The Week That Was: The Big Stories in Indian Country, November 8, 2015

Nov 09, 20150

This past week brought no shortage of victories and sorrows to Indian country, ranging from the untimely death of a young, beloved singer-songwriter to the rejection of the Keystone XL oil pipeline by President Barack Obama.

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR: No sooner had TransCanada Corp. asked the U.S. government to “pause” its review of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline than President Obama did just that, only permanently. Just days after the company’s request, the President outright rejected the proposal to build a 1,700-mile-long, $8 billion pipeline that could carry 800,000 barrels of bituminous crude daily from the Alberta oil sands to the Gulf Coast of Mexico. Indigenous grassroots and environmental opposition to the project hailed it as a victory for our land and water, while the new leadership of Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, called the decision “disappointing.”