Filmmaker Josh Fox, speaks during a rally outside US District Court in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016, in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in their lawsuit against the Army Corps of Engineers to protect their water and land from the Dakota Access Pipeline. A federal judge in Washington considered a request by the Standing Rock Sioux for a temporary injunction against an oil pipeline under construction near their reservation straddling the North Dakota-South Dakota border. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
I’ve previously talked about the all-but-ignored demonstration taking place against the Dakota Access Pipeline. Since early August, natives from all over the nation have made a pilgrimage to the Standing Rock Sioux reservation to stand in solidarity with what was at first mostly members of the Lakota and Dakota tribes, whose land is once again being encroached upon.
A federal judge is expected to make a ruling as to whether or not construction can be halted on Sept. 9, and I’m amazed that I just had to type that sentence. How much is enough? How much land does this government need to steal, how many sacred sites need to be destroyed, how many people harmed or outright killed? This is the year 2016, I am in actual shock that I’m writing about something like this.
Over the weekend, things took a turn for the violent. The company behind the pipeline, Energy Transfer Partners (ETP), has already razed sacred sites and burial grounds in their quest to fill their pockets at the expense of the tiny people underneath them.
“This demolition is devastating,” said David Archambault II, chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux. “These grounds are the resting place of our ancestors. The ancient cairns and stone prayer rings there cannot be replaced. In one day, our sacred land has been turned into hollow ground.”
As if that wasn’t enough, as the water defenders learned of the destruction and advanced on the construction, the company (ETP) deployed mercenaries armed with Pit Bulls and German Shepherds on the group of protectors. At least six people were injured by dog bites, an additional thirty experiencing symptoms related to getting a face full of mace, as one of the mercs sprayed the entire front line.
Reports from Indian Country Today Media Network are coming from the front lines of the protect (protect, not protest, as in this instance, it’s not a protest against something happening, it’s people protecting land that belongs to them) that one of the mercenaries unleashed his dog on the crowd, causing some people to try and protect themselves and the dog’s handler to enter the crowd fists ready. The wider media is spinning this as a confrontation between natives and “bodyguards,” but have no doubt, the only confrontations that have happened have been forced.
It’s hard to look at all of this and not draw parallels to an age many natives thought was gone. An age where the federal government uses violent tactics to force indians off their land. Where dogs are unleashed on an indigenous population, their teeth stained with the blood of peaceful men and women. It’s difficult for me to hear reports from the front lines of officers of the law just standing on a hillside, watching, as these thugs-for-hire unleash vicious animals on a crowd doing nothing more than protecting what is theirs. It’s hard to see the wider media ignore these men and women until something happens that they esteem worthy of ratings. It’s hard to see all of this and think of this country as anything more or less than racist, and uncaring of anything that doesn’t involve a dollar sign.
I hope in the coming weeks I am proven wrong. As tribes the nation over unite behind the Lakota and Dakota, I hope something changes and that, for once in this nation’s ugly history, the federal government stands behind the people they’ve repeatedly screwed over.
The Stand At Standing Rock
Filmmaker Josh Fox, speaks during a rally outside US District Court in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016, in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in their lawsuit against the Army Corps of Engineers to protect their water and land from the Dakota Access Pipeline. A federal judge in Washington considered a request by the Standing Rock Sioux for a temporary injunction against an oil pipeline under construction near their reservation straddling the North Dakota-South Dakota border. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
I’ve previously talked about the all-but-ignored demonstration taking place against the Dakota Access Pipeline. Since early August, natives from all over the nation have made a pilgrimage to the Standing Rock Sioux reservation to stand in solidarity with what was at first mostly members of the Lakota and Dakota tribes, whose land is once again being encroached upon.
A federal judge is expected to make a ruling as to whether or not construction can be halted on Sept. 9, and I’m amazed that I just had to type that sentence. How much is enough? How much land does this government need to steal, how many sacred sites need to be destroyed, how many people harmed or outright killed? This is the year 2016, I am in actual shock that I’m writing about something like this.
Over the weekend, things took a turn for the violent. The company behind the pipeline, Energy Transfer Partners (ETP), has already razed sacred sites and burial grounds in their quest to fill their pockets at the expense of the tiny people underneath them.
“This demolition is devastating,” said David Archambault II, chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux. “These grounds are the resting place of our ancestors. The ancient cairns and stone prayer rings there cannot be replaced. In one day, our sacred land has been turned into hollow ground.”
As if that wasn’t enough, as the water defenders learned of the destruction and advanced on the construction, the company (ETP) deployed mercenaries armed with Pit Bulls and German Shepherds on the group of protectors. At least six people were injured by dog bites, an additional thirty experiencing symptoms related to getting a face full of mace, as one of the mercs sprayed the entire front line.
Reports from Indian Country Today Media Network are coming from the front lines of the protect (protect, not protest, as in this instance, it’s not a protest against something happening, it’s people protecting land that belongs to them) that one of the mercenaries unleashed his dog on the crowd, causing some people to try and protect themselves and the dog’s handler to enter the crowd fists ready. The wider media is spinning this as a confrontation between natives and “bodyguards,” but have no doubt, the only confrontations that have happened have been forced.
It’s hard to look at all of this and not draw parallels to an age many natives thought was gone. An age where the federal government uses violent tactics to force indians off their land. Where dogs are unleashed on an indigenous population, their teeth stained with the blood of peaceful men and women. It’s difficult for me to hear reports from the front lines of officers of the law just standing on a hillside, watching, as these thugs-for-hire unleash vicious animals on a crowd doing nothing more than protecting what is theirs. It’s hard to see the wider media ignore these men and women until something happens that they esteem worthy of ratings. It’s hard to see all of this and think of this country as anything more or less than racist, and uncaring of anything that doesn’t involve a dollar sign.
I hope in the coming weeks I am proven wrong. As tribes the nation over unite behind the Lakota and Dakota, I hope something changes and that, for once in this nation’s ugly history, the federal government stands behind the people they’ve repeatedly screwed over.
To say the least, I’m not holding my breath.