Native Girls Talk Being Native
We asked Native American girls about identity, their dreams, and #NoDAPL, and their answers were so inspiring: “Us indigenous people are all beautiful.“ To read more about the next generation of Native women activists, visit Global Citizen.
Native Girls Talk Being Native
We asked Native American girls about identity, their dreams, and #NoDAPL, and their answers were so inspiring: “Us indigenous people are all beautiful." To read more about the next generation of Native women activists, visit Global Citizen.
Mark Ruffalo urges Americans not to 'relearn their ignorance' of American history but instead to help unite the country by supporting the Standing Rock protectors.
The fight continues to protect the land and natural resources of Standing Rock from the threat posed by the Dakota Access Pipeline. Listen to the representatives of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe tell us why it matters to them and why it should matter to you.
What is the current status of the pipeline? I feel like there are conflicting reports that are meant to confuse the public. How can we help activists and ensure the pipeline is stopped?
CTB: The current status is the Dakota access pipeline has filed a motion to expedite. They’re basically trying to force the court to grant them the ability to drill under the river. They’re using contract theory and administrative law theory to say that they have the right to drill.
CIE: The court is telling energy partners and that they need more time to review the pipeline and the tribe and they’re scheduling their decision to February. The Dakota Access Pipeline is angry that they’re losing money, but District Judge Boasberg said in district court in DC that they shouldn’t have even started the project until they had all the permits an easements in place. They have testified that the pipeline needed to be assembled by January 1 to fulfill obligations. There is voice recording leaked by Sean King where they say, “Jack [referring to the governor of ND] has said this is a pipelines dream” and that they are waiting on Trump and fully expect Trump to authorize this. We are in for a ride and we don’t know what to expect.
CTB: On December 4 the Core of Engineers released a statement that you have to do a full reroute or a full environmental impact statement that could take 18 months. Trump legally cannot overturn it because it is in litigation. So we have to wait until the hearing to do anything. For now we have a few months to regroup and figure out what to do. We are still in limbo until Feb. It isn’t that we won or lost, but we won’t know until February.
What preparations should be made in case DAPL returns or another environmental hazard posed by the government affects another region/group of people?
CTB: Continue to move forward together. I think we’ve all built relationships and created a lot for allies moving forward. we have to continue using the platform that Standing Rock has created. If it comes back to standing rock, we know what to do, and if it goes to other areas, we know how to help. I’ve noticed that people have started taking stands in their own communities. The message I would have is to continue to move forward together and use the platform that we have to continue to work together to devise ways to stop issues in other communities.
CIE: We just need to get woke and stay woke. Stay conscious with our spending, with the food we eat, everything, the way we get around. We are the beast. we use 20 mil barrels of oil every day. We’ve got to figure out a way to shift.
T: Make sure you know what media you’re following so that you get the right info, so that you know what the real story is.
Seeing all this terrible news about how the people at Standing Rock were treated really made me realize how cruel the human race is. What was it like for you being there, and seeing how everyone was treated? What was it like BEING in that situation? - Courtney Marie
There’s always going to be something else that they want. When my Mom was arrested I didn’t know what to feel.My mom is a pediatrician and works at a hospital. And she was arrested for standing a road protesting.
This is all about greed. Whether you look at the media or those on the front lines, I can’t understand what wills law enforcement and companies to go with this type of harm.
So mostly I just can’t understand how they can be so heartless. I pray for them that one day that realize they they were wrong.
-Tokata
Our people have been dealing with this for so many years. Our people have been really resilient. Because of our culture and who we are as a people, we have a strong spirit so they can’t break us. So we hold true to who we really are. That’s the most of what I saw because of our history and the genocides we hold our heads high and we can’t be broken.
-CTB
How has it been to see the effects of the internet/media on the protests at Standing Rock? Do you think the media coverage has helped or harmed the cause (or both)?
CIE: I would just ask people to take a look at local mainstream media in North Dakota versus mainstream media in the country and world. You’ll see the striking difference. All media outside of North Dakota has helped, 99% of media inside ND has harmed. Law enforcement sends press releases to the local media and they’re sold as truth.
CTB: For example, they created these stories that are unfounded that protesters and indians were killing farmers livestock, killing horses, had pipe bombs. They were trying to (and succeeded) getting local non natives to fear the Native Americans at Standing Rock.
T: They painted us as the “hostile Indians.”
CTB: The people in the state are believing the one sided media, and believing that we’re unlawful. And people who have come to the camp will tell you otherwise. it’s all about peace and prayer.
How is everyone who got hurt? How are you fairing as a community?
The morale of the whole movement and Standing Rock is strong! We had support from 350+ tribes, organizations and people all over the United States and the world. Everyone has been represented at the camp. Th support of the veterans who have come and stood with us. Congressional leaders have come to stand with us. People from the United Nations have come to Standing Rock.
Our community is only about 800-1000 people. Overnight when you have over 15,000+ people show up. This presence sends a strong message. The community of Cannonball has opened up their community centers, showers and dinner tables. Overall the community of Cannonball and Standing Rock are so energized by this support that in addition to feeling helped by those arriving, we also want to help those who are coming to help us.
CTB
what is the most secure and trustworthy way to donate to the cause? also, how can non-native americans (particularly white people) speak up about this subject without silencing the ones struggling? thank you for your time, and i hope everything turns out okay for all of you struggling to fight for your land.
