT.
THEY REALIZED THAT, IN 1944 THEY WERE GOING TO ADDRESS IT,
BUT WHAT WOUND UP HAPPENING WAS THEY SAID, WE'RE GOING TO
MAKE YOUR RESERVATIONS MUCH SMOKE ñ MUCH SMALLER.
LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT THAT MAP.
THEY GAVE THEM MUCH SMALLER RESERVATIONS OUT OF THE LARGER
TERRITORY, SEVEN OF WHICH WENT TO THE SIOUX TERRITORY, AND
THE REST OF WHICH THEY GAVE TO HOMESTEADERS.
WHAT ARE HOMESTEADERS?
ANYONE WHO IS ñ ANYONE WHO IS WILLING TO GO OUT WEST, THE
AMERICAN GOVERNMENT WOULD JUST SIMPLY GIVE THEM FREE LAND.
LAND THAT THEY DID NOT KNOW, LANDON BELONGED TO THE
SIOUX NATION.
THEY KNEW THAT, AND THEY GAVE THE LAND TO SETTLERS, WHO
WERE LARGELY WHITE.
PART OF THE REASON THEY DO THAT IS BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T WANT
LARGE SINCE, WHICH HAD SLAVERY, THIS WAS AROUND THE CIVIL
WAR, AND THEY WANTED TO SPREAD PEOPLE AROUND AND HAVE
INDIVIDUALS RUNNING THEIR OWN FARMS.
THAT'S THE POSITIVE SIDE, THE NEGATIVE SIDE IS THAT THEY STOLE
THE LAND THAT THEY AGREED UPON IN A TREATY WITH THE SIOUX
NATION.
IN THE 1940S, THE U.S.
GOVERNMENT RECOGNIZES THAT AND SAYS, THAT'S OUR BED, AND
WHAT WE ARE GOING TO DO IS COMPENSATE YOU FOR THAT,
BECAUSE BY TREATY AND BY LAW WE SHOULD NOT HAVE TAKEN THAT.
SO THEY OFFERED FINANCIAL SEDIMENTS TO A LOT OF
TRIBES, SOME TOOK IT, SOME DID NOT.
THE SIOUX NATION SAYS, NO, WE DON'T WANT YOUR MONEY, WE
WANT OUR LAND.
AT THE TIME THEY WERE OFFERED $108 MILLION.
WHEN THEY DID NOT TAKE THE MONEY, IT GOT PUT IN A
TRUST FUND FOR THEM.
YOU KNOW HOW MUCH IT'S WORTH NOW?
$1.3 BILLION.
NOW, IF YOU'VE SEEN THE VIDEOS OF THE PROTESTERS OR YOU KNOW
ANYTHING ABOUT THAT AREA, YOU KNOW THOSE ARE NOT RICH FOLKS.
THEY COULD REALLY USE THE $1.3 BILLION.
BUT UNTIL THIS DAY THEY SAY THEY DO NOT WANT
THE MONEY, THEY
WANT THEIR LAND.
LET ME SHOW YOU THE VIDEO THAT WE AIRED FOR THE FIRST TIME
EXPLICITLY ON THEYOUNGTURKS.
ITS DRONE VIDEO AND I WILL WALK YOU THROUGH IT AS WE SHOW
IT TO YOU.
SO, THIS IS THE PIPELINE BEING BUILT ON WHAT THE CODE ACCESS
PIPELINE COMPANY SAYS IS PRIVATE LAND.
HEY, I BOUGHT THAT PRIVATE LAND, THERE IS THE MISSOURI RIVER, AND
THAT'S THE DRILLING PAD A HALF A MILE OUT FROM THE MISSOURI
RIVER, AND THAT'S MY LAND BECAUSE I THOUGHT IT.
WELL, THE HOMESTEADERS AT SOME POINT PAST IT DOWN, AND AT SOME
POINT THIS COMPANY DID BY SOME OF THE LAND.
BUT THE SIOUX NATION SAYS, AND THEY ARE RIGHT, ACCORDING TO THE
LARAMIE TREATY OF 1868, THAT IS UNSEATED TERRITORY BELONGING TO
THE SIOUX NATION.
SO THAT IS AMONG THE REASONS WHY WE ARE AT THE IMPASSE THAT
WE ARE AT TODAY.
WHEN IT GETS TO THE WATER IT'S A LITTLE BIT TRICKIER, BECAUSE THE
ARMY ñ THE WATER IS ACTUALLY ARMY ENGINEER CORE LAND, AND I
WAS PART OF THE TREATY THAT WAS SETTLED WITH THE STANDING ROCK
TRIBE OF THE SIOUX NATION.
THE ARMY CORPS DOES ON THE WATER, THE PRIVATE COMPANY
DOES NOT.
THAT IS THE MISSOURI RIVER, IT IS FEDERAL PROPERTY.
WHICH THEN LEADS TO THE FACT THAT WE, AS U.S.
CITIZENS, CAN DECIDE WHETHER THEY CAN DRILL UNDER THE
RIVER WERE NOT.
