Attorney Generals’ Support Means Hope for the Future in Dark Times
by Dakota Case
I was surprised when I got a call a couple of weeks ago to tell me that Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson had filed an amicus brief to join my peoples fight against the Liquefied Natural Gas plant being built on our waters. I was surprised but I also felt vindicated. It was the kind of good news I needed. We needed.
Let me tell you this straight up. Life as a Native is tough. Not just with money or politics. There are far better people than me to tell those stories. Except when it comes to Americans’ culture of environmental racism. Or the years of policies aimed at destroying what is left of our way of life. Life as a native is tough because we live all of the struggles of society – not just one or two, all of them – and I think that’s because western society was not designed for us.
People who know me, even those that I’ve spoken in front of at rallies or in classrooms, know some of what I have been through. But I don’t hold myself up as anything special. Everyone in my community has experienced a lot. Not just generational trauma but a cultural disconnect with a society trying to put square pegs into round holes.
I tell you this because I want you to understand why I fight and why sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I don’t fight because my community needs me for something else or I’m tending to family. Then there are those moments where the trauma response takes over and I no longer have a fight in me. Last year our communities suffered so much loss. I personally lost multiple friends and family. Including my dad. Even my dog was run over in front of my house. But I never forget that my story is no different from many others across NDN country.
Sometimes all that is left is to remember who we are. To remember the sacrifices of our ancestors. I think of my Grandma Janet McCloud – Yet-si-Blu – and my childhood memories of sitting around the kitchen table as she plotted and schemed with some of the greats such as Stampede, Russel Means, John Trudell, and Dennis Banks, in an effort to make a change and receive some justice for her people, for us.
I hope I’m clear when I tell you that none of us expect things to rewind back to before our homes were invaded and when our ancestors were forced to sign pieces of paper to give away rights to our homelands. But we will remember that the first Governor of the State of Washington pushed for these treaties to be signed on the threats of our ancestors wading knee deep in the blood of their relatives.
What we do expect is for them now to at least honor their own laws and their own blood deal with us. Whatever way you want to think about who we were, where we were, how we arrived and how we lived, and what happened back then – the treaties are the supreme law of the country that occupies our territories. They were signed because the US had to sign them for international legitimacy. They also knew that we were prepared to fight to the death to save our people.
Those treaties established into law specific things. One was our reservation boundaries. The others are treaty boundaries. Think of it like this; The reservation is where we reserve all rights and sovereignty as a nation. The treaty boundary is somewhere where we retain cultural and hunting rights consistent with our traditional ways of life. The Treaties are protected by the US constitution (article 6, clause 2) which says that treaties are the supreme law of the land. No other federal, state, county, or city law is above or equal to them. Also, the sovereignty of the state is equal to the sovereignty of each tribe under the federal government.
But in the case of Tacoma LNG, jurisdiction after jurisdiction failed in their responsibility to treaty law. In our case the Medicine Creek Treaty of 1854. They have acted outside of their authority when passing the permits. That hasn’t stopped us ‘petitioning’ the government – continually – even though we were ignored at every turn. Several times our peaceful protests – and they were truly peaceful – have been met with full paramilitary police riot units to disperse us, often on our own territory. I have also met with the AG’s deputy and was able to plead my people’s case to him and have spoken personally to the governor, twice. sovereignty as a nation. The treaty boundary is somewhere where we retain cultural and hunting rights consistent with our traditional ways of life. The Treaties are protected by the US constitution (article 6, clause 2) which says that treaties are the supreme law of the land. No other federal, state, county, or city law is above or equal to them. Also, the sovereignty of the state is equal to the sovereignty of each tribe under the federal government.
When Jay Inslee surprised us by withdrawing his support for LNG and Methanol I honestly felt it was just a greenwashing moment as he was preparing to run for President. Maybe I was right as he still has not declared a climate emergency in the State. What is fact is that Jay’s performative opposition to the facility didn’t change anything. Months later it was the state’s own Clean Air Agency that really dropped the last ball. They had ordered, under extreme pressure from campaign groups, a new study on greenhouse gas emissions. They then used a company that had already failed to deliver an accurate report the first time around to write it. They then made decisions on its conclusions even though it was using science that was at least a decade out of date.
AG Bob Ferguson even wrote to the agency calling the reports findings ‘Fictional’ but that never changed anything either. Eventually, they passed the permit without Bob following up on his letter with any real action. A few months after they passed the permit, a review backed Bobs fictional opinion. Methane release from Canadian wells was 25 to 50% higher than they were reporting in the SEIS. But now something has changed. The Puyallup Tribe is in an ongoing lawsuit against PSE. We have moved from raising awareness on the streets into the courtrooms. We are supported by several allied groups. They bring expertise and finances to the lawsuit. Many other activists on the ground are still putting in work on our behalf. My tribe has led this latest opposition to this point and I can’t be more proud of them.
In my opinion, PSE is doubling down. They have media campaigns (one even aimed at children) trying to justify their role in the community. PSE is owned by investment groups and has been sold at least once since this project started, most recently to a Canadian hedge fund. It was previously owned by an Australian company. Definitely not local.
I believe that Tacoma LNG is just a cash cow and PSE is getting desperate to push their investment gamble through. They have cut costs everywhere to fight for this. They even shut many of their offices in the State, putting people out of work while petitioning to push up prices on customers by burdening them with almost half the cost of the build. Most recently they have pumped a large amount of those savings on high-end lawyers to fight this lawsuit. This had let us believe that our path ahead might be difficult. Especially as they are working fast and hard to be able to fire up and start to fill the giant storage tank even though they are probably years away from having any meaningful customers.
This is why I am grateful today for Bob Ferguson adding the weight of his office and his platform to our fight. My tribe and the state share sovereignty and our treaties protect our way of life. To finally see the State stand side by side with my people in fighting to protect who we are and the future of all people is heartwarming and fills me with hope.
Thank you, Bob Ferguson, from this appreciative Water Warrior on behalf of my children.
Relation to Ancestral Waters: A Documentary
First appearing on January 27, 2021, this article is part of an ongoing series documenting the Indigenous-led campaign against the Tacoma LNG facility.
The article has since been edited to remove time-sensitive elements, such as calls to action, in order to serve as an historical and educational resource. You can also explore other related articles and resources on the Ancestral Waters page for a more contextual understanding of the issues and events.
While the full “Ancestral Waters” documentary is available for screenings, we invite you to watch the trailer for a glimpse into the comprehensive story of resiliency and activism told in the film.