So there are 3 active sites you can check out where you can find information and also find out how you as an ally can support:
The 4th one but LastRealIndians.com/noDAPL is our site where we aren’t focused on soliciting donations but is a good place for information and finding out other ways you can show generosity and support.
Is there anything you feel hasn't been said or anything you want to elaborate on that the media is getting horribly wrong?
CIE: There’s two things. The Missouri river is our only source of clean drinking water. Our tribal council, our chairman, our people, are invested in this battle personally 100%. They are not being coopted by outside sources like the media would have you believe. They say it’s not on the reservation. To clarify, It’s not on the boundaries they imposed upon us in 1889, but it is on our treaty land.
CTB: The most important thing with why we’re involved with this is because of our water. We are not against labor unions or the state. To our people at Standing Rock, water is priceless. We need to preserve the rights for our water. The media tries to twist it to look like we’re acting unlawfully or we’re in the wrong, but the whole movement is based around water today and will be focused on that in the future. The fossil fuel industry has been tearing up the environment and our sacred land, and we’re trying to preserve that for people.
What can people like me (teenager in Texas) do to raise awareness of native struggles in our schools or communities? Aside from the obvious donation, raising awareness might bring more publicity and support for the pipeline, so what is something a lot of kids across the nation can do to help?
Just start talking about it. Since kids can’t divest from banks, they can make a change by talking about the problems they are seeing in their own communities. Kids are being impacted by this in the community. My mother was arrested That’s something no kid should have to see. Imagine your mother being taken away from you. Imagine your aunts and uncles being shot with rubber bullets.
-Tokata
Kids can connect on social media with their peers and relatives and tell those stories on Standing Rock. And even doing a class presentation on this issue to your classmates could really help educate your peers.
-CIE
Hi! I've only basic familiarity with native politics- do you feel the native tribes would benefit from greater representation in the US Government, i.e., a Senate seat and Congress reps?
CTB: Absolutely. I believe being the first peoples of this land. It’s kind of crazy that we don’t have a seat at the table. Moving forward, if all 500+ Native Nation tribes continue to come together, as they did in Standing Rock, we can definitely make that changes and start to have our voices be heard even more at the federal level. Moving forward we do need representation to have a seat at the table, not only for politics but for the environment. We are the first peoples of this land, and we know how to take care of Mother Earth. We need to move forward together and make this change.
T: Definitely. For our youth, we don’t have anyone to look up to in congress. We have no one from reservations or who went to our schools. We don’t get to see people doing amazing things in congress. Our community issues are not being expressed in congress. We have no representation whatsoever. Native communities still have a lot of issues because you can’t get results without representation.
What can we do to help stop the DAPL once Trump is inaugurated?
Continue to educate yourself on all aspects on of the Dakota Access Pipeline and Energy Transfers. There are several ways to attack:
1) Divest from the banks financing the pipeline.
2) Keep calling The White House and calling your state delegates, Senators and House of Representatives.
3) Continue to create awareness wherever you are.
4) If you can’t be in Standing Rock, create awareness in your community in where you live.
CTB
Divesting means taking your money who are knowingly or unknowingly financing these brutalities that are happening like the young lady who had her arm blown off by law enforcement. That’s one of the most powerful things we can do. There are banks funding DAPL and people need to make their divestments public.
CIE
Did you think about a possibility of failure when you started the protest?
CTB: No. We were guided by the creator through ceremony on the direction we needed to take moving forward on the pipeline that was coming through the Northern borders of our reservation. It was told through ceremony that we had to move forward through peace and prayer and we could win. In 1876 during The Battle of The Little Big Horn we gathered back then in the same way. By following those protocols today, we are able to win through our culture, history, and our prayers.
T: Also we knew going into this that failure wasn’t an option. There was no way that we could let this pipeline come in. Our people are willing to do anything to make sure that our people have a home and our children have a future. We knew going into this that we would never let that happen
CIE: I went to the very first meeting that we had as a community when we found out that they were going to start laying the pipeline to where it is currently routed. We are facing too big to fail extraction and finance. Those are initiations that are not loyal to America or any country, they are loyal to profit. This is a machine. If we fail, the American people fail. This is not an issue of Native American water rights, and the media has been successful in otherizing “Indians” as separate. In this process they have violated American civil liberties and rights. We are all on the same ship here. If we do not sify, if someone doesn’t provide the leadership to provide a shift, we all fail. Fossil fuel is a 20th century way of life. Native nations catch a bad wrap that we were uncivilized, anti progress, barbaric, that we did not inherit the same rights to our lands as other nations in the world. But when you live the way that we lived with a spiritual economy. If you live the way we live, you can go on for millennia.
1. What, if anything, distinguishes the struggles of Native Americans from the problems that other minority groups in the United States face?
CTB: The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and other nations across the US have treaties with the US government. We were the first people of the land and we have a treaty trust obligation with the US government and the Native American peoples. We are also sovereign nations within a nation.
CIE: We have inherent title to the entire hemisphere. So when Europeans came, in order to gain title, they had to treat with the native nations that were still here. No one created created reservations, we reserved prior existing rights to our homeland.
Since April of this year, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota has been protesting the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) an oil pipeline that would directly threaten their water supply. Two of the leaders of these protests, North Dakota Congressional Candidate Chase Iron Eyes, and Cannonball District Representative of the Sioux Tribal Council, Cody Two Bears, will be joining us at Tumblr HQ for an Answer Time on Wednesday, December 14 at 3pm EST/12pm PST. Submit your questions here.
