The Yankton Sioux Tribe member has been a prolific opponent of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines.
Faith Spotted Eagle was the choice of one Washington state elector on Monday to be the next president of the United States.
Eight of our state’s 12 Democratic electors voted for Hillary Clinton, in accordance with the popular vote, but four others did not. Three voted for former Secretary of State Colin Powell, and one for Faith Spotted Eagle, a Native American elder from South Dakota.
So, who is she?
Faith Spotted Eagle has been a vocal opponent of major oil-pipeline projects in North America, including the Keystone XL pipeline and the Dakota Access Pipeline.
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Find and listen to past episodes here.Speaking to CNN earlier this year at the Standing Rock Sioux camp near the intended Dakota Access Pipeline path, the elder said the fight over the North Dakota land would be “a battle that’s not going to stop.”
“I think it’s a rebirth of a nation, and I think that all of these young people here dream that one day they would live in a camp like this, because they heard the old people telling the stories of living along the river,” she said. “… They’re living the dream.”
Running a pipeline through Native Americans’ sacred lands is no different than if one were built through Arlington National Cemetery, she told CNN. “You don’t disturb people that have been put to rest.”
Robert Satiacum, a member of Washington’s Puyallup Tribe who had supported Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders as the Democratic presidential nominee, was the Washington state elector who voted for Faith Spotted Eagle. On Monday, he said his electoral vote was for “a real leader” instead of Clinton.
“We live in perilous times. What’s it going to take to wake this country up?” he said. “It never should have come down to this.”
Satiacum said before Election Day that he wouldn’t support Clinton if she won Washington state.
It’s the first time in four decades that any of the state’s electors have broken from the popular vote for president.
Related Podcast: How two other Washington state electors tried to deny Trump the presidency
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