Stand with Standing Rock
Guest Commentary
Published September 7, 2016
By Lakota People’s Law Project
STANDING ROCK INDIAN RESERVATION– The following statement was released by the Lakota People’s Law Project on Monday evening:
Dogs are being sicced on Native Americans protesting against the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) in a chaotic scene reminiscent of the 1960’s civil rights movement. Pictures and video reveal dogs with blood stained teeth as they are being used by private security officers to quell thousands of protesters fighting to protect their land.
Law officials and news agencies are portraying a scene where guards are being attacked by vicious protestors—this is a manipulation of the truth. In one example, the Denver Post writes, “Four private security guards and two guard dogs received medical treatment, officials said, while a tribal spokesman noted that six people—including a child—were bitten by the dogs and at least 30 people were pepper-sprayed.”
Take a moment to examine the structure of the sentence. According to news agencies like the Denver Post, a guard dog’s health status is more important than the child it was sicced on.
Crowd outside Federal Court in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, September 6, 2016. Native News Online photo by Randall Slikkers
This protest is more than just about the pipeline — it’s about a history of broken promises and abuse. It’s about treating the Native Americans in our nation as second-class citizens. Ninety-plus Native American communities have joined the protest, demanding an end to the project.
A former Washoe Tribe leader once said “the health of the land and the health of the people are tied together, what happens to the land also happens to the people.” The DAPL will jeopardize the land in such a way that the health and lives of thousands of Native American will be at risk.
Protests are occurring around the pipeline site, which is a half-mile from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. If completed, the pipeline threatens not only their sacred sites, but also their main water source. Millions of barrels of fracked oil are projected to run underneath the Missouri River daily, which, given the extensive history of leaks and spills of North Dakota’s oil industry, makes the issue of serious contamination an issue of “when” rather than “if.”
Between 2006 and 2014 there were 8,690 reported leaks in North Dakota alone, according to the New York Times. Of those, nearly 30% were “uncontained,” that is, the spill occurred or migrated off the production site to pollute surrounding land and water.
A ruling on the Standing Rock lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for granting the permits for the pipeline is expected September 9th. The complaint cites a violation of the National Historic Preservation Act, as well as the Corp’s dismissal of tribal input and the presence of culturally significant sites.
Last week, the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues reiterated that the Standing Rock Sioux needs a proper say in the pipeline’s construction. Failing to consult the tribe violates Article 19 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People which requires “free, prior and informed consent before adopting and implementing legislative or administrative measures that may affect them.”
The ignorance of the Corps to the necessary legal and ethical parameters is systemic within federal attitudes toward Native American lands. More telling is that the tax revenues being offered to other counties along the pipeline’s path (stretching 1,164 miles from North Dakota to Illinois) will not be offered to Sioux County. Meaning, for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, their land and primary water source will almost certainly be degraded without them receiving any sort of financial benefit or restitution.
Today, a federal judge in Washington D.C. ruled to temporarily halt some of the construction on the pipeline, specifically between State Highway 1806 and 20 miles east of Lake Oahe. Chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Dave Archambault II says he is disappointed that the ruling won’t stop the destruction of sacred sites. This decision yet again shows that the most important political office is that of the private citizen — make your voice heard, stand with Standing Rock.
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Would the white man stand for this if the shoe was on the other foot????NO!!! Of course not!!!These are sacred to the Native Americans and should be honored and preserved. AGAIN,the selfish white man is at it again.Shame on us!!!I stand with Standing Rock and have emailed my Senators on this matter
Yes, my fellow friends–it’s the disease of white man’s greed; sociopath, heartless, mind-disease of $$$ before human compassion. My god, this is 2016–where’s this country’s progress toward “civilization?”
The water is not just for Indians. Why aren’t all nations protecting The Missouri and the Holy sites?
