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EcoUnionist News #119 - #NoDAPL Update
Compiled by x344543 - IWW Environmental Unionism Caucus, August 31, 2016
Statement from Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairman, Dave Archambault II, August 15, 2016:
The United States via the Army Corps of Engineers is in the mist of moving ahead with an oil pipeline that officials are claiming is not potentially harmful to the Standing Rock Sioux Nation. I am here to advise anyone that will listen, that the Dakota Access Pipeline Project is harmful. It will not be just harmful to my people but its intent and construction will harm the water in the Missouri River, which is one of the cleanest and safest river tributary left in the United States.
We have been told by the officials that there will be breaches in the pipe line, but they claim that the situations are generally never very bad. This is unacceptable.
Our Mother Earth is sacred. All things evolve and work together. To poison the water, is to poison the substance of life. Everything that moves must have water. How can we talk about and knowingly poison water?
I’ve been told and taught that it is our responsibility to stand for our relatives, the ones that crawl, the ones that fly, the ones that burrow, the ones that swim, the ones that flower. Relatives that cannot speak for themselves. Who will speak for them? We have to speak for those who are not here – our ancestors, for those children who are not yet born. Our ancestors left sacred sites for us. We have to speak for them. Children not yet born will not live without water. We have to speak for them.
Several of our Lakota and Dakota relatives have had visions and dreams. They have been visited in a spiritual sense and have been told that there is a black poisonous snake trying to come among us. Our relatives have said this.
Our instructions say snakes are good – they serve a great purpose in the web of life. Our elders and the elders before them have given us wonderful teachings and a beautiful way to live and co-exist with all that is, however, the black poisonous snake we are being warned about does not come from the Creator. It is man-made and the creature is made of nothing but Greed. There is nothing good that has ever come from Greed. Greed is pure poison. It blinds and twists thinking. It is what my people have endured and continue to endure.
Right now the Rosebud reservation, the Cheyenne River reservation, the Pine Ridge reservation and my Standing Rock reservation represent five of the 10 poorest places or counties in the United States, according to the 2010 Census. Our state of being is not our fault. We did not cause this. United States lawmakers and their policies caused this. Why?? Greed – and now again, even what little we have left is under attack.
Is it too much to respectfully and peaceably request that we not live in fear of being bitten by this creature of eminent harm? Isn’t living in fear and terror unacceptable in the United States?
The United States should use all its will and power to be a real great world leader. It should swear off oil production because we all know it is harmful to it is to our planet. The United States should use all its wisdom and technology to develop alternative sources of power. It should be a great wise leader to preserve and enhance this earth, not knowingly destroy the webs of life.
What I ask is that my fellow American citizens stand with my people to stand with us. I ask you to please call or write your Senators and Representative to stop this blindness and this greed.
And, if nothing else, please, offer a prayer for my people and all the people who are standing with us in prayer. Just offer some thoughts of protection for us. We ask that you offer a prayer for sensibility and common sense on behalf of all the two-legged that walk as this is not just a Lakota/Dakota issue, this is a human issue.
This land that is being disturbed was once ours. Our people, our Indian Nations lived and governed our peoples all over this territory. This land across the Cannonball River that is now threatened was forcibly taken from us and there was nothing that we could do about it then and now.
Nonetheless, we still believe that we are the keepers of this beautiful land. Although it was taken from us, we know, we must stand and speak on this land’s behalf. We want everyone and the federal government to respect this land and take care of it. That is why our people are standing up and standing with the land and water. We have to be here. It is instructions that the Creator has given us. We have to be here. We have to stand to protect ourselves and those cannot speak for themselves.
When the President of the United States came to Cannonball, I did not ask him for anything. I tried to let his wife, Michelle and him, see for themselves a little of our reality. They saw our people in our happiest times, singing and dancing, but they also heard the tough reality of life for so many of our youth.
I believe both were impacted but knowing what I know now, I wish I would have asked President Obama to help us in this struggle.
I will pass away someday, which is all part of the Creator’s plan, but I have a son and daughter. I have no doubt that they will give me grandchildren. What will we leave for our grandchildren? Poisoned water? The substance of Life! In my language, we describe water as the source of Life. We say Mni Wiconi!
My Tribe asks how can we live with ourselves if we don’t respect the rights and needs of our future generations?
Today I realize that everything happens for a reason. Although I didn’t ask the President for a dime, I see our people are peacefully speaking out in a good way now. This is hugely important to my Tribe and all of our Tribal Nations. This peaceful demonstration is a cry to stop the desecration of land and water.
