Indigenous Youth-Led Anti-Pipeline March Blocks Lake Street Bridge

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A group of indigenous youth is leading marches Friday afternoon in protest of President Donald Trump's orders to expedite both the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines.

The protest, which actually consists of two separate marches, began at 3:30 p.m. Friday. One march departed from the Cretin and Marshall Avenues intersection in St. Paul, and another began from 47th Avenue and Lake Street in Minneapolis. Both marches converged at the Lake Street/Marshall Avenue Bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, where the group has been blocking traffic.

After converging on the bridge, organizers say a prayer ceremony will occur and speeches will be made by community leaders and youth. Kalpulli Yaocenoxtli Mexica dancers will also speak and perform.

"We are standing to resist the further destruction of our earth, to protect the water, to stand for our future generations," Tonja Honsey, one of the march organizers, said. "It is time to rise up and our youth are here leading the way."

Event organizers say Trump's unilateral action will "undo decades" of progress made to address climate change and other critically important environmental issues.

"These pipeline projects like Keystone XL and Dakota Access are and always have been disasters for climate, water, and indigenous rights," Andy Pearson, an organizer with the climate justice organization MN350, said. "In Minnesota, citizens and tribal members are resisting Enbridge's Line 3 pipeline, which would cross the Mississippi headwaters, as well as KXL and DAPL. We need to invest in clean alternatives and keep this dirty oil in the ground."

After months-long demonstrations at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, regulators denied an easement for the oil pipeline in December. On Tuesday, however, President Trump signed executive actions to advance construction of the huge Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines, moving aggressively to overhaul America's energy policy and dealing a swift blow to Barack Obama's legacy on climate change.