Mni Wiconi: Water Is Life

It was in the spring/summer of 2016 when all kinds of news on social media about the atrocities happening in Standing Rock was getting intense No surprise that none of the major news networks were covering the movement.

At that point, I was constantly monitoring the developments and relying on news from friends and family. What can I do? What can I send? How can I help? A friend mentioned a chance to purchase a yellow school bus in Iowa to donate so I jumped on that opportunity. Since I couldn’t do logistics from my end, I let my friend orchestrate the delivery of two buses from Iowa to North Dakota. In a way I was manifesting my own journey.

The premise of the protest was simple. Stop the pipeline construction to protect and preserve the land and water where it was set to pass through. Simple enough, right? But wait there’s more, so let’s get into some nitty gritty of what this protest was all about and what was at stake, shall we?

The pipeline, which we have come to refer to as the “Black Snake”, is the Dakota Access Pipeline or DAPL for short. It is operated by Energy Transfer Partners, a Texas-based developer and is $3.8 Billion of 1,172 miles of pipeline that is scheduled to transport crude oil from the Bakken Formation in Stanley, North Dakota to a storage tank farm in Patoka, Illinois. From there, the oil travels via another pipeline to southern gulf refineries, after which it is loaded onto oil tankers to be shipped and exported overseas. Yup, that’s right. That same oil is for export and none of us see that money go into any of our communities.

A little history of the area. The Bakken Formation, is a rock unit from the Late Devonian to Early Mississippian age occupying about 200,000 square miles of the subsurface of the Williston Basin, it lies underneath parts of Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. It is estimated that there are over 11 billion barrels of oil and gas in untapped reserves under the Bakken, however due to low porosity and permeability of the rock, it is not easily extractable. Enter hydraulic fracturing (aka fracking) the process in which water and other materials (like sand and toxic chemicals) are pumped into relatively shallow drilled holes at high pressure to create open fractures, creating an artificial permeability. The extracted oil and gas is then transported via these pipelines.

Because the originally proposed pipeline was to cross the Missouri River near Bismarck, ND, it was later moved closer to the Rez (or Indian Reservation) due to citizen’s concerns that an oil spill would have poisoned the state capital's drinking water. Of course the government wouldn’t want leaks to happening near big cities or predominantly white communities.

Studies have shown that when Big Oil companies draw their pipeline routes, they deliberately pass them through Indigenous lands and underserved communities of color, or as Big Oil would allow them, geographically constrained regions.

One of the biggest problems with these pipelines of course are leaks and spills, and while Big Oil will insist that they are safe, every single pipeline has leaked. When they do leak, what happens then? Well we know, the land, the water, the ecosystems are all damaged, some irreparably. The health and well being of our planet, Grandmother Earth, is put in jeopardy.

On April 4th, 2017 the first oil spill reported on the pipeline, some 100 miles east of Lake Oahe which is a part of the Missouri River system, a focal point of the protests. Four more leaks occurred in the six months following.

The Dakota Access Pipeline is also in violation of Article II of the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868.  

Article II of the treaty states:

“The United States agrees that the following section of land . . . beginning on the east bank of the Missouri River . . . shall be and is set apart for the sole and undisturbed use and occupation by the Indians named in this treaty.”

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has always maintained their stance that DAPL poses a serious risk to the very survival of their Tribe and would destroy valuable cultural resources including clean drinking water and sacred burial grounds.

How would you feel if a corporation decided to bulldoze the cemetery your loved ones are buried in - in order to construct a pipeline that has no benefit to you? Well, that’s exactly what Big Oil is doing. Other pipeline routes include farms, ranches and private properties owned by white folks and they are also pissed!

It’s no secret that Big Oil has a grip on politicians, federal, state, and local municipalities, including county sheriff’s departments and will use “eminent domain” or “expropriation” as an excuse to confiscate land so that pipeline construction can continue. Big Oil even utilizes a shadowy international mercenary and security firm called TigerSwan who are fully equipped with military war equipment, the same security firm sent to shore up US military zones on foreign soil.

