1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,400 Speaker 1: There's this moment that sticks in my head. From the 2 00:00:02,560 --> 00:00:06,400 Speaker 1: very first testimony in the Energy Transfer versus Greenpeace trial, 3 00:00:07,760 --> 00:00:11,720 Speaker 1: Energy Transfer's project manager for North Dakota, that tall, bald 4 00:00:11,720 --> 00:00:15,120 Speaker 1: man named Mike Futch is on the stand and he's 5 00:00:15,160 --> 00:00:18,800 Speaker 1: been speaking authoritatively about exactly how the pipeline was built 6 00:00:19,120 --> 00:00:22,520 Speaker 1: and everything the company did to avoid damaging any culturally 7 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:26,520 Speaker 1: important sites. I can see why energy Transfer put him 8 00:00:26,520 --> 00:00:29,600 Speaker 1: on first. He's got this military vibe that as a 9 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:32,840 Speaker 1: Midwesterner myself, I know that a lot of Midwesterners tend 10 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:36,720 Speaker 1: to trust Energy Transfer's lawyers starts asking about one day 11 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:42,639 Speaker 1: of construction, in particular September third, twenty sixteen. That's when 12 00:00:42,760 --> 00:00:45,920 Speaker 1: Energy Transfer began to expand the pipeline at a specific 13 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:50,159 Speaker 1: site known as the cannon Ball Ranch. The lawyer asks 14 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:54,160 Speaker 1: Mike this key question, how do you respond to the 15 00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:59,520 Speaker 1: allegation that there was desecration of burial grounds, Sir? That 16 00:00:59,560 --> 00:01:03,280 Speaker 1: didn't have and it's a personal insult, He tells the court. 17 00:01:08,360 --> 00:01:12,440 Speaker 1: It's a powerful statement coming from this guy. 18 00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:20,280 Speaker 2: He's cowered and he hides behind a shield that he 19 00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:25,080 Speaker 2: wants to keep him in his little cronies protected. 20 00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:28,880 Speaker 1: That's Cody Hall, the Shyanne River Sioux Tribe member who 21 00:01:28,959 --> 00:01:32,840 Speaker 1: was originally named an energy transfer's lawsuit, and he was 22 00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:35,640 Speaker 1: there at the Cannonball Ranch that day in twenty sixteen, 23 00:01:36,160 --> 00:01:40,000 Speaker 1: as bulldozers tore through what tribal members had identified as 24 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:41,280 Speaker 1: a burial ground. 25 00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:47,000 Speaker 2: They got sneaky and moved their bulldozers and came to 26 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:50,480 Speaker 2: that site and desecrated it. 27 00:01:58,080 --> 00:02:01,240 Speaker 1: One of energy transfers main to accusations against green Peace 28 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:05,600 Speaker 1: is defamation, among other things. They say green Peace lied 29 00:02:05,760 --> 00:02:09,720 Speaker 1: by saying that the pipeline company intentionally desecrated Oceechi Shacoigne's 30 00:02:09,720 --> 00:02:14,160 Speaker 1: sacred sites. But that claim doesn't originate with Greenpeace. It 31 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:17,560 Speaker 1: originates with indigenous leaders. And that's who we're going to 32 00:02:17,600 --> 00:02:24,960 Speaker 1: hear from today. This season of Drilled, we bring you 33 00:02:25,040 --> 00:02:28,560 Speaker 1: Slapped the story of an indigenous nation fighting for its water, 34 00:02:29,080 --> 00:02:34,040 Speaker 1: an environmental nonprofit facing extinction, and an energy giant using 35 00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:47,880 Speaker 1: the courts to punish protesters. It was the end of 36 00:02:47,960 --> 00:02:50,959 Speaker 1: August twenty sixteen, and Cody Hall had been at the 37 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:53,440 Speaker 1: anti pipeline camps on the edge of the Standing Rocks 38 00:02:53,480 --> 00:02:56,960 Speaker 1: Too Reservation in North Dakota for a couple weeks. Now 39 00:02:57,080 --> 00:02:59,120 Speaker 1: up the road from Camp in this area marked to 40 00:02:59,160 --> 00:03:03,000 Speaker 1: be bulldozed. A survey was underway. A respected elder from 41 00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:06,120 Speaker 1: the Standing Rocks Shoe tribe was looking for sacred sites. 42 00:03:06,840 --> 00:03:10,880 Speaker 2: People at camp kind of you know, mistook him and 43 00:03:10,919 --> 00:03:13,240 Speaker 2: his crew for ETP. 44 00:03:13,240 --> 00:03:15,679 Speaker 1: ETP, meaning Energy Transfer Partners. 45 00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:18,600 Speaker 2: We got to go after these people. They are out there, 46 00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:21,240 Speaker 2: you know. And it was like after we found out 47 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:24,280 Speaker 2: it was Tim and his crew and stuff, I was like, no, no, no, no, no, no, 48 00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:26,160 Speaker 2: he's on our site. 49 00:03:26,760 --> 00:03:29,800 Speaker 1: Tim Mentz was the guy leading the crew, which told 50 00:03:29,880 --> 00:03:31,480 Speaker 1: Cody this was important. 51 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:32,639 Speaker 3: Oh. 52 00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:36,480 Speaker 2: I knew a Tim for you know, ever since that 53 00:03:36,640 --> 00:03:40,760 Speaker 2: was just a young, you know, teenager, and I knew 54 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:44,600 Speaker 2: his role. He is well respected for his knowledge of 55 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:49,360 Speaker 2: pretty much everything from the stars down. When Tim talks 56 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:52,720 Speaker 2: about stuff, it is something that you pay attention to 57 00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:57,640 Speaker 2: because it's of an importance to our livelihood and our 58 00:03:57,920 --> 00:04:01,360 Speaker 2: existence that that we keep on on these certain ways 59 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:05,000 Speaker 2: of life. He was like our genius in our cultural ways. 60 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:09,480 Speaker 1: Tim Menz is in his seventies. When his grandma was 61 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:13,160 Speaker 1: a kid, it was illegal to practice indigenous religions. As 62 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:16,719 Speaker 1: he grew up, that started to change. Still, he's faced 63 00:04:16,760 --> 00:04:19,920 Speaker 1: a lot of hurdles in protecting Oceechi Hikogin's sacred sites, 64 00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:22,400 Speaker 1: which is part of the reason that he didn't want 65 00:04:22,440 --> 00:04:25,520 Speaker 1: to talk to me on the record. Instead, I spoke 66 00:04:25,520 --> 00:04:29,320 Speaker 1: to Valerie Gressing, the executive director of the National Association 67 00:04:29,480 --> 00:04:31,720 Speaker 1: of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers. 68 00:04:33,279 --> 00:04:38,119 Speaker 4: What is a sacred site and real speak, I guess 69 00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:40,000 Speaker 4: it's anything a tribe says it is. 70 00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:43,760 Speaker 5: It's a place that they identify as sacred. 71 00:04:43,839 --> 00:04:48,400 Speaker 1: For whatever reason, Indigenous religions are often based on specific 72 00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:52,680 Speaker 1: places and lands. It's why the government criminalized indigenous spiritual 73 00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:56,279 Speaker 1: practices as they colonized what became the United States of America. 