Struggle for Environmental Justice: Comparing Sakdrisi-Kachaghiani Historica Site and Dakota Pipeline Project

Abstract

The article discusses and analyses the challenges faced by the autochthonous populations like Geor- gians and Native Americans in the fight for their natural resources. The article provides a com- parative analysis on how Georgian and Native American nations had to struggle to protect their environment.
In 2004, an important archaeological discovery was made by the German and Georgian scientists on the Sakdrisi-Kachaghiani hill, located at the territory of the Bolnisi Municipality, Georgia. Later, the Georgian and foreign media outlets started discussing the world-wide scale and uniqueness of the pre-historic mine.
In 2013, the status of the Sakdrisi-Kachaghiani, as a cultural monument was deprived and the min- ing company “RMG Gold” got a permission to extract gold in the wider area where Sakdrisi was located, which caused protests from academics and preservationists.
Similar challenge was faced by Native Americans (in the U.S.) in 2016 (the problem lasted till 2020), when protests started around the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota (U.S.). The pipeline was supposed to run from the Bakken oil fields in western North Dakota to southern Illinois, crossing beneath the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, as well as under part of Lake Oahe near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation.