(Photo by Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers)
“Our land is more valuable than your money. As long as the sun shines and the waters flow, this land will be here to give life to men and animals. We cannot sell the lives of men and animals. It was put here by the Great Spirit and we cannot sell it because it does not belong to us.”-Isapo-Muxika, Crowfoot, Blackfoot Chief, 1880
In the autumn of 2010, Kainaiwa Resources Inc. (KRI) – a corporation wholly-owned by the Blood Tribe- signed an agreement with Murphy Oil and Bowood Energy. The deal netted the Blood Tribe at least $50 Million and potentially more revenue in the future.
Essentially, the deal is a five-year lease which allows Murphy Oil and Bowood Energy access to approximately 50% of Blood Tribe land, or roughly 129, 280 acres, for oil and gas exploration. The Blood Reserve is located in southern Alberta and is a part of the Blackfoot Confederacy. It is also the largest reserve in Canada occupying approximately 549.7 square miles or 884 square kilometers with a member population of over 10,000.
The type of drilling that is occurring is known as hydraulic fracturing or “fracking”. Fracking is a form of drilling that involves pumping gallons upon of gallons of water, proprietary chemicals (often toxic), and sand under high pressure into a well. This causes the shale or coalbed to fracture and releases the desired natural gas to flow from the well. Over the five-year period, these companies will drill a minimum of 16 wells on Blood land. Generally between 1-8 million gallons of water are used each time a well is fracked and a well can be fracked up to 18 times during its lifetime. As mentioned, fracking also requires a chemical cocktail that is combined with the water. Between 80-300 tons of chemicals may be used each time a well is fracked. Alarmingly, only 30-50% of the water and chemical cocktail are recovered meaning that this toxic waste water is likely to seep into the groundwater and soil around a well.
In April 2011, KRI announced that it had created a new corporation called Kainai Energy. This was a joint venture with Native American Resource Partners (NARP). According to a release from KRI ” The formation of Kainai Energy strategically positions the Blood Tribe to fully capitalize on its oil & gas participation rights designated in two recent joint venture agreements with leading industry oil & gas operating companies and enables the Blood Tribe to secure both the expertise and investment capital necessary to evaluate and fund associated exploration and development costs. Importantly, NARP brings Kainai Energy technical and commercial oil & gas expertise along with a CDN $100 million capital commitment…In forming Kainai Energy, the Blood Tribe has retained all of its rights to royalty payments from development of its reserve land by industry partners Murphy Oil Company Ltd. (“Murphy”) and Bowood Energy Ltd. (“Bowood”), while securing needed capital to participate in its own resource development. The Tribe has also retained exclusive rights to reserve lands outside the existing joint ventures for future development. Kainai Energy will initially be focused on the existing joint venture areas in the emerging Alberta Bakken play as well as other potential oil and gas formations. Kainai Energy will also consider mid-stream and other related energy investment opportunities in these areas. Over time and with success, Kainai Energy could expand its focus both in and outside the Blood Tribe’s Reserve.”
This is yet another worrying move on the part of the Blood Tribe Chief and Council and KRI due to the blatant lack of consultation with tribe members.
There are various issues at hand:
The first issue is the toxic nature of the drilling and its capacity to do irreversible damage to the land and water on the Blood Reserve and surrounding areas. Furthermore, fracking poses a major threat to human health, wildlife and livestock.
The second issue at hand is the nature of the deal between KRI, Murphy Oil, and Bowood Energy. We believe this to be highly problematic for a number of reasons:
- Blood Tribe members were NOT consulted during the negotiations of this deal even though the drilling will occur on Blood Tribe land.
- KRI and the Blood Tribe Chief and Council neglected to maintain any degree of transparency during and after the negotiations. Ultimately, leaving a large population of tribe members completely unaware of the situation until after the deal was made.
- Above all else, the health and well-being of Blood Tribe members and all future generations will be compromised due to the rash and reckless decision by KRI and Blood Tribe Chief and Council to sign this deal with Murphy Oil and Bowood Energy.
Blood Tribe Call to Action:
Blood Tribe members are encouraged to look at this from a critical perspective. What does this mean for our land and people? It is a five-year lease. What happens in five years time? This deal offers short-term employment for a limited population. What happens to those jobs when the oil companies move on to their next venture? What happens to the place that we, the Niitsitapi, have called home since time immemorial? We are left with a landscape pocked-marked by wells which have sucked the land dry and left our water undrinkable. Furthermore, we are left with life-long health issues such as neurological disorders, cancer, asthma, and the list goes on. This, all in the name of “economic development”. Ultimately, your health and well-being along with all future generations of Niitsitapi have been compromised for short-term monetary gain. We must demand a moratorium on all gas & oil exploration negotiated in this deal. We owe it to our ancestors, ourselves, and all future generations to protect Blood land.
Intentions of PROTECTBLOODLAND.ca :
This site is designed to be an information resource on fracking, the deal between KRI, Murphy Oil, and Bowood Energy, and information on how to take action. We urge you to get informed, get involved, and PROTECT BLOOD LAND.