74 00:04:57,120 --> 00:04:59,680 Speaker 1: In the nineteen nineties, Tim fought for a change to 75 00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:02,839 Speaker 1: the now Sational Historic Preservation Act that gave tribes more 76 00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:05,640 Speaker 1: of a say in what places get protected from destruction. 77 00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:10,479 Speaker 1: It created the role of Tribal Historic Preservation Officer, which 78 00:05:10,480 --> 00:05:14,120 Speaker 1: over two hundred tribes now have. They especially way in 79 00:05:14,279 --> 00:05:17,359 Speaker 1: on projects built on federal land. In fact, Tim was 80 00:05:17,400 --> 00:05:20,480 Speaker 1: the first tribal Historic Preservation officer in the United States. 81 00:05:21,520 --> 00:05:24,640 Speaker 1: It was a big deal, but it wasn't enough because 82 00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:28,240 Speaker 1: Indigenous nations still don't have veto power over government approved 83 00:05:28,320 --> 00:05:29,479 Speaker 1: construction projects. 84 00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:34,240 Speaker 2: They can still make whatever decision they want if they 85 00:05:34,320 --> 00:05:36,040 Speaker 2: deem it to be in the national interest. 86 00:05:37,080 --> 00:05:41,040 Speaker 1: Outside of federal land, tribal historic preservation officers have even 87 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:43,560 Speaker 1: less of a say in what happens to sacred sites, 88 00:05:44,279 --> 00:05:48,360 Speaker 1: and they're sometimes pitted against state historic preservation officers, who 89 00:05:48,440 --> 00:05:52,200 Speaker 1: are typically archaeologists and have a lot of decision making power. 90 00:05:52,920 --> 00:05:58,159 Speaker 1: The archaeologists often don't recognize that things Indigenous people consider sacred. 91 00:05:58,279 --> 00:06:02,200 Speaker 4: There's not any strong protect for a place anywhere. 92 00:06:02,440 --> 00:06:05,679 Speaker 1: In July twenty sixteen, the Standing Rocks Sioux Tribe filed 93 00:06:05,720 --> 00:06:09,160 Speaker 1: suit against the federal government against the Army Corps, and 94 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:13,160 Speaker 1: that suit really revolved around protecting sacred sites. The sites 95 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:16,440 Speaker 1: Tim was looking for are stones arranged in circles and 96 00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:20,719 Speaker 1: other shapes used for ceremonies and other purposes. They wanted 97 00:06:20,720 --> 00:06:23,080 Speaker 1: the agency to do a deeper review of the entire 98 00:06:23,160 --> 00:06:26,800 Speaker 1: Dakota Access Pipeline route, and they wanted construction stopped in 99 00:06:26,839 --> 00:06:31,680 Speaker 1: the meantime, including on private land. Tim submitted a statement 100 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:35,479 Speaker 1: to the court describing what was at stake. Destruction of 101 00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:39,479 Speaker 1: these sites will eventually destroy generations of family connections to 102 00:06:39,560 --> 00:06:44,719 Speaker 1: these areas of spiritual power. He wrote, these sites still 103 00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:48,719 Speaker 1: retain the ability to mend our people. The pipeline company 104 00:06:48,760 --> 00:06:51,760 Speaker 1: replied that they'd already surveyed the route for culturally important 105 00:06:51,800 --> 00:06:54,719 Speaker 1: sites and avoided most of them. They said, the Standing 106 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:57,200 Speaker 1: Rocks Sioux tribe had had opportunities to weigh in on 107 00:06:57,240 --> 00:07:00,479 Speaker 1: the route, and now it was too late. This was 108 00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:03,280 Speaker 1: all happening. A rancher named Dave Meyer was in touch 109 00:07:03,279 --> 00:07:05,960 Speaker 1: with the tribe. He owned the land where the pipeline 110 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:09,040 Speaker 1: route met the Missouri River, the Cannonball Ranch. 111 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:12,640 Speaker 5: That was our Buffalo ranch as what we were using 112 00:07:12,680 --> 00:07:15,920 Speaker 5: it for. It was a really beautiful ranch. That's pretty 113 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:18,920 Speaker 5: much all grassland, you know, with trees and draws going 114 00:07:18,960 --> 00:07:20,120 Speaker 5: down to the Missouri River. 115 00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:23,720 Speaker 1: So very nice place. Dave says he had a good 116 00:07:23,760 --> 00:07:25,800 Speaker 1: relationship with the Standing rockso tribe. 117 00:07:26,600 --> 00:07:30,080 Speaker 5: We rent a lot of land from him, we owned 118 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:34,520 Speaker 5: land on the reservation. Basically we got along really well. 119 00:07:35,280 --> 00:07:38,120 Speaker 1: They've generally supported the construction of the pipeline. But he 120 00:07:38,200 --> 00:07:41,320 Speaker 1: also didn't see any problem with letting Tim inspect the land. 121 00:07:42,240 --> 00:07:42,440 Speaker 6: You know. 122 00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:46,040 Speaker 5: I did invite Tim Mince right away, and there were 123 00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:48,920 Speaker 5: some other guys with him, and we drove around through 124 00:07:48,920 --> 00:07:52,440 Speaker 5: different spots and looked and stopped on hills and he 125 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:55,000 Speaker 5: was showing us some different rocks and stuff, because I figured, 126 00:07:55,040 --> 00:07:57,360 Speaker 5: if the pipeline's going through there, everybody's going to have 127 00:07:57,400 --> 00:07:59,840 Speaker 5: to walk through and give their opinion. 128 00:08:00,280 --> 00:08:04,040 Speaker 1: On a hot, bright day, Tim traveled about three quarters 129 00:08:04,040 --> 00:08:06,720 Speaker 1: of a mile from Dave's Buffalo fence on the side 130 00:08:06,720 --> 00:08:09,800 Speaker 1: of Highway eighteen oh six to a mode strip of 131 00:08:09,880 --> 00:08:14,200 Speaker 1: land that extended into the distance. It was the pipeline easement, 132 00:08:14,720 --> 00:08:19,120 Speaker 1: the area where Energy Transfer had permission to bulldoze. They 133 00:08:19,160 --> 00:08:22,280 Speaker 1: began to record what they saw. Tim and his team 134 00:08:22,360 --> 00:08:26,560 Speaker 1: sketched eighty two stone features, including twenty seven burial sites, 135 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:30,080 Speaker 1: along two miles of the corridor. It didn't surprise Tim 136 00:08:30,120 --> 00:08:32,640 Speaker 1: too much that so many were there. It was near 137 00:08:32,679 --> 00:08:35,400 Speaker 1: where the Cannonball River flows into the Missouri and it 138 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:37,640 Speaker 1: had long been an important gathering place. 139 00:08:38,520 --> 00:08:43,040 Speaker 2: It was very heartwarming that kind of anied, you know, 140 00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:45,920 Speaker 2: anny up the our position of. 141 00:08:48,520 --> 00:08:51,480 Speaker 1: More of a you know what we need to protect. 142 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:55,040 Speaker 1: Cody Hall spoke to Tim as all this was unfolding. 143 00:08:55,800 --> 00:08:58,720 Speaker 1: Then Friday morning, before labor day, Tim wrote up what 144 00:08:58,800 --> 00:09:02,640 Speaker 1: he'd found. His biggest find was a cluster of stones 145 00:09:02,760 --> 00:09:05,440 Speaker 1: arranged in the shape of the big dipper with a 146 00:09:05,480 --> 00:09:08,320 Speaker 1: grave site attached to the cup from an important leader. 