The story of the Water Protectors – peaceful warriors at Standing Rock
When the earth is ravaged and the animals are dying, a new tribe of people shall come onto Earth of many colours, and their actions and deeds shall make the Earth green again. They shall be known as the warriors of the rainbow. – Hopi
Many people are unaware that there is a terrorist attack by law enforcement being inflicted on U.S citizens who are peacefully standing up to protect the waters and sacred land from an oil company.
This stand has been taken by the Sioux Nation, as it is intended that the company’s pipelines will run through their sacred lands, potentially poisoning their water supply.
For the first time in over 150 years the Native American people have united as one to stop this pipeline from going through land that has legally belonged to the Sioux nation since treaty for ownership of the land was made with the U.S government in 1868.
This stand has been taken up by thousands of peaceful people. They have come from all over the United States as well as from overseas to support the Sioux Nation in protecting their fresh waters and stopping the pipeline from going through. They are not protestors. They are Water Protectors who are standing up to a big corporation without violence.
This story began when Dakota Access, LLC, (DAPL) a subsidiary of the Dallas, Texas, corporation Energy Transfer Partners, decided to re-route their oil pipeline. The people of Bismarck – mainly white – refused the projected pipeline in their area as they feared it would poison their water. So DAPL opted to re-route from an area mainly populated by white people to the sacred land of the Sioux nation. Unlike the white people of North Dakota, who were given right of refusal, the Sioux Nation is now being forced to accept the ecological risk to their water and land.
The intention of DAPL, is to run through treaty land and underneath sacred waters, crossing with the Missouri river. The primary concern is not if the pipeline will break and leak but when. Historically, it has been proven that hundreds of oil leaks have occurred on pipelines such as these, and that they still continue to break/leak today. When this pipeline leaks it will not only poison the water used by the millions of people living downstream on the Missouri river, it will continue to flow on down the Missouri until it spills out into the ocean, spreading toxins to currently healthy ecosystems on oceanic currents. So you see, it’s not just their fight. This is something that affects all of us, and the health of our planet.
In their efforts to force the issue, the corporation in charge of DAPL has already desolated sacred burial sites and has used vicious and barbaric tactics to stop the water protectors from standing for their right to clean, fresh water on their own land. These tactics are crimes against humanity, attacks of terror on citizens of the United States, the so called “land of the free”. The irony here is that, historically, the U.S has started wars under the pretext of the right to free speech; the right to protest and have democracy, and yet in their own country, today, they are terrorising peaceful people and denying them those very rights.
Perhaps it should be called the “land of hypocrisy”.
Thanksgiving is just another example of this hypocrisy. As I understand it, the story goes like this:
When the white man first set foot on Turtle Island, they had no clue about how to survive. It was the Native American Indians who saved their lives by teaching them and offering food. So every year Americans celebrate this day and honour that generosity by giving thanks.
Now this is where it gets so incredibly messed up. In return for saving their lives, the white man brought nothing but terror to the Native American Indian and their land, and they have consistently been terrorising them ever since. It is one of the greatest genocides in human history, and yet it never gets spoken about. Millions of Native American men, women and children have been brutally murdered since white occupation. Thousands have been marched to their deaths.
Did you know that slavery for the Native American Indian was not even abolished until the early 20th century? Their children have been stolen and put in homes to be abused; their land has been taken from them and treaty after treaty has been broken by the white man. Discrimination and terror continues to be inflicted upon them today. Sadly, it is the story of all Indiginous people whose land had been invaded by the white man.
Maybe this Thanksgiving you can spare a thought for the First Nation, and show support for their current stand at Standing Rock.
In 2016, history continues to repeat itself. Energy Transfer Partners, under the Obama Government regime, are dishonouring the treaty of 1868 yet again, but this time it won’t just affect the First Nation, it will affect everyone. Whether your skin is white, black, green, blue or red, as a human being we all need clean drinking water to live and this is a destruction of our global water supplies. This affects all humans.
Since the water protectors took a peaceful stand, the DAPL have utilised their private militia against them and, with the help of the Morton County Sheriff’s Department and the National Guard, viciously attacked the water guardians – men, women AND children – with brutal force.
This includes:
tasering people (including women and children as well as elders)
pepper spraying people
the use of sound tanks
shooting at people with rubber bullets (including a reporter)
trapping a group of people on a bridge and hosing their bodies down with water in freezing condition causing hyperthemia
arresting hundreds of people
men strip-searching women
people placed in cages after arrests
wounding horses
the use of concussion grenades
The Morton County Sheriff’s department have terrorised the very people it is meant to serve. Instead of staying neutral as law enforcement should, they have taken the side DAPL. Not only have they allowed crimes against humanity to occur, they have instigated them.
Mainstream media has only just started to report the story, and sadly, they are reporting with extreme bias, siding with DAPL. The truth is out there. There is a lot of information on the internet regarding what is happening to the water protectors at Standing Rock. During all of this, Mr Obama is nowhere to be seen, going against his promise to make a change for the American Indian Nations. No surprise there.
The Native Indians feel strongly about stopping the pipeline, not just because of its potential for eco-environmental damage, but because it corresponds closely to an old Sioux prophecy which foretold that when the black snake comes, the world will end. To the Native Indians, this pipeline represents that black snake.
An additional prophecy, the prophecy of the seventh generation, links uncannily with current events. It foretells that, after seven generations of living in close contact with the Europeans, the Onkwehonwe would see the day when the elm trees would die. The prophecy says that animals would be born strange and deformed, their limbs twisted out of shape. It says that huge stone monsters would tear open the face of the Earth, that the rivers would burn aflame and that the air would burn the eyes of man. In the days of the prophecy, these predictions must have seemed fantastic, scenes from a horror tale, but as modern day residents of Earth we have all seen the by products of excess toxicity build-up in the environment. We have all seen the havoc wreaked by oil spills and fracking. The prophecy then goes on to relate that at this time the seventh generation will rise up and demand that their rights and stewardship over the Earth be respected and restored. That time is now.
History just seems to repeat itself and it will continue to do so until we, the People, unite.
Until we, the People, wake up to the lies that are being projected. Until we, the People, realise that our governments are nothing more than puppets on strings for corporations like Energy Transfer Partners and the financial institutions. These corporations do not serve the People or the Earth.
As Einstein said:
“A fool is someone who keeps doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different outcome.”
Hatred feeds hatred, greed feeds greed and it just doesn’t work. It is time to try something new. These incredibly brave souls are standing up peacefully just as Ghandi once did, and it’s time that their story was heard.
I would like to share a poem with you that was written during WW2 by a catholic priest. This poem was read out by a teacher during a modern history class when I was 16 years old. It was haunting to say the least and it has stayed with me.
It goes like this:
“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”
We do not want to end up like that priest, knowing that we could have done something and instead choosing to ignore it and pass the buck until it too late for us, our children and our planet.
There is hope for humanity yet and we can all do our part, in our own way.
Ways to help:
Donate to Standing Rock and the water protectors – money, food, supplies for a harsh winter. For donations go to http://sacredstonecamp.org/donate/
Take your money out of American bank and Citibank.
If you can, join those at Standing Rock in peaceful protection of the waters, or if you can’t, send your prayers and love.
Share the truth of what is happening
Stop investing your money in oil and gas companies
If you are the type of reporter who honours their art, please stand up and report the truth of what is happening to the water protectors at Standing Rock.
We can make a difference. The key which will set us free, is love and unity.