Agua Caliente donates $250K to Dakota tribe's pipeline fight

The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians announced Tuesday that they will donate $250,000 to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's legal fund.

The Standing Rock Sioux, a North Dakota-based tribe, is challenging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over its approval of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

"The concern about proper consultation is a long-standing issue that impacts every Indian tribe in the country," read the Agua Caliente tribe's announcement, posted on its Facebook page.

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Also in the announcement, Agua Caliente Chairman Jeff Grubbe called on the federal government to rescind the permit. Grubbe previously published an open letter of support for the Standing Rock Sioux on Aug. 26.

If built, the Dakota Access Pipeline would transport oil from North Dakota to Illinois. The Standing Rock Sioux have said that constructing the pipeline would damage important ground near the reservation and contaminate the water.

The tribe also says the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers did not follow proper procedure before allowing a private company to build the pipeline.

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Two U.S. congressmen — one of them Rep. Raul Ruiz, a Palm Desert Democrat — have requested an oversight hearing to discuss whether the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers followed proper protocol.

In recent weeks, tribal members and environmental activists have come to the North Dakota site in droves to protest the pipeline.