147 00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:13,000 Speaker 1: This is one of the most significant archaeological finds in 148 00:09:13,040 --> 00:09:17,480 Speaker 1: North Dakota in many years. He wrote. His declaration was 149 00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:20,440 Speaker 1: filed as part of the tribe's lawsuit against the Army Corps. 150 00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:23,640 Speaker 1: The lawyers entered the coordinates of the sites into the 151 00:09:23,679 --> 00:09:27,840 Speaker 1: public record. I know what happened next because of Cody. 152 00:09:28,480 --> 00:09:31,480 Speaker 1: I put in a public records request for his arrest report, 153 00:09:31,640 --> 00:09:33,880 Speaker 1: just to fact check details he told me about getting 154 00:09:33,880 --> 00:09:37,640 Speaker 1: stopped by police. But that report had a whole lot 155 00:09:37,679 --> 00:09:40,920 Speaker 1: more in it than I expected. It happened to include 156 00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:45,000 Speaker 1: interviews with security personnel and construction workers who are at 157 00:09:45,040 --> 00:09:51,920 Speaker 1: the Cannonball Ranch that week. The police interviews show that abruptly, 158 00:09:52,480 --> 00:09:55,240 Speaker 1: just after the tribe's lawyers filed Tim's statement about the 159 00:09:55,280 --> 00:09:59,480 Speaker 1: sacred sites, a private security firm working for Energy Transfer 160 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:01,920 Speaker 1: reached out in the middle of the night to a 161 00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:06,360 Speaker 1: security dog company called Frost Kennels. They wanted Frost to 162 00:10:06,400 --> 00:10:09,319 Speaker 1: bring their dogs out to the pipeline route the next morning. 163 00:10:10,360 --> 00:10:15,600 Speaker 1: Energy Transfer was expecting a protest. The report says the 164 00:10:15,640 --> 00:10:18,880 Speaker 1: company had made a change to their construction schedule. According 165 00:10:18,920 --> 00:10:23,040 Speaker 1: to records described during the Green Peace trial. Days earlier, 166 00:10:23,240 --> 00:10:26,320 Speaker 1: Mike Footch had sent a construction schedule to police with 167 00:10:26,440 --> 00:10:28,800 Speaker 1: the date they planned to start bulldozing in the area 168 00:10:28,800 --> 00:10:32,960 Speaker 1: that Tim's surveyed. Instead, the bulldozers showed up more than 169 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:37,559 Speaker 1: five days early the morning after Tim shared the coordinates 170 00:10:37,559 --> 00:10:41,959 Speaker 1: of the sacred sites, construction workers apparently moved those bulldozers 171 00:10:42,040 --> 00:10:46,080 Speaker 1: around fifteen miles ahead of their course, directly to the 172 00:10:46,120 --> 00:10:50,280 Speaker 1: area of the sacred sites. For Cody, that day started 173 00:10:50,280 --> 00:10:52,439 Speaker 1: out normal at the Ochititishi Coin camp. 174 00:10:53,559 --> 00:10:58,360 Speaker 2: That morning was having some coffee and some breakfast, and 175 00:10:58,440 --> 00:11:02,520 Speaker 2: it was like reflecting on what happened during the week. 176 00:11:02,840 --> 00:11:05,760 Speaker 2: Right there was a there was a group of women 177 00:11:05,840 --> 00:11:10,079 Speaker 2: that came down from what was called the Treaty Camp area. 178 00:11:11,360 --> 00:11:14,280 Speaker 1: The Treaty camp was sometimes called the frontline camp. It 179 00:11:14,320 --> 00:11:16,440 Speaker 1: was much smaller than the other camps and located on 180 00:11:16,480 --> 00:11:19,559 Speaker 1: a hill right on the pathway of the pipeline. Positions 181 00:11:19,559 --> 00:11:22,080 Speaker 1: of campers could see what was happening along the route. 182 00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:30,240 Speaker 2: So these women drove down from from that camp, speeding 183 00:11:30,280 --> 00:11:35,560 Speaker 2: through and said, the bulldozers are are up by the 184 00:11:35,760 --> 00:11:39,320 Speaker 2: by the Treaty camp. We need everybody to come up 185 00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:46,760 Speaker 2: and and I thought bulldozers, and what the hell, right, 186 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:50,520 Speaker 2: you know, So I got my vehicle and drove up there, 187 00:11:51,120 --> 00:11:53,840 Speaker 2: raced up there, and here, sure enough, on the left 188 00:11:53,880 --> 00:11:59,080 Speaker 2: side they were bulldozers. I thought, holy, holy crap. Here, 189 00:11:59,760 --> 00:12:04,520 Speaker 2: here's they are on a weekend. Nonetheless, because we knew 190 00:12:04,600 --> 00:12:06,360 Speaker 2: that they took the weekends off. 191 00:12:07,880 --> 00:12:10,520 Speaker 1: Cody knew that this was the same area where Tim 192 00:12:10,559 --> 00:12:13,320 Speaker 1: had identified sacred sites just the day before. 193 00:12:13,840 --> 00:12:16,000 Speaker 2: I couldn't help but thinking, you know, over and over 194 00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:21,880 Speaker 2: in my head of these sneaky bastards. They are trying 195 00:12:21,920 --> 00:12:28,360 Speaker 2: to rid of us literally and no, you know, gloves 196 00:12:28,360 --> 00:12:33,559 Speaker 2: are off. It felt like being pushed, you know, well, 197 00:12:33,559 --> 00:12:35,520 Speaker 2: what are you going to do now? Engine? 198 00:12:35,920 --> 00:12:41,280 Speaker 1: You know, a group of people kicked down the barb 199 00:12:41,320 --> 00:12:45,320 Speaker 1: wire fence. They will have gone through the fence, men, 200 00:12:45,400 --> 00:12:49,720 Speaker 1: women and children. The bulldozers are still going and they're 201 00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:51,959 Speaker 1: yelling at the men in hard hats. One man and 202 00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:52,600 Speaker 1: hard huts. 203 00:12:52,600 --> 00:12:57,600 Speaker 2: Throw one of the rochesters down. I remember looking down 204 00:12:57,640 --> 00:13:01,720 Speaker 2: the road right not eighteen oh six Hords Camp, looking 205 00:13:01,760 --> 00:13:08,520 Speaker 2: to the south, you saw vehicles full of people coming up, 206 00:13:10,200 --> 00:13:15,560 Speaker 2: people jumping out, you know, of all the vehicles and 207 00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:16,760 Speaker 2: running to the west. 208 00:13:17,720 --> 00:13:21,559 Speaker 1: Cody followed the others toward the area where bulldozers were rolling. 209 00:13:22,200 --> 00:13:26,880 Speaker 2: We ran upon it and that's when all these these 210 00:13:26,920 --> 00:13:34,480 Speaker 2: white pickup trucks. These guys jumped out and they had 211 00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:39,200 Speaker 2: their dogs. They had German shepherds and and I thought, 212 00:13:40,559 --> 00:13:43,240 Speaker 2: all right, they have dogs, and what do we have. 213 00:13:44,360 --> 00:13:47,320 Speaker 1: People began grabbing what they could use to fight back 214 00:13:47,400 --> 00:13:49,160 Speaker 1: against the destruction of the sites. 215 00:13:50,280 --> 00:13:53,920 Speaker 2: Some guys are grabbing a serving surveying sticks, and some 216 00:13:53,960 --> 00:13:57,439 Speaker 2: guys are trying to loosen up the steel posts in 217 00:13:57,760 --> 00:14:03,800 Speaker 2: the fence lines and stuff. Others grabbed, you know, rocks. 218 00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:07,440 Speaker 1: The dogs were barking and growling. 