This brings me to the point of peaceful protest and prayers.

On Thanksgiving Day 2016, ironically I found myself at ground zero on this very controversial holiday (a conversation for another time).

There was a long queue of vehicles slowly moving up and down the road leading to the entrance to the basecamp at Standing Rock. Word on the Rez was that there was another protest happening and people were gearing up! Holy shit! I didn’t even know what to do at this point! I thought that everyone would drop what they were doing and head to the frontlines. My spirit was ready and it turns out that it’s a personal choice. Support is support whether you’re helping in the kitchen or hauling some supplies or helping with security because there’s so much to do.

On my first day at Oceti Sakowin Camp (aka Seven Council Fires or Great Sioux Nation), even before we could pitch our tents, I had to get myself a press pass while my friends headed straight to another protest. I had my photo and video gear with me and was ready for action, shuttling from one part of camp to the other, familiarizing myself with the lay of the land. I even saw the yellow school bus put into good use by our Vets!  We newbies had to go through orientation and one of the first things they required was to write a phone number down on your forearm with a sharpie in case you got arrested. That act alone was a commitment and that tells you that the legal team of the Oceti was there for you! You’re only allowed 1 phone call and that phone call better be the one written on your forearm.

My presence was a testament of support for my brothers and sisters and my goal was to document as much as I could through the mediums I’m most good at. I was there to listen, to learn, and to act.

 Just a few days before I arrived, one of our buddies who helped us set up our tents was tear-gassed.  There were so many stories that people shared that are ingrained in my mind.  

Everyday we prayed, attended drum and prayer circles, and sang songs. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner were served from different kitchens located in different areas of the camp. There were gatherings where guest speakers and tribal leaders and elders spoke on current events, updates, words of encouragement and healing.

My daily rounds consisted of going to the Sacred Fire where people would gather and pray, visiting different groups and listening to their stories. One dominant topic was the disproportionate use of military tactics and weapons by the militarized police against us - we, who were equipped with only our prayers and songs, goggles, bandannas and water to protect us from pepper spays and tear gas attacks! 

Here is a list of the equipment used against us:

Full on riot gear, large tanks, water cannons, tear gas, rubber bullets, sound cannons (aka LRAD short for Long Range Acoustic Device), drones, helicopters chuffing at night with Stingrays which are electronic surveillance tool to collect cell phone data. This is what we were faced with night and day in freezing temperatures and hard conditions. But beyond it all, we as a people managed to laugh and help each other out. I remember when they said, “Just show up. Everything you need will be there” and they were right!

Military watch

The culmination of my stay was when the blizzard happened the first week of December 2016.  I was still staying in my damp cold tent trying to keep my gear dry and powered up when news broke that the militarized police were bulldozing the tents. 

My home at while at Oceti Sakowin Camp

Also at that time, Veterans Stand With Standing Rock folks arrived in even greater numbers to support the cause. At this time, people started heading to the Prairie Knights Casino and Resort at the Rez, a few miles south of Cannon Ball, where some ceremonies were taking place. No rooms were available and the place was packed! We ended up sheltering in the auditorium together with hundreds of protestors.  

In the meantime, news also came that the Army Corps of Engineers denied easement for DAPL to cross under a stretch of the Missouri River, until the corps would issue an environmental impact statement. This was huge for us, even though it was a temporary victory.  

Back in the auditorium, something unexpected happened: a much needed healing took place. I want to quote what the organizer of Veterans Stand With Standing Rock said:

We came. We fought you. We took your land. We signed treaties that we broke. We stole minerals from your sacred hills. We blasted the faces of our presidents onto your sacred mountain. Then we took still more land, and then we took your children, and we tried to eliminate your language. We didn’t respect you. We polluted your Earth. We’ve hurt you in so