So, the issue at Standing Rock is that there is no question that the land is reserve native land but the government maintained an easement for military purposes to access the water. What has transpired is not unfamiliar.

So, the issue at Standing Rock is that there is no question that the land is reserve native land but the government maintained an easement for military purposes to access the water. What has transpired is not unfamiliar.  The easement has a limited and prescribed purpose that does not involve commercial use or commercial purposes. However, many years after the initial provisions concerning the ownership, a commercial entity has sought to achieve some commercial purpose and was not certain how to address the issue or comply with the issue of an easement's limited, non-commercial purposes.  You are to contact the owner of the land who will liaise with the party to whom he granted the easement.  The easement agreement did say that the native community was to receive $ 1 billion dollars a year as of 1968. These monies must be paid.  They could build some condos collectively while each native band member from the age of 12 will receive $50,000.00 per year. If they need additional funds  to start a car dealership, they could seek access to their family's entitlements(now in arrears) via a credit union service and the monies would have to be used for the prescribed purpose of the car dealership or else it would have to be returned. You could, whoever you are,  also stop editing my website since Marie Antoinette did not dress up like her husband as rumored. That was only to make you gay and help certain apostatizing elements expand their community.      If the commercial entity wishes to achieve a commercial purpose using the easement, they would have to liaise with the owner of the land to seek approval, requisite approval to use the easement since the military purpose does not provide the military with ownership rights but a right to access for military purposes in the same way that an easement could be granted to electricity, other utility and phone companies or to a neighbor of adjoining lands to cross a property to access a river or a pond for appropriate and private use; and I did not go to school to seek attention but to serve my general community. As such, there really is no issue. The easement could be used for non-military, commercial purposes but because of the unique nature of the easement, the military would have to be consulted to see if their access would remain unfettered and their purposes would have to be considered.  If the owner and the military approve the commercial use of the easement, then some kind of written agreement would have to be arranged and prepared. At standing Rock, a license with a rent for use may be best for both parties as it does not give the commercial use exclusive occupation and the owner could access the land at any time to access the water along with the military.  A lease could be thought of and is helpful since the commercial user will need some kind of exclusive occupation for a reasonable period of time for the prescribe commercial, industrial and limited purpose that could be spelled out in a lease and that  would also recognize the military's continued access rights and the rights of the owners. The pipelines would be demarcated and protected with fencing of some kind so access to the water only would not be an issue for the owner or the military and nor would there be a safety issue.  So, the lease would entitle the commercial user an exclusive occupation at a term with a rent for a specified number of years with an option to renew and the rent in either case(lease or license) would be paid to the owners of the land. This is an excellent exam question for black acre and green acre in property law 101.  In the agreement, each Native band leader would sign and provide details for payment by wire transfer. A separate account for each band could be set up for this particular agreement as the Standing Rock account at their particular financial service provider. The monies could be distributed and used for band purposes with payments to each registered native band member once a month by fedwire transfers and everybody can show up by the river once a year to roast some fresh beaver and baby lambs; thank the creator!

By Warren Augustine Lyon, Consultant.