219 00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:15,320 Speaker 2: One of our female UH water protectors was talking to 220 00:14:15,400 --> 00:14:19,920 Speaker 2: that female officer, that female and security person, and she 221 00:14:20,080 --> 00:14:23,880 Speaker 2: let go over dog and it bid that while protector 222 00:14:23,920 --> 00:14:27,800 Speaker 2: gal It bit her left boob. That was the end. 223 00:14:28,440 --> 00:14:31,520 Speaker 2: And I saw a few gentlemen, you know, take their 224 00:14:32,080 --> 00:14:36,520 Speaker 2: those surveying sticks and stuff and just whip those security 225 00:14:36,520 --> 00:14:39,080 Speaker 2: officers and the dogs to get them back. 226 00:14:43,640 --> 00:14:46,160 Speaker 1: The police report says that one security guard went to 227 00:14:46,240 --> 00:14:49,720 Speaker 1: the er and three of the dogs were injured. Six 228 00:14:49,800 --> 00:14:52,880 Speaker 1: water protectors were bitten by dogs. According to a tribal 229 00:14:52,880 --> 00:14:56,320 Speaker 1: spokesperson at the time, I asked Cody what he would say, 230 00:14:56,400 --> 00:14:59,320 Speaker 1: So the accusation that the water protectors were violent. 231 00:15:00,160 --> 00:15:04,120 Speaker 2: Your listeners listened to this. They would protect what they 232 00:15:04,160 --> 00:15:09,120 Speaker 2: believe and what they love wholeheartedly. And if that meant 233 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:14,960 Speaker 2: that there was a a consequence, then we'll take it. 234 00:15:16,160 --> 00:15:19,160 Speaker 2: We're not just going to allow a bunch of bulldozers 235 00:15:19,160 --> 00:15:22,680 Speaker 2: to come in, you know. And meanwhile, we're supposed to 236 00:15:22,720 --> 00:15:24,640 Speaker 2: stand on the other side of that bob oar fence 237 00:15:24,680 --> 00:15:29,840 Speaker 2: and just see that desecration and say, oh well, we're 238 00:15:29,840 --> 00:15:32,320 Speaker 2: going to wait for the legal system to protect us. 239 00:15:33,040 --> 00:15:35,960 Speaker 1: The bulldozers and security trucks backed down. 240 00:15:36,760 --> 00:15:41,480 Speaker 2: I remember there was people just throwing the dogs in 241 00:15:41,560 --> 00:15:45,440 Speaker 2: the back of the pickup trucks and jumped in those 242 00:15:45,440 --> 00:15:47,840 Speaker 2: trucks and literally just like drove off. 243 00:15:49,320 --> 00:15:52,600 Speaker 1: When Tim visited the construction site to survey the damage 244 00:15:52,600 --> 00:15:55,520 Speaker 1: from the bulldozers, he could see from the side of 245 00:15:55,560 --> 00:15:59,040 Speaker 1: the road that a significant portion of the site we'd 246 00:15:59,080 --> 00:16:03,160 Speaker 1: surveyed had been cleared. Tim wrote in another declaration to court, 247 00:16:05,400 --> 00:16:08,640 Speaker 1: I do not believe that the timing of this construction 248 00:16:09,040 --> 00:16:11,320 Speaker 1: was an accident or coincidence. 249 00:16:11,720 --> 00:16:17,320 Speaker 2: He added, people were crying, people were mentioning that there 250 00:16:17,400 --> 00:16:21,320 Speaker 2: was sacred sites here, and I didn't want our people 251 00:16:21,560 --> 00:16:25,200 Speaker 2: and our allies to go back to their vehicles. 252 00:16:25,240 --> 00:16:29,720 Speaker 1: Feeling defeated, Cody jumped onto the pile of dirt at 253 00:16:29,720 --> 00:16:32,240 Speaker 1: the edge of the Bulldozed easement and gave a speech 254 00:16:32,520 --> 00:16:34,400 Speaker 1: as people recorded on their phones. 255 00:16:35,120 --> 00:16:37,880 Speaker 2: They're the reason why you all banned up together here 256 00:16:37,880 --> 00:16:43,560 Speaker 2: from all different tribes, because your ancestors said, take one. 257 00:16:43,040 --> 00:16:48,680 Speaker 6: Leave of ackshit, and that's what you guys did today. 258 00:16:49,640 --> 00:16:53,160 Speaker 1: Police watched it and arrested him later that week. This 259 00:16:53,320 --> 00:16:55,280 Speaker 1: was the arrest he told me about in our first 260 00:16:55,320 --> 00:16:59,960 Speaker 1: episode of Slapped. Police weren't the only ones seeing video 261 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:03,320 Speaker 1: from Standing Rock. All over the rest of the country. 262 00:17:03,600 --> 00:17:07,000 Speaker 1: People were watching the footage of water Protectors being attacked 263 00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:08,280 Speaker 1: by security docs. 264 00:17:09,119 --> 00:17:10,720 Speaker 2: It back for big time. 265 00:17:11,119 --> 00:17:14,600 Speaker 1: Suddenly the movement exploded. 266 00:17:14,320 --> 00:17:19,800 Speaker 2: Because within two days we saw the roads on eighteen 267 00:17:19,800 --> 00:17:23,640 Speaker 2: oh six jam packed getting into the camp like there 268 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:25,920 Speaker 2: was a There was a huge amount of people showing 269 00:17:26,040 --> 00:17:29,439 Speaker 2: up to stand up and stand with us. 270 00:17:37,119 --> 00:17:41,399 Speaker 1: Energy Transfer denied they'd done anything wrong that day. They 271 00:17:41,440 --> 00:17:44,360 Speaker 1: even got Dave Meyer, the rancher, to sign a document 272 00:17:44,440 --> 00:17:47,360 Speaker 1: saying he didn't invite tim Mens to survey his property 273 00:17:47,359 --> 00:17:51,119 Speaker 1: for sacred sites. The state of North Dakota sent their 274 00:17:51,200 --> 00:17:56,480 Speaker 1: own archaeologists out to investigate. Energy Transfer's private security team 275 00:17:56,720 --> 00:18:01,520 Speaker 1: created an elaborate security plan involving on police snipers who 276 00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:03,479 Speaker 1: I guess were supposed to come to the rescue if 277 00:18:03,480 --> 00:18:07,720 Speaker 1: someone tried to attack the archaeologists. They called it Operation 278 00:18:07,960 --> 00:18:12,160 Speaker 1: Point Break Yes, also the name of a nineties Keanu 279 00:18:12,240 --> 00:18:15,359 Speaker 1: Reeves movie where he's an undercover FBI agent infiltrating a 280 00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:19,240 Speaker 1: group of surfer slash robbers. After it was over, the 281 00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:22,960 Speaker 1: chief archaeologist of the North Dakota State Historic Preservation Office 282 00:18:23,320 --> 00:18:27,600 Speaker 1: issued a statement. No cultural material was observed in the 283 00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:32,120 Speaker 1: expected corridor, he wrote, adding no human bone or other 284 00:18:32,200 --> 00:18:36,560 Speaker 1: evidence of burials was recorded. He concluded that Energy Transfer 285 00:18:36,680 --> 00:18:41,320 Speaker 1: had not broken North Dakota law. It was a big 286 00:18:41,440 --> 00:18:45,639 Speaker 1: victory for Energy Transfer. The North Dakota archaeologists had just 287 00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:49,760 Speaker 1: undercut Tim Menz's expertise and the stance of the Standing 288 00:18:49,800 --> 00:18:54,480 Speaker 1: Rock Sioux tribe. The bulldozing continued, and so did the 289 00:18:54,560 --> 00:18:58,479 Speaker 1: legal fight, and by then Energy Transfer hired Gibson, dun 290 00:18:58,560 --> 00:19:01,160 Speaker 1: and Krutcher to help them convey the judge to rule 291 00:19:01,200 --> 00:19:09,200 Speaker 1: against the tribe. In the years that followed, the pipeline 292 00:19:09,200 --> 00:19:12,960 Speaker 1: company doubled down on its questioning of what tim mens knew. 293 00:19:13,680 --> 00:19:16,600 Speaker 1: They filed their lawsuit against green Peace, which argued that 294 00:19:16,680 --> 00:19:20,720 Speaker 1: repeating the tribe's assertion that Energy Transfer deliberately destroyed sacred 295 00:19:20,760 --> 00:19:26,400 Speaker 1: sites amounted to defamation. Then, one day, around early twenty 296 00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:30,359 Speaker 1: twenty four, as the trial date loomed, Greenpeace showed up 297 00:19:30,400 --> 00:19:33,720 Speaker 1: on the Standing Rock reservation. They wanted to meet with 298 00:19:33,760 --> 00:19:38,040 Speaker 1: the tribe to talk. It turns out Energy Transfer had 299 00:19:38,040 --> 00:19:41,400 Speaker 1: put a settlement on the table, a way for Greenpeace 300 00:19:41,480 --> 00:19:45,120 Speaker 1: to get out of this trial, and Greenpeace was wondering 301 00:19:45,160 --> 00:19:47,560 Speaker 1: what the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe would think if they 302 00:19:47,600 --> 00:19:52,280 Speaker 1: accepted it, because if Greenpeace did accept the settlement, they 303 00:19:52,359 --> 00:19:56,760 Speaker 1: too would have to undermine the tribe's word on sacred sites. 304 00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:04,840 Speaker 1: Tom Goldtooth is a citizen of the Navajo Nation and 305 00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:08,960 Speaker 1: also has Dakota heritage. He runs an organization called Indigenous 306 00:20:09,080 --> 00:20:10,120 Speaker 1: Environmental Network. 307 00:20:11,160 --> 00:20:14,800 Speaker 3: I've been the lead in our Indigenous Environmental Network since 308 00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:15,919 Speaker 3: nineteen ninety one. 309 00:20:16,520 --> 00:20:19,200 Speaker 1: Tom first got to know Greenpeace at a critical moment 310 00:20:19,240 --> 00:20:20,479 Speaker 1: for the environmental movement. 311 00:20:21,359 --> 00:20:25,240 Speaker 3: We challenged the white organizations back in the early nineteen 312 00:20:25,359 --> 00:20:32,560 Speaker 3: nineties with environmental racism They did not have the native 313 00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:37,119 Speaker 3: people on their boarder directors, They did not hire native organizers. 314 00:20:38,160 --> 00:20:42,480 Speaker 3: Many just came into our territories, you know, to do 315 00:20:42,560 --> 00:20:48,919 Speaker 3: a direct action, you know, rappling down an incinerator power, 316 00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:55,680 Speaker 3: things like that, but not taken into consideration of building 317 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:58,359 Speaker 3: respectful relationship with our people. 318 00:20:59,320 --> 00:21:01,920 Speaker 1: A new set of principles was being introduced, called the 319 00:21:01,960 --> 00:21:05,600 Speaker 1: Jimez Principles. They were guidelines meant to make it possible 320 00:21:05,680 --> 00:21:08,520 Speaker 1: for environmental organizers to be able to work together across 321 00:21:08,560 --> 00:21:13,280 Speaker 1: cultures and across struggles. Two of the key principles let 322 00:21:13,320 --> 00:21:17,320 Speaker 1: people speak for themselves and work together in solidarity. 323 00:21:18,359 --> 00:21:22,080 Speaker 3: Green Peace stepped up in twenty sixteen. 324 00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:24,760 Speaker 1: Tom was one of the people who asked Greenpeace Inc. 325 00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:27,640 Speaker 1: To come to Standing Rock to bring nonviolent direct action 326 00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:30,919 Speaker 1: training and the solar trailer to the water protectors. And 327 00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:34,080 Speaker 1: in twenty twenty four Tom was again talking with Greenpeace 328 00:21:34,160 --> 00:21:37,320 Speaker 1: as they approached their court date in the energy transfer lawsuit. 329 00:21:38,280 --> 00:21:43,320 Speaker 3: Our conversation with Greenpeace said, hey man, this is mucked up, okay, 330 00:21:44,119 --> 00:21:48,359 Speaker 3: and you know, well, we'll stand with you. You know 331 00:21:48,600 --> 00:21:49,520 Speaker 3: you're going to fight this. 332 00:21:52,840 --> 00:21:55,480 Speaker 1: But for a little while it stopped being so clear 333 00:21:55,480 --> 00:21:59,000 Speaker 1: that Greenpeace was going to fight this. Green Pieces leaders 334 00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:01,359 Speaker 1: in the US had gamed out what would happen if 335 00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:05,080 Speaker 1: they did. Given a jury pool in Martin County, North Dakota. 336 00:22:05,160 --> 00:22:08,040 Speaker 1: They estimated they only had a five percent chance of 337 00:22:08,080 --> 00:22:11,720 Speaker 1: winning if this went a trial. They determined that green 338 00:22:11,760 --> 00:22:16,320 Speaker 1: Peace as they knew it might cease to exist. Energy 339 00:22:16,359 --> 00:22:19,600 Speaker 1: transfers lawyers told them that if they simply settled, they 340 00:22:19,600 --> 00:22:24,040 Speaker 1: would drop all this, They would let Greenpeace live. The 341 00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:26,680 Speaker 1: organizations would just have to put out a little statement. 342 00:22:27,640 --> 00:22:30,240 Speaker 1: The statement included a few key points. 343 00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:36,000 Speaker 3: I'll put it into marcuson Telegraph word of mouth that 344 00:22:36,800 --> 00:22:41,760 Speaker 3: I understand is that one of them was that they 345 00:22:41,760 --> 00:22:47,119 Speaker 3: were telling Greenpeace, if we're willing to settle, if you know, 346 00:22:47,359 --> 00:22:51,280 Speaker 3: if you say that there was no destruction through any 347 00:22:51,320 --> 00:22:52,119 Speaker 3: sacred sites. 348 00:22:53,040 --> 00:22:56,840 Speaker 1: The precise settlement language shifted and changed over time. However, 349 00:22:56,840 --> 00:23:01,560 Speaker 1: there were three themes that Energy Transfer kept pushing. Greenpeace 350 00:23:01,560 --> 00:23:04,199 Speaker 1: would have to indicate that there was violence within the 351 00:23:04,240 --> 00:23:08,080 Speaker 1: Standing Rock movement. They'd have to say that the Dakota 352 00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:11,359 Speaker 1: Access pipeline did not pass through the Standing Rock Shoe 353 00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:15,560 Speaker 1: Tribe's land. And the thing that really rippled through Indian Country, 354 00:23:16,680 --> 00:23:20,240 Speaker 1: energy Transfer wanted Greenpeace to declare that the pipeline company 355 00:23:20,400 --> 00:23:25,320 Speaker 1: did not deliberately desecrate sacred sites. In other words, the 356 00:23:25,359 --> 00:23:29,080 Speaker 1: corporation behind the Dakota Access pipeline one of the best 357 00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:33,719 Speaker 1: known environmental organization in the world to undercut assertions that 358 00:23:33,760 --> 00:23:37,160 Speaker 1: the standing Rock Sioux tribe stands behind to this day. 359 00:23:38,520 --> 00:23:42,600 Speaker 3: This would violate that respect of their standing Rock Sioux 360 00:23:42,680 --> 00:23:47,359 Speaker 3: Tribe that relationship because they're continuing to hold. 361 00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:52,440 Speaker 1: A line, But Greenpeace considered it. Over the next few months, 362 00:23:52,600 --> 00:23:55,879 Speaker 1: Greenpeace's US leaders came to out the best and worst 363 00:23:55,920 --> 00:24:00,159 Speaker 1: case scenarios for settlement and a trial. The worst case 364 00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:03,520 Speaker 1: scenario for a trial was grim. A trial might mean 365 00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:06,240 Speaker 1: the loss of a fifty year legacy in all of 366 00:24:06,280 --> 00:24:12,040 Speaker 1: Greenpeace's future impact. It could cause reputational damage to the tribe, allies, 367 00:24:12,119 --> 00:24:16,200 Speaker 1: and other activists who would be forced to testify. It 368 00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:20,280 Speaker 1: could set a legal precedent for suing movements out of existence. 