AND THE ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS AS PART OF THE FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT; THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS US.
WE ARE THE GUYS WHO GET TO DECIDE, HEY, ARE WE GOING TO
HONOR THAT TREATY WITH SIOUX NATION?
THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE OUR WORD, THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO
BE OUR BOND.
WHO ARE WE AS AMERICANS?
ARE WE THE PEOPLE WHO SAY ONE THING AND DO ANOTHER?
ARE WE THE PEOPLE WHO STEAL FROM OTHERS, AND NEVER RETURNED
THEIR LAND TO THEM?
OR ARE WE DECENT, HONORABLE PEOPLE WHO ARE GOING TO
ACTUALLY HAVE OUR BOND MEAN SOMETHING?
NOW LOOK, IF YOU SAY, I SAW THAT MAP, WE CAN'T POSSIBLY GIVE BACK
A GIANT CHUNK OF SOUTH DAKOTA, NORTH DAKOTA, AMONG OTHER
STATES, BACK TO THE SIOUX, AND CALL IT SIOUX NATION.
I GET THAT.
YOU CAN SAY THAT THE CODE ACCESS PIPELINE HAS SPENT ALL THIS
MONEY ALREADY, SO WE CAN'T STOP THE CONSTRUCTION AND SAY,
SAD DAY TO YOU.
BUT THOSE ARE NOT YOUR ONLY OPTIONS.
ONE OPTION IS TO SAY THAT WE ARE GOING TO COME TO A FAIR
AGREEMENT WITH THE SIOUX NATION.
YES, SOME OF THAT AGREEMENT MAY INVOLVE MONEY, BUT SOME OF IT
MIGHT INVOLVE LAND, AND THIS ñ IF THE LAND IS WHAT THEY REALLY
CARE ABOUT, MAYBE THIS IS PART OF THE LAND THAT GOES BACK TO
THE SIOUX NATION, WHO SHOULD'VE HAD IT ALL ALONG.
AND FOR THE COMPANY, WE DO EMINENT DOMAIN ALL THE TIME
TO HELP COMPANIES, WHERE THE GOVERNMENT COMES IN AND
SAYS, NOPE WE'RE GOING TO TAKE THIS LAND SO WE CAN BUILD
SOMETHING ON IT, AND YOU HAVE NO CHOICE, WE ARE GOING TO
GIVE YOU FAIR MARKET VALUE.
CAN WE NOT DO EMINENT DOMAIN TO HELP PEOPLE THAT WERE BETRAYED?
A TRUST THAT WAS BROKEN?
THE ANSWER IS OF COURSE WE CAN, AND IT'S NOT JUST HELP THEM,
IT'S BECAUSE IT'S THE RIGHT THING TO DO, AND IT'S THE LAW.
SO WE CAN COMPENSATE THE COMPANY AND HAVE THAT BE FAIR AS WELL,
AND STILL NOT BUILD A PIPELINE, BECAUSE WHEN YOU LOOK AT THAT
DRILLING PAD SITTING RIGHT THERE BY THE MISSOURI RIVER, THAT IS
SIOUX NATION.
LOOK, FROM SITTING BULL TO STANDING ROCK, THESE GUYS
HAVE NOT MOVED.
AND THEY HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO INSIST ON POSITIONS THAT ARE
ACCURATE AND LEGAL.
THEY HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO INSIST ON LAND THAT IS THEIRS.
I DON'T KNOW IF THEY GET ALL THAT LAND BACK, BUT I DO KNOW
THAT NOW A NEW FIGHT HAS BEGUN, AND ON THIS GROUND THEY WILL
STAND AS THEY ALWAYS DO, AND THEY WILL SAY, NOT THIS TIME.
SO IT'S UP TO THE REST OF US TO FIGURE OUT WHERE WE STAND.
DO YOU STAND WITH PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN THE VICTIMS OF
GROSS INJUSTICE FOR CENTURIES?
OR DO YOU STAND ON THE SIDE OF THEIR OPPRESSORS?
DO YOU STAND ON THE SIDE OF YOUR WORD, YOUR BOND AND THE LAW?
WHERE DO YOU STAND ON THE SIDE OF LAWBREAKERS, WHO DON'T
CARE ABOUT THE RULE OF LAW?
THAT'S OUR CHOICE TO MAKE, BECAUSE THAT WATER ñ THE
MISSOURI RIVER ñ IS OURS.
THE STANDING ROCK TRIBE IS TRYING TO HELP US PROTECT IT.
I THINK IT'S FAIR OF THEM TO ASK US TO NOW FINALLY STAND WITH
THEM.
SIOUX NATION IS VERY PROUD, AND DESERVEDLY SO.
THOSE ARE THE FIRST AMERICANS, AND I THINK IT'S TIME FOR
THE REST OF US, THE OTHER AMERICANS, TO JOIN THEM IN
THEIR FIGHT, AND STAND STRONG WITH THEM.