Vol. 80/No. 42 November 7, 2016
Standing Rock Sioux defend their water, win solidarity
The route for the Dakota Access Pipeline passes just north of the border of the reservation. But the Sioux never agreed to relinquish that land and they still consider it theirs, JR American Horse, a camp leader from the Standing Rock Sioux, said during a discussion with Osborne Hart and David Rosenfeld, Socialist Workers Party candidates for U.S. vice president and U.S. Senate from Minnesota, and others at the camp Oct. 15. The pipeline will pass under the Missouri River at Lake Oahe, which provides water for Standing Rock, and through sacred and burial sites.
“Farmers in the area have contributed produce,” American Horse said. “They have been forced by eminent domain to let the pipeline be built on their land. They often have tears in their eyes and they tell us to fight the pipeline because they can’t.”
Oceti Sakowin is the largest of several solidarity camps. It has hundreds of tents and tepees and is well organized.
Brenda Guachena, from the Luiseño tribe in the San Diego area, came with a trailer full of food and money donated from four tribes in her region. “It is heartwarming to see all the tribes who have come together,” she said.
Helping her was Rose Little-Butler from Winnemucca, Nevada, whose husband is a member of the Blackfeet tribe and was in the military. “My son has served four tours of duty in Afghanistan,” Little-Butler said, “and no one is going to tell me where I can pray or protect the water.”
Kelsey Robertson, who is Eskimo, came from Fairbanks, Alaska, to support the fight. “We had a big oil spill in Valdez” in 1989, she said. “I don’t want it to happen again here. We have to look at more eco-friendly sources of power.”
In September the Sioux won a temporary administrative injunction halting work on the pipeline within 20 miles of Lake Oahe. A federal appeals court lifted the injunction Oct. 9. Since then Energy Transfer Partners, the builder of the pipeline, has resumed construction on private land, though permits by the Army Corps of Engineers to cross under the Missouri River are still pending.
Thirty-five law enforcement agencies across North Dakota and Wisconsin have sent cops to confront the daily protests. On Oct. 15, after police blocked a caravan of protesters from reaching one of the construction sites, about 150 hiked the last four miles. They were confronted by 100 cops with a helicopter overhead and armored vehicles. The construction workers were evacuated. The protesters sang and beat drums for an hour and left with no arrests.
Fourteen protesters were arrested by police at another construction site.
Much activity in the camp now is preparing for the winter months. Among those here are students from the Inter-Tribal Student Council at the University of Nebraska, Omaha. They’ve done fundraising on campus and held protests at the Army Corps of Engineers office in Omaha. “We bring new people here every time,” said Jordan Matula, who is Oglala. “This is not just a native issue.”
Chauncey Peltier, the son of Leonard Peltier, was collecting postcards requesting presidential clemency for his father, who has been in prison for over 40 years on frame-up charges for his participation in the fight for Native American rights. There are several Free Leonard Peltier banners on the main road into the camp.
National Nurses United issued a statement of solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux, and volunteer members of the labor union are helping to provide medical care at the camps.
Related articles:
SWP candidate: ‘Defend Sioux tribe’s treaty rights’
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