369 00:24:21,119 --> 00:24:23,280 Speaker 1: A trial could put one hundred and thirty five staff 370 00:24:23,280 --> 00:24:26,600 Speaker 1: members out of work and risk the whole global network 371 00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:32,639 Speaker 1: of green Peace organizations. The best case trial scenario didn't 372 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:36,280 Speaker 1: offer much hope. If all went well, maybe they'd be 373 00:24:36,320 --> 00:24:41,160 Speaker 1: able to say we went down fighting. Some concluded that 374 00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:46,320 Speaker 1: any trial scenario would be catastrophic. On the other hand, 375 00:24:46,520 --> 00:24:49,760 Speaker 1: the worst case settlement scenario wasn't looking quite as bad. 376 00:24:49,800 --> 00:24:50,040 Speaker 3: To some. 377 00:24:51,119 --> 00:24:54,840 Speaker 1: A settlement might cause a pr crisis. Greenpeace might lose 378 00:24:54,840 --> 00:24:57,199 Speaker 1: a few million dollars a year in funding, and some 379 00:24:57,400 --> 00:25:03,120 Speaker 1: staff might resign. Manageable, A settlement might mean indigenous allies 380 00:25:03,160 --> 00:25:08,680 Speaker 1: stop working with them. Manageable, and a settlement might mean 381 00:25:09,080 --> 00:25:13,600 Speaker 1: energy transfer uses Greenpeace's statements against the standing Rock Sioux 382 00:25:13,640 --> 00:25:19,800 Speaker 1: Tribe to summit Greenpeace this seemed manageable too. A settlement 383 00:25:19,840 --> 00:25:23,680 Speaker 1: would mean Greenpeace would live to fight another day. This 384 00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:27,320 Speaker 1: was the option supported by Greenpeace USA as Executive Director 385 00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:32,280 Speaker 1: Ebenie Twillie Martin and several senior green Peace managers, but 386 00:25:32,359 --> 00:25:36,359 Speaker 1: multiple people high up in the organization strongly opposed energy 387 00:25:36,359 --> 00:25:41,880 Speaker 1: transfer settlement proposal. For example, Dipa Panmanaba resigned as Deputy 388 00:25:41,920 --> 00:25:46,000 Speaker 1: General Counsel because she disagreed with senior management's position. According 389 00:25:46,040 --> 00:25:49,280 Speaker 1: to sources close to Greenpeace, and some staff members got 390 00:25:49,280 --> 00:25:51,359 Speaker 1: wind of the settlement and organized a letter to the 391 00:25:51,400 --> 00:25:53,680 Speaker 1: board urging them not to accept the terms. 392 00:25:54,520 --> 00:25:58,720 Speaker 3: Through the start to be a division of those that 393 00:25:59,359 --> 00:26:03,320 Speaker 3: wanted Toto and those that said no, we got to 394 00:26:03,400 --> 00:26:04,840 Speaker 3: hold the line. You know. 395 00:26:05,680 --> 00:26:08,679 Speaker 1: Tom gold To spoke to Green Pieces then director Abbeny 396 00:26:08,760 --> 00:26:11,640 Speaker 1: Tulie Martin over the phone multiple times. 397 00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:18,000 Speaker 3: She wasn't a dilemma. The pressure was on, you know, 398 00:26:18,280 --> 00:26:23,399 Speaker 3: the fear. Imagine anyone that has a that that that 399 00:26:23,600 --> 00:26:31,080 Speaker 3: isn't a leadership position of a large organization that if 400 00:26:31,119 --> 00:26:34,359 Speaker 3: they lose this case, they would have to close down 401 00:26:34,400 --> 00:26:40,800 Speaker 3: their offices, right, you know. And that was the depth 402 00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:41,640 Speaker 3: of the debate. 403 00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:47,560 Speaker 1: You know what would have happened if they had accepted 404 00:26:47,560 --> 00:26:49,399 Speaker 1: that settlement and said those things. 405 00:26:52,640 --> 00:26:57,040 Speaker 3: I'm chuckling on this one. Oh jeez, I can see 406 00:26:57,080 --> 00:26:57,840 Speaker 3: you quoting me. 407 00:27:01,480 --> 00:27:02,600 Speaker 1: I know you got something to say. 408 00:27:03,640 --> 00:27:07,080 Speaker 3: I would say, this would end our relationship with you 409 00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:13,679 Speaker 3: with green Peace, it was that serious. This is a 410 00:27:13,760 --> 00:27:18,840 Speaker 3: life and death issue to our indigenous peoples. This is 411 00:27:18,880 --> 00:27:23,200 Speaker 3: a life and death issue to life itself, to water, 412 00:27:23,480 --> 00:27:24,160 Speaker 3: to the river. 413 00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:29,400 Speaker 1: What was her response to that. 414 00:27:32,600 --> 00:27:39,879 Speaker 3: Quietness? And I feel it hit her hard. 415 00:27:45,119 --> 00:27:48,320 Speaker 1: Back on the Standing Rock Reservation, Janet al Chayre, the 416 00:27:48,400 --> 00:27:51,520 Speaker 1: chair of the Standing Rock Shoe Tribe, prepared for Greenpeace 417 00:27:51,640 --> 00:27:52,960 Speaker 1: to accept the settlement. 418 00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:55,800 Speaker 4: We didn't know. 419 00:27:58,160 --> 00:27:59,240 Speaker 1: What they were going to do. 420 00:28:00,040 --> 00:28:04,320 Speaker 4: So I had to basically not only prepare myself, but 421 00:28:04,560 --> 00:28:07,680 Speaker 4: talking to the council and the team. 422 00:28:08,640 --> 00:28:11,000 Speaker 1: She didn't share all the details of what tribal leaders 423 00:28:11,040 --> 00:28:14,359 Speaker 1: had discussed with the Greenpeace lawyers, but she recalls what 424 00:28:14,440 --> 00:28:15,720 Speaker 1: she told the tribal council. 425 00:28:16,560 --> 00:28:20,520 Speaker 4: It doesn't matter if they what, you know, that decision 426 00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:25,640 Speaker 4: is theirs, just like our decision is ours, and we'll 427 00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:29,240 Speaker 4: be Okay, we'll be We'll you know, it'll just make 428 00:28:29,280 --> 00:28:33,320 Speaker 4: it harder, but we'll We're still not going to stop fighting, 429 00:28:33,560 --> 00:28:33,760 Speaker 4: you know. 430 00:28:35,320 --> 00:28:39,400 Speaker 1: Ultimately, it was up to Greenpeace's boards to decide. Nidia 431 00:28:39,400 --> 00:28:43,200 Speaker 1: Alicia Garcia is an Indigenous Chicano organizer who sits on 432 00:28:43,280 --> 00:28:46,840 Speaker 1: greenpeace inks board. It was clear for us that it 433 00:28:46,520 --> 00:28:49,719 Speaker 1: was it was a hell no to media. It was 434 00:28:49,920 --> 00:28:52,880 Speaker 1: obvious that the survival of Greenpeace was not the most 435 00:28:52,880 --> 00:28:55,680 Speaker 1: important thing on the line, But it made sense to 436 00:28:55,760 --> 00:28:58,840 Speaker 1: her that certain people in the organization did want a settlement. 437 00:28:59,600 --> 00:29:03,880 Speaker 7: When you're an eight figure legacy, big Green, you're going 438 00:29:03,960 --> 00:29:07,040 Speaker 7: to have to hire people who know how to keep 439 00:29:07,240 --> 00:29:08,400 Speaker 7: five oh one C three. 440 00:29:08,360 --> 00:29:10,560 Speaker 1: Is viable and the flow. 441 00:29:11,080 --> 00:29:13,480 Speaker 7: And at the same time you're going to need to 442 00:29:13,560 --> 00:29:18,560 Speaker 7: hire people who are fully fully aligned and ready to 443 00:29:18,600 --> 00:29:21,680 Speaker 7: embody the mission and everything they say, think and do, 444 00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:24,160 Speaker 7: and that. 445 00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:26,000 Speaker 8: Is the forever tension. 446 00:29:27,240 --> 00:29:33,760 Speaker 7: In nonprofits that exist to be in service to the movement. 447 00:29:38,040 --> 00:29:40,480 Speaker 1: It came time to vote on whether or not to 448 00:29:40,560 --> 00:29:47,280 Speaker 1: take the settlement, and the boards decided to reject it. 449 00:29:47,280 --> 00:29:49,520 Speaker 1: It came at a cost, though, and I don't just 450 00:29:49,560 --> 00:29:53,680 Speaker 1: mean losing the trial. Abany Tulie Martin, green Piece's first 451 00:29:53,720 --> 00:29:59,160 Speaker 1: black woman executive director, left green Peace USA, but Deepa 452 00:29:59,280 --> 00:30:03,400 Speaker 1: ultimately reached joined as senior legal advisor and media stands 453 00:30:03,400 --> 00:30:05,520 Speaker 1: by the choice that her board made. 454 00:30:05,880 --> 00:30:11,320 Speaker 9: I'm proud that we stuck to our values and decided 455 00:30:11,360 --> 00:30:16,120 Speaker 9: to stay true to the spirit and the mission and 456 00:30:16,160 --> 00:30:19,680 Speaker 9: the purpose of why Greenpeace ever came to exist. 