Solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux tribe. We Stand with the Water Protectors #NoDAPL #StDD

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

If you were to judge by news report you’d never guess that there’s a fierce struggle going on in North Dakota right at this very minute. They have had no breaking news banners on cable news, little to no attention from the networks, but the Standing Rock Sioux tribe have been putting up a valiant fight for Mother Earth and a clean water supply. Indigenous people — and their allies — from all over North America have joined their brothers and sisters in their struggle to protect their water source.

The primary objective of this diary is to record our [StDD] support for the Water Protectors and to show solidarity with the brave men, women, and children risking life, limb, and liberty in this months-old fight. For a history of the struggle and for cogent commentary please check out the diaries written on the subject by Daily Kos’s Front Pagers navajo and Meteor Blades.

What we need to know about the Dakota Access Pipeline

The Army Corp and Dakota officials made the decision to protect the water source for the city of  Bismarck without residents of that community having to utter a single word in protest. Bismarck just so happens to be 92.4% white.

An early proposal for the Dakota Access Pipeline called for the project to cross the Missouri River north of Bismarck, but one reason that route was rejected was its potential threat to Bismarck’s water supply, documents show.

In contrast, the well-being of the Native Americans living on the Standing Rock reservation was of little or no importance to the decision makers.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe argues that consequences would be severe if the 30-inch pipeline carrying 450,000 barrels of oil per day were to leak near the reservation’s water intake valves. The tribe is suing the corps over its approval of the water crossing.

 

The pipeline would pass through North Dakota's Lake Oahe, which is a sacred burial site for the tribe and their major source of drinking water, according to Business Insider.

In their statement of support for the Water Protectors, the Dream Defenders said this:

The Dream Defenders stand with the Water Protectors in Standing Rock fighting against the Dakota Access Pipeline. Water is life. This movement is our movement. 

The DAPL would carry more than 400,000 barrels of crude oil a day from western North Dakota across South Dakota and Iowa to connect with an existing pipeline in Illinois. It is a 1,100-mile pipeline, estimated to cost $3.8 billion, and is about half-way complete. The water protectors who are protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline are engaged in a critical fight against big oil for our collective human right to access clean water. 

Protecting the Sacred Grounds and Artifacts of Native Americans

On Saturday, September 3, 2016, the company behind the contentious Dakota Access Pipeline project bulldozed land containing Native American burial grounds, grave markers, and artifacts–including ancient cairns and stone prayer rings. The construction crews, flanked by private security and canine squads, arrived just hours after the Standing Rock Sioux tribal lawyers disclosed the location of the recently discovered site in federal court filings.

After reports surfaced of the desecration of the sacred places of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, over 12,000 archaeologists and museum representatives affixed their signatures to a petition calling  on federal government to become more involved and to do more to protect the people and their land.

“We stand with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and affirm their treaty rights, tribal sovereignty, and the protection of their lands, waters, cultural and sacred sites, and we stand with all those attempting to prevent further irreparable losses,” the 1,281 signers said, noting that Native peoples often bear the brunt of industry’s deleterious environmental effects.

“If constructed, this pipeline will continue to encourage oil consumption that causes climate change, all the while harming those populations who contributed little to this crisis.”

And what about the police?

What part are they playing in this fight for justice? What do you think? Law enforcement officers protecting Native Americans on their own land as they fight to prevent the contamination of their life-sustaining water source? Take a guess.

Morton County Sheriff, North Dakota Highway Patrol, and unidentified out-of-state law enforcement personnel repeatedly used chemical weapons (pepper spray, OC gas, and what we believe was a concussion grenade) on the water protectors who simply stayed standing or sitting in the river.

And more:

In North Dakota, police deployed pepper spray and tear gas against dozens of Native American water protectors during a standoff at Cantapeta Creek, north of the main Oceti Sakowin camp where thousands have been resisting the construction of the $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline. At least two people were shot with nonlethal projectiles. Video and photos show police firing the pepper spray and tear gas at the water protectors, who were peacefully standing in the creek. ​

A ray of hope?

It is worth noting that as a direct result of the Water Protectors brave stance, President Obama did intervene and temporarily blocked construction on the pipeline. 

“Furthermore, this case has highlighted the need for a serious discussion on whether there should be nationwide reform with respect to considering tribes’ views on these types of infrastructure projects.  Therefore, this fall, we will invite tribes to formal, government-to-government consultations on two questions:  (1) within the existing statutory framework, what should the federal government do to better ensure meaningful tribal input into infrastructure-related reviews and decisions and the protection of tribal lands, resources, and treaty rights; and (2) should new legislation be proposed to Congress to alter that statutory framework and promote those goals.