Later, we find the actual pipeline does not actually pass thru any actual tribal reservations, actually. HOWEVER...
But many Native Americans in the United States -- and their lawyers -- insist that there are legal obligations under 19th-century treaties that affirmed sovereign status of Native American tribes, which do not pay state or federal taxes and which have their own governing councils and police forces. Moreover, the more recent National Historic Preservation Act and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990 both provide for the protection of Indian burial sites and artifacts. "When it comes to jurisdiction, it's a tough question to answer," said Jennifer Baker, a Colorado-based lawyer who has worked closely with South Dakota tribes. "History has developed so that legal truths get overshadowed by factual realities, and judges tend to mold the law to reflect factual realities."
All environmental impact statements include a section on cultural resources, including the potential for archeological sites. I had to move a borrow pit once, to avoid a "potential" site.
"There is no legal obligation to work with the tribes," said Lou Thompson, TransCanada's top liaison with Native Americans. "We do it because we have a policy. We believe it's a good, neighborly thing to do." He said the pipeline "is not passing through any tribal lands."
TransCanada has flown some tribal leaders to Calgary to tour the company's operations center where banks of computers monitor thousands of points along existing pipelines. And it has trained members of the Alabama ÂCoushatta tribe from south Texas to act as monitors during construction in case Indian remains or artifacts turn up on the tribe's stretch of the pipeline.
That's good enough for me.
"We walk the entire pipeline route and identify sites and alter the route of our pipeline to avoid those sites," said Thompson of TransCanada.
So this should be the end of the story, but there are three more pages.
He said that the company has also asked the tribes to conduct their own studies of sensitive sites. "Sometimes there are areas very significant to the tribes that don't bear any physical evidence," Thompson said. "It might be used to hold ceremonies, but if you walked there you wouldn't see any evidence."
And that's MORE than enough for me!