Water protectors celebrated Christmas as the fight against the pipeline continues into 2017.
Despite Christmas day bringing harsh winter conditions, Dakota Access pipeline water protectors have continued their fight and brought in the holidays together.
Almost all of North and South Dakota were under blizzard, ice storm or winter storm warnings on Sunday as meteorologists forecast wintry weather for central U.S.
The National Weather service warned that the freezing weather would make ground travel near impossible and could hamper the holiday travel plans for millions across the United States. But this has not deterred the estimated hundreds of water protectors at camps braving the weather.
December has been a particularly brutal month for protectors at the camp. Many decided to leave after an earlier blizzard left more than half a foot of snow and strong winds whipped the protest site.
Water Protectors opposing the US$3.8 billion project, celebrated Christmas by creating pathways of lanterns across the camp and tried to stay warm with campfires and propane heaters.
Earlier in the month, the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference raised close to US$5,000 worth of donations including essential items for the cold as well as toys for children that were delivered to the Standing Rock camp.
“We all should be spending time with our families. Our children share the same breath and the same future. Their great-grandchildren will look at these days with smiles. We all live peacefully for their good lives,” said Lee Sprague, who is currently living in the
Očhéthi Šakówiŋ
camp, told Native News Online.
Standing Rock Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault II, thanked the water protectors who “came to the camps and put their hearts, minds, and bodies on the line,” and “the millions around the world who expressed support from afar,” in a statement via Facebook on Sunday morning.
“As we pivot our focus towards pressuring the new administration, we take this time to acknowledge that we would not have gotten here without your incredible show of support. We will do our very best to honor you, and fight onwards in solidarity,” Archambault continued.
Protectors started occupying camps in April in opposition to the 1,172-mile pipeline which Native peoples and environmentalists say will cross over sacred land and pollute the local environment and waterways. The grassroots movements have gained increasing international attention, particularly through alternative and social media.
There’s a gofundme up for providing the water protectors with wood stoves. Every little bit helps.
In the days since an apparent victory, the Standing Rock camp has been battered by an oncoming snowstorm — and conditions are now dire.
Heavy snow and wind batters the sides of tipis and tents, forcing the Standing Rock resistance indoors.
The roads have shut down going in and out of Oceti Sakowin Camp.
The media are clearing out, packing up satellite trucks and heading home.
Meanwhile, the police haven’t pulled back from the front lines, and the Dakota Access Pipeline company has no intention of leaving either.
“It’s a distraction,” Oceti Sakowin Camp volunteer Ethan Braughton said in an interview. “If they were leaving, they’d take the razor wire and all their vehicles, but they’re still continuing to get the drill pad ready. They’re not going anywhere, they just want us to leave.”
Many of the Lakota Sioux have permanently settled at Standing Rock and they’re not leaving, vowing to see this fight through.
Good people are still raising funds to bring wood stoves, food and supplies to Standing Rock. If you wnat to help, donate as little or as much as you can at: https://www.gofundme.com/standingrockstoves?r=71143
The DAPL news is definitely something to be proud of but don’t think that the work is done. Jan Hasselman, who serves as an attorney for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, said that the Energy Transfer Partners can still sue this decision, and Trump can try to overturn it. This is a lengthy process that will takes years (with a better explanation why below) and we need to watch it as decisions are made. Remember the pipeline is still being built and it’s going somewhere.
[Text reads: I do admin law for a living so let me explain how this corps decision plays out. The refusal to grant the easement stop the pipelines… for now. Trump could easily reverse it. But, the decision to order an EIS delays the pipeline for at least several years. If Trump orders the corps to stop the EIS process, several groups will sue, arguing that the reversal is arbitrary and capricious. And they will likely win, which means the EIS will be completed. That takes 2+ years. If the EIS ultimately recommends the same of similar route, several groups will sue, delaying it for 2+ more years. 1 year for suit in federal court, and 2 more year for appeal. Bottom line: decision to order an EIS that Trump probably cannot force a pipeline through same/similar route for 4+ years.]
We also have to remember that many water protectors are still going to be needing help with medical and legal funds so keep an eye out how to still help.
#NoDAPL #StandWithStandingRock
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This is a victory but the fight is not over. Celebrate, but stay vigilant.
Also, I recommend that in addition to keeping up the donations, after this is done continue to donate to Native American charities and foundations. The reason they had to protest for so long was because of a lack of respect/political power.
Please stop linking to the Daily Mail, it is a hateful rag and gets ad revenue every time someone lands on their site!
Native Americans weren’t allowed US citizenship until 1924.
Let that sink in. We lived here first…for thousands of years. And less than a hundred years ago we were finally given citizenship.
We also fought in WWI despite not being US citizens.
In Arizona, natives weren’t granted the right to vote until 1948. Think how that type of neglect ties into resource colonization as infrastructure was developed within years prior.
In addition: the indigenous peoples of Canada were not recognized as Human Beings until the year 1960. Now let that shit sink in.
In the US it wasn’t until 1968 that the Indian Civil Rights Act was passed and allowed for the right to freedom of speech / assembly / press, a jury trial, the right to an attorney etc. It’s so fucking frustrating.
and it wasn’t until 1978 that we were legally allowed to practice our own religions. in a nation founded on religious freedoms, it was illegal to practice our own religions. in our own country. how fucked up is that?
Aaaand Native Americans weren’t entitled to their own languages (had no legal rights to teach them in their schools, use them in business) until the Native American Language Act of 1990.
I teach this to my students, because NONE of it is in a single textbook. This is and act of indoctrination
Steel Phoenix Studios 