Well…where’s the MSM? Oh yes, they are focused on hilly’s coughing! When a country’s news is controlled by entertainment-hungry CEO’s who want sensationalism and propaganda, rather than confronting the country’s real issues, this is what we get! Americans have to look for the real news, taking time that they don’t have. After all, they have to work numerous, low paying jobs just to survive.
It is imperative to all people that our water and holy sites be kept from destruction. Why is there not people of every nation standing side by side with our friends at Standing Rock?
The court is “waffling”. Probably waiting to see if there is a reaction from their “kill by half” recent decision. I have a bad feeling about the so-called final decision to be rendered on the 9th. Especially since the President, or at least the Senators who are on record as supporting Native Indian rights, have not done or said anything publicly that would stop the madness instigated by 1) the Army Corps of Engineers, 2) the EPA, 3) the gov. agencies responsible for the negligent surveys, 4) the County Sheriff, 5) the Governor & his State Police, 6) the Dept. of Homeland Security, 7) the F.B.I., 8) the oil company & their Guards with attack dogs & mace, and finally 9) the mass media for either NOT reporting, or printing outright LIES, instigating the madness even further. And DESPITE all of this, the PEOPLE are standing UNITED & STRONG. It breaks my heart, to not be there, to know this is a “JUST” fight; and to know that Standing Rock is being fought for ALL OF US, in fact ALL AMERICANS who only want to live in a world, a country, where clean water and air and land are a RIGHT. The people at Standing Rock are fighting this fight for ALL of US.
I traveled to Canon City, CO, from the second biggest city of CO, Colorado Springs to “Stand with Standing Rock,” today. There were over 20 people from that small town, a few American Indians–no reporters, only a few cars “honking” approval. My question and answer is: Why wasn’t Colorado’s second largest city involved with the Constitutional supported protest of this disgusting pipeline? Oh, yes–Colorado Springs is the number one conservative city in the country. As long as conservatives rule our country, pipelines, attack dogs, and mis-placed authority (cops) will control US! VOTE!
Thank you Marsha for such heartfelt words. However it is specifically those involved in this situation directly that are at fault. Not all white people are bad or careless so please try not to group together an entire race. Thank you. As well I feel that maybe it is time for my fellow Natives to rethink their strategies and Remember to always keep Safety 1st.
It is a passionate cause but Our Human lives matter as priority 1.
Let’s not place Ourselves in harm’s way.
I pray that the Great Spirit will give you wisdom. I pray that Mother Earth and Father Sky will hold you in their loving arms and keep you from harm. I pray the Sun will warm the cold hearts of the people who are doing this, so they may turn away from their error and join their brothers and sisters in caring for the water. Water is sacred, water is life.
It is not about Standing Rock Sioux tribe having “a say” but about them making the decision since it is their land.
I concur completely with Richard Smith. Further, the “Stop Fracking” movements should be there side by side with our First Americans in protecting Native rights. Having clean water and a pristine environment are rights we should all hold dear and be prepared to protect with our bodies. The cause is more than “just in my back yard”. We are seeing first hand the greed and desperation of a dirty black industry, an industry that is truly a “dead-man” walking. There does not seem to be a limit on how far greed will carry the oil industry terrorists on narrowly focused profits. And the silence of the politicians and the media is deafening!!!!
My heat is there with our native families but age prevents it.
This ongoing story of abuse is part of a ‘mythology’. Part of the ‘mythology’ is that the lives and reputations of those responsible are not exposed, they are not accountable. We can mistakenly assume their “secret’ is supported, because it is being allowed, it not being exposed by the ‘will of the people’. When the media stop acting as a living bridge between the people and those in power by exposing the truth about abuse, by giving the peoples’ rights a voice, they are by default supporting atrocities like those being perpetrated at Standing Rock against Americans. Publicly naming the perpetrators at each level of abuse from the financiers to the dog handlers is a powerful way to shed some light on this ‘mythology.’Once the people know, they will decide. If we keep hearing the names of the tribes but Not the names of those behind the abuses, we will only remember those names in the story.