457 00:30:19,720 --> 00:30:24,640 Speaker 1: Anyway, She connects what happened with Greenpeace to what institutions 458 00:30:24,720 --> 00:30:26,720 Speaker 1: all across the US are now facing. 459 00:30:27,880 --> 00:30:31,440 Speaker 8: Look at what we're seeing this happening right now. If 460 00:30:31,440 --> 00:30:33,120 Speaker 8: they don't like you, if they don't like the language 461 00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:37,160 Speaker 8: there on your website, you know, funders, the government, it 462 00:30:37,200 --> 00:30:39,720 Speaker 8: can all everything that's given to you top down can 463 00:30:39,760 --> 00:30:43,520 Speaker 8: be taken from you top down. But at the end 464 00:30:43,520 --> 00:30:49,360 Speaker 8: of the day, nonprofits are discardible, They are revocable. They 465 00:30:49,480 --> 00:30:55,520 Speaker 8: are replaceable, and the movement is not. Relationships are not, 466 00:30:57,080 --> 00:30:59,560 Speaker 8: and morals and values are not. 467 00:31:06,080 --> 00:31:09,360 Speaker 1: A year later, the trial is proceeding. We're in the 468 00:31:09,400 --> 00:31:13,400 Speaker 1: courtroom in Mandan, North Dakota, back with Mike Futch, who's 469 00:31:13,400 --> 00:31:16,520 Speaker 1: still being asked about the bulldozers and sacred sites on 470 00:31:16,600 --> 00:31:20,480 Speaker 1: the Cannonball Ranch. He says, the very day the tribe's 471 00:31:20,560 --> 00:31:25,160 Speaker 1: lawyer filed Tim's declaration identifying sacred sites, he dispatched his 472 00:31:25,280 --> 00:31:28,800 Speaker 1: construction manager and a security contractor to check it out, 473 00:31:29,800 --> 00:31:32,200 Speaker 1: and they told him the sites were outside the pipeline's 474 00:31:32,240 --> 00:31:35,040 Speaker 1: path and the bulldozers would be able to avoid the 475 00:31:35,080 --> 00:31:37,959 Speaker 1: ones on the edge. They decided they didn't even need 476 00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:40,360 Speaker 1: to call in an archaeologist to visit the area and 477 00:31:40,440 --> 00:31:44,360 Speaker 1: double check, and they certainly didn't call the tribe. Here's 478 00:31:44,480 --> 00:31:47,080 Speaker 1: Energy Transfer's lawyer during a pre trial hearing. 479 00:31:47,800 --> 00:31:51,160 Speaker 10: There was just blocks and loose dirt when Energy Transfer 480 00:31:51,240 --> 00:31:53,880 Speaker 10: looked and investigated at those sites where they said there 481 00:31:53,960 --> 00:31:59,040 Speaker 10: might be some culturally significant resources, and there was also 482 00:31:59,400 --> 00:32:03,240 Speaker 10: no human owns or other evidence of burials always recovered 483 00:32:03,320 --> 00:32:04,120 Speaker 10: in that area. 484 00:32:04,440 --> 00:32:06,040 Speaker 1: He shifts his focus and. 485 00:32:06,080 --> 00:32:09,760 Speaker 10: Then what about the issue of deliberates, There's no evidence 486 00:32:09,760 --> 00:32:10,600 Speaker 10: of deliberateness. 487 00:32:11,160 --> 00:32:15,360 Speaker 1: The tribe's argument that Energy Transfer deliberately bulldozed sacred sites 488 00:32:15,640 --> 00:32:18,520 Speaker 1: has to do with the timing of when bulldozers came 489 00:32:18,600 --> 00:32:22,840 Speaker 1: to the Cannonball Ranch. They'd moved the bulldozers there sooner 490 00:32:22,840 --> 00:32:27,400 Speaker 1: than originally planned, immediately after Tim Menz identified the sacred sites. 491 00:32:28,280 --> 00:32:31,360 Speaker 1: On the stand, Mike Futch says Energy Transfer had planned 492 00:32:31,360 --> 00:32:33,640 Speaker 1: at least a week in advance to move the bulldozers 493 00:32:33,640 --> 00:32:36,520 Speaker 1: out of order because a big powow was coming to 494 00:32:36,600 --> 00:32:39,520 Speaker 1: town and they wanted construction in the area to wrap 495 00:32:39,600 --> 00:32:43,120 Speaker 1: up before new people showed up. Mike tells the court 496 00:32:43,160 --> 00:32:46,200 Speaker 1: that he notified several law enforcement officers of the plan, 497 00:32:47,600 --> 00:32:50,400 Speaker 1: except that story seems to conflict with the schedule they 498 00:32:50,480 --> 00:32:54,200 Speaker 1: sent police, and when the Morton County Sheriff takes the stand, 499 00:32:54,600 --> 00:32:57,040 Speaker 1: he says he didn't know Energy Transfer was going to 500 00:32:57,040 --> 00:33:00,000 Speaker 1: be in that area, and he adds that that was abnormal. 501 00:33:00,600 --> 00:33:09,320 Speaker 1: He usually did know the company's construction plans. Another Energy 502 00:33:09,320 --> 00:33:12,760 Speaker 1: Transfer executive takes the stand to argue that another pipeline 503 00:33:12,800 --> 00:33:15,240 Speaker 1: had actually been built in the area way back in 504 00:33:15,240 --> 00:33:18,920 Speaker 1: the early eighties. If there were any sacred sites there, 505 00:33:19,160 --> 00:33:27,360 Speaker 1: they would have already been destroyed by that construction. But 506 00:33:27,480 --> 00:33:30,880 Speaker 1: this is another one of those moments where unexpected information 507 00:33:31,200 --> 00:33:35,480 Speaker 1: is laid bare through a public records request. I got 508 00:33:35,520 --> 00:33:38,480 Speaker 1: a copy of a report written by a contract archaeology 509 00:33:38,560 --> 00:33:42,640 Speaker 1: firm hired by Energy Transfer. They made this map or 510 00:33:42,680 --> 00:33:45,080 Speaker 1: a strip of color shows the area that got dug 511 00:33:45,160 --> 00:33:48,360 Speaker 1: up back in the eighties, and it shows TIM sites 512 00:33:48,440 --> 00:33:52,240 Speaker 1: outside of that zone. So what this executive is saying 513 00:33:52,360 --> 00:33:55,720 Speaker 1: about the existence of sacred sites being impossible because of 514 00:33:55,760 --> 00:34:00,320 Speaker 1: that old pipeline, it doesn't seem to be accurate. The 515 00:34:00,360 --> 00:34:06,520 Speaker 1: pipeline company's stories about the sacred sites aren't totally adding up. Remember, 516 00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:10,520 Speaker 1: Energy Transfer kept pointing to the archaeologists reports to prove 517 00:34:10,560 --> 00:34:15,880 Speaker 1: they hadn't destroyed anything. In fact, that contract archaeology report 518 00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:18,760 Speaker 1: concluded that four of TIM sites were in the Dakota 519 00:34:18,840 --> 00:34:21,840 Speaker 1: Access Pipelines right of way, and one of them was 520 00:34:21,920 --> 00:34:25,880 Speaker 1: covered by dirt when they visited. Greenpeace calls to the 521 00:34:25,920 --> 00:34:30,279 Speaker 1: stand Sebastian Braun. He reviewed those reports as well as 522 00:34:30,280 --> 00:34:31,520 Speaker 1: Timmns's findings. 523 00:34:33,040 --> 00:34:37,280 Speaker 6: If I walk across a field in Pennsylvania, it's a field. 524 00:34:37,600 --> 00:34:40,799 Speaker 6: I don't necessarily know that that was Gettysburg Battlefield. 525 00:34:41,000 --> 00:34:41,200 Speaker 3: Right. 526 00:34:41,600 --> 00:34:44,759 Speaker 6: If I walk across the mall in Washington, DC and 527 00:34:44,800 --> 00:34:49,040 Speaker 6: I see this weird obelisk tower there, I don't know 528 00:34:49,120 --> 00:34:51,799 Speaker 6: that that's sacred ground. I just don't know, you know, 529 00:34:51,880 --> 00:34:55,719 Speaker 6: with anything cultural, I depend on the people from that 530 00:34:55,840 --> 00:34:57,560 Speaker 6: culture to tell me what the things mean. 531 00:34:58,520 --> 00:35:01,440 Speaker 1: I spoke to Sebastian about his t testimony, especially that 532 00:35:01,480 --> 00:35:04,359 Speaker 1: report we mentioned earlier in the episode where the North 533 00:35:04,440 --> 00:35:08,799 Speaker 1: Dakota State archaeologists that he hadn't found anything. Does that 534 00:35:08,920 --> 00:35:14,360 Speaker 1: actually tell you whether or not there were burial sites 535 00:35:14,480 --> 00:35:16,200 Speaker 1: or sacred sites there. 536 00:35:16,680 --> 00:35:21,000 Speaker 6: No, it does not say there were no sacred sites. 537 00:35:21,600 --> 00:35:24,000 Speaker 6: It does not say there were no burial grounds there. 