Once borders are recognized, they should be honored.

Dear Fellow Earthlings, Today it seems the protesters who have established a settlement near that portion of the Missouri River that was scheduled to be traversed by the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL -- See Installment 338.) have achieved a victory of sorts in their solemn attempt to block construction of the pipeline through land that by treaty was long ago deemed to be theirs in perpetuity. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has suddenly announced that it is denying permission for the

pipeline to be constructed under the Missouri River -- at least at the geographical point that had been designated to be "violated" (if I may use the term that best describes my personal feeling here, a feeling akin to those of many of my Earthsaver brothers and sisters (be they of the Sioux nation or any other Amerindian nation, -- or be they of the many non-Amerindians who are coming to realize that ALL who live in areas around the DAPL sphere of influence who being affected adversely). Seeing the land and the water and the air and the animals and the plants and the spirits with which,

to varying degrees, humans along the pipeline have coexisted and -- each of whom according to kerm likes and needs and convenience -- have utilized since their childhoods, being pushed aside for a pipeline that contributes to global warming hurts deeply. Furthermore, continued dependence on the burning of fossil fuels is an idea whose time came with the construction of the first oil well (on Oil Creek, near Titusville, Pennsylvania) in 1859 but which is now obsolete. The very idea of removing underground petroleum is an affront to the truly clever, those people who know hat the best way for us to obtain power for our human needs is the direct way: harnessing the power of the sun without any intermediary power companies, power grids, or power politics! President-Elect Donald Trump has stated that he wants the pipeline built. I ask Mr. Trump to consider what he said about protecting the borders of the United States. We owe it to our immigrants to secure the borders that we have fought so long to define. But we have another set of borders that must IN ALL FAIRNESS be defended: Those of the first

Americans, of our Amerindians/Native Americans. Their borders have been established by treaties

that should be honored just as much as should the treaties that establish our borders with Russian,

Canada, and Mexico. Consistency is so important. If the Seneca Nation had had the the support that the Sioux people are now seeking, then at this

moment we might very well have 100,000 bilingual speakers of Seneca and English instead of the 100 or so (at most) who, at present, claim to be bilingual native speakers of both English and Seneca. We might even have an Allegheny River not deformed by the dam that stands there now due to our failure as united states to defend our Amerindian states! And what is even more movingly tragic, we might even have a population of Seneca speakers who would be proud to share their language culture with all other Earthlings! Steve Walker Earthsaver and Jingles Creator

EarthSaver

Steve Walker

Once borders are recognized, they should be honored.