I pray that the powers that be, hear our prayer because all this behavior we are exhibiting is a prayer on our part.
Thank you for listening and enjoy your families, your children and grandchildren.
To Join in the Struggle
- Red Warrior Camp Facebook Page
- Support the Sacred Stone Camp
- Urgent Appeal for International Observers – By Joseph White Eyes, Michelle Cook, and Carolyn Raffensperger, Indigenous Environmental Network, August 23, 2016
The Struggle Continues
- Indigenous Property Rights and the Dakota Access Pipeline – By Logan Glitterbomb, CounterPunch, August 30, 2016
- Solidarity with Standing Rock Sioux Tribe against Dakota Access Pipeline – By National Lawyers Guild, CounterPunch, August 30, 2016
- Tribes band together to fight an oil pipeline – By Taylor Brorby, High Country News, August 30, 2016
- Bold Iowa Responds to Dakota Access Motion for Restraining Order Against Bold Iowa, Director Ed Fallon Aimed at Silencing Peaceful Pipeline Protests – By Mark Hefflinger, Bold Nebraska, August 29, 2016
- Dakota Access Pipeline Tribal Liaison Formerly Worked For Agency Issuing Permit To Cross Tribal Land – By Steve Horn, DeSmog Blog, August 29, 2016
- In North Dakota protest, new exposure for tribal issues – By Tay Wiles, High Country News, August 29, 2016
- Satellite Installed for Standing Rock Resistace Radio! – By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, August 29, 2016
- Battle for the Future in North Dakota – By Luke Pickrell, Facts For Working People, August 28, 2016
- Statement of Solidarity with the Red Warrior and Sacred Stone Camps in North Dakota – By staff, Rising Tide North America, August 28, 2016
- Regulator: Dakota Access Pipeline Worker Killed in Accident – By James MacPherson, Associated Press, August 27, 2016
- Army Corps of Engineers confirms there is no written easement for Dakota Access Pipeline construction on Corps property – By staff, KFYR Fox TV 5, August 26, 2016
- Bold Alliance Joins 30 Groups Urging Pres. Obama to Halt Construction, Repeal Army Corps of Engineers Permits for Dakota Access Pipeline – By Mark Hefflinger, Bold Nebraska, August 26, 2016
- Important Message from Keeper of Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe – By Chief Arvol Looking Horse, Indian Country Today, August 26, 2016
- Camps Organize to Stay as Injunction Postponed – By staff, Unicorn Riot, August 25, 2016
- Dennis Banks on Standing Rock: Native people are guardians of the land – By staff, Liberation News, August 25, 2016
- Faces of the North Dakota pipeline protest: 'Sacred land is who we are' – By Josué Rivas, The Guardian, August 25, 2016
- From #NoDAPL to #FreedomSquare: A Tale of Two Occupations – By Kelly Hayes, Truthout, August 25, 2016
- Pipeline Battle Draws Hundreds To Remote North Dakota – By Amy Sisk, Inside Energy, August 25, 2016
- Rewrite: the Protests at Standing Rock – By Lawrence O'Donnel, MSNBC, August 25, 2016
- Support Resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline – By Jean Teppermann, Sunflower Alliance, August 25, 2016
- US Extends Ban on Dakota Pipeline Protests, but Support Grows – By staff, The Free, August 25, 2016
- What Would Sitting Bull Do? – By Winona LaDuke, LA Progressive, August 25, 2016
- Dakota Access pipeline wrecking soil, farmers complain – By Kevin Hardy, Des Moines Register, August 24, 2016
- Judge to Rule on Tribe's Oil Pipeline Request by Sept. 9 – By James MacPherson and David Pitt, Associated Press, August 24, 2016
- Protests Against This Fracked Oil Pipeline Just Keep Getting Bigger – By Alejandro Dávila Fragoso, Think Progress, August 24, 2016
- Standing Rock Sioux Pack Federal Courtroom Seeking to Halt Pipeline – By Anne Meador, DC Media Group, August 24, 2016
- Taking a Stand at Standing Rock – By David Archambault II, New York Times, August 24, 2016
- What you should know about the historic Native American battle happening now – By Thom Dunn, UpWorthy, August 24, 2016
- US Extends Ban on Dakota Pipeline Protests, but Support Grows – By staff, Telesur, August 23, 2016
- State pulls relief resources from swelling Dakota Access Pipeline protest camp – By Mike Nowatzki, Bismarck Tribune, August 22, 2016
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