538 00:35:24,120 --> 00:35:28,440 Speaker 6: It does not say anything really apart from we didn't 539 00:35:28,520 --> 00:35:32,840 Speaker 6: find any human remains and we didn't find any evidence 540 00:35:32,840 --> 00:35:33,880 Speaker 6: that any laws are broken. 541 00:35:34,400 --> 00:35:36,920 Speaker 1: He tells me what the report say is simply that 542 00:35:37,000 --> 00:35:39,320 Speaker 1: they didn't find anything archaeological. 543 00:35:40,200 --> 00:35:46,200 Speaker 6: We only find that things are archaeological if we can 544 00:35:46,280 --> 00:35:53,120 Speaker 6: identify them as man made. And as an anthropologist, okay, 545 00:35:54,320 --> 00:35:57,560 Speaker 6: I have to say that is appalling. It is a 546 00:35:57,680 --> 00:36:04,120 Speaker 6: narrow definition of significance and meaning. 547 00:36:05,280 --> 00:36:08,239 Speaker 1: Sebastian says, that kind of logic doesn't even work where 548 00:36:08,239 --> 00:36:12,760 Speaker 1: it comes to burial sites. In indigenous planes cultures, people 549 00:36:12,800 --> 00:36:16,400 Speaker 1: were often laid to rest on scaffolds, so a burial 550 00:36:16,440 --> 00:36:19,560 Speaker 1: site wouldn't even necessarily mean that bones could be found 551 00:36:19,560 --> 00:36:24,120 Speaker 1: in the ground. The other archaeologists basically confirmed what Sebastian 552 00:36:24,200 --> 00:36:27,839 Speaker 1: is saying about the limitations of archaeology in their own testimony, 553 00:36:28,360 --> 00:36:31,000 Speaker 1: which was pre recorded but never made it into the trial. 554 00:36:32,120 --> 00:36:35,759 Speaker 6: Both archaeologists are very honest, as you said, are very 555 00:36:35,760 --> 00:36:41,560 Speaker 6: honest and open about actually not being able to identify, 556 00:36:42,400 --> 00:36:47,239 Speaker 6: recognize significant sites, sacred sites, or to assign meaning to them. 557 00:36:47,280 --> 00:36:49,080 Speaker 6: It doesn't not all say there were no sites, It 558 00:36:49,160 --> 00:36:50,560 Speaker 6: just says we didn't find anything. 559 00:36:51,360 --> 00:36:54,960 Speaker 1: In other words, the archaeologists used by energy transfer to 560 00:36:55,040 --> 00:36:58,960 Speaker 1: prove that sacred sites were not destroyed didn't actually have 561 00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:02,520 Speaker 1: the expertise to know the answer, and indicated as much 562 00:37:02,560 --> 00:37:03,160 Speaker 1: to the court. 563 00:37:03,880 --> 00:37:06,920 Speaker 6: Those are questions that should be left to the people 564 00:37:07,000 --> 00:37:10,160 Speaker 6: who hold that place in significence. 565 00:37:12,800 --> 00:37:17,520 Speaker 1: Greenpeace International's executive director Mads Christensen is called to the stand. 566 00:37:17,960 --> 00:37:20,880 Speaker 1: Energy transfers lawyer Trey Cox points to what seems to 567 00:37:20,880 --> 00:37:23,320 Speaker 1: be the key piece of evidence in their case against 568 00:37:23,400 --> 00:37:28,600 Speaker 1: Greenpeace International, which is a letter written by a different 569 00:37:28,760 --> 00:37:33,880 Speaker 1: organization called bank Track in November twenty sixteen. It's signed 570 00:37:33,880 --> 00:37:39,200 Speaker 1: by over five hundred other organizations, including Greenpeace International. On 571 00:37:39,320 --> 00:37:42,960 Speaker 1: page nine and the letter says that sacred sites were 572 00:37:43,000 --> 00:37:48,080 Speaker 1: deliberately desecrated. Trey is interrogating Mads about the letter, the 573 00:37:48,160 --> 00:37:52,520 Speaker 1: letter that Greenpeace didn't even write. He looks the lawyer 574 00:37:52,600 --> 00:37:56,040 Speaker 1: in the eye. If you're aware of the fact of 575 00:37:56,080 --> 00:37:59,720 Speaker 1: these sacred sites and still go ahead, then it must 576 00:37:59,760 --> 00:38:05,280 Speaker 1: be deliberate. Greenpeace had made their choice. They stood behind 577 00:38:05,280 --> 00:38:08,879 Speaker 1: the tribe. The standing Rocks Doe tribe did not make 578 00:38:08,880 --> 00:38:13,360 Speaker 1: an appearance in court. Janet, the tribal chair, explained to 579 00:38:13,360 --> 00:38:15,840 Speaker 1: me that they don't mess with state courts. As a rule. 580 00:38:17,800 --> 00:38:20,040 Speaker 4: We don't go to state courts. We go to federal 581 00:38:20,080 --> 00:38:23,160 Speaker 4: courts because we are a sovereign nation. We are the 582 00:38:23,200 --> 00:38:28,120 Speaker 4: original sovereigns of the United States, and we went into 583 00:38:28,160 --> 00:38:34,000 Speaker 4: treaties with the United States government, so basically we are 584 00:38:34,040 --> 00:38:38,480 Speaker 4: elevated above the States. She said she's grateful that Greenpeace 585 00:38:38,600 --> 00:38:43,920 Speaker 4: decided to reject the settlement. The demonstration of that strength 586 00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:51,600 Speaker 4: and courage is a huge testament, and to show other 587 00:38:51,880 --> 00:38:57,799 Speaker 4: organizations that you don't undermine your own integrity, you know, 588 00:38:57,960 --> 00:39:01,240 Speaker 4: to take the easy road of anything. 589 00:39:02,560 --> 00:39:06,480 Speaker 1: Ultimately, Energy Transfers deal making felt familiar to her. 590 00:39:07,680 --> 00:39:10,680 Speaker 4: We've always had to deal with the dividing conquer, and 591 00:39:10,719 --> 00:39:14,560 Speaker 4: we do it amongst each other too. But I think 592 00:39:14,760 --> 00:39:19,120 Speaker 4: that wasn't divide and conquer, so to say, of Standing Rock. 593 00:39:19,640 --> 00:39:23,640 Speaker 4: It was to divide and conquer of this planet. 594 00:39:24,800 --> 00:39:27,840 Speaker 1: Actually, that Greenpeace settlement wasn't the first time that the 595 00:39:27,880 --> 00:39:31,160 Speaker 1: pipeline company attempted to use deal making to undermine the 596 00:39:31,160 --> 00:39:35,279 Speaker 1: water protector movement, but the last time Energy Transfer tried 597 00:39:35,320 --> 00:39:38,319 Speaker 1: to make a deal, the Standing Rock Sioux tribe was 598 00:39:38,440 --> 00:39:50,680 Speaker 1: directly in the crosshairs. Drilled as an original Critical Frequency production, 599 00:39:51,560 --> 00:39:54,880 Speaker 1: this season was reported and written by me Allen Brown. 600 00:39:55,600 --> 00:39:59,600 Speaker 1: Our senior editor is Audrey Quinn. Additional editing by Tristan 601 00:39:59,640 --> 00:40:03,640 Speaker 1: Atto at Grist. Our producer and sound designer is Ray Pang. 602 00:40:04,160 --> 00:40:07,400 Speaker 1: Mixing and mastering by Martin Saltz Austwich and Peter Duff. 603 00:40:07,960 --> 00:40:11,920 Speaker 1: Fact checking by Shilpa Jindia. Our First Amendment attorney is 604 00:40:12,040 --> 00:40:15,200 Speaker 1: James Wheaton of the First Amendment Project. We're also a 605 00:40:15,239 --> 00:40:19,040 Speaker 1: member of Reporter Shield. Our impact producer is Lindsay Crowder. 606 00:40:19,400 --> 00:40:23,120 Speaker 1: Marketing by Maggie Taylor. Original artwork for this season was 607 00:40:23,160 --> 00:40:27,160 Speaker 1: created by Victor Pasqual of Digital Navajo. Our theme music 608 00:40:27,280 --> 00:40:30,719 Speaker 1: is by Dear Lady. The show was created and executive 609 00:40:30,719 --> 00:40:34,000 Speaker 1: produced by Amy Westerveldt. The Center for Media and Democracy 610 00:40:34,080 --> 00:40:37,439 Speaker 1: support a document review for this season. You can find 611 00:40:37,480 --> 00:40:40,520 Speaker 1: a companion feature story to this season at GRIS dot org. 612 00:40:41,080 --> 00:40:43,799 Speaker 1: For related stories and to support our work, checkout Drill 613 00:40:43,880 --> 00:40:47,040 Speaker 1: dot Media To follow my work. Check out my newsletter 614 00:40:47,160 --> 00:40:54,080 Speaker 1: Eco files at Allen Brown dot Ghost do im no 615 00:40:54,560 --> 00:41:04,040 Speaker 1: chew che no chew che chi wont want no jewel che. 616 00:41:05,960 --> 00:41:14,600 Speaker 4: Je really want no jeally want no jew. No jew 617 00:41:14,640 --> 00:41:14,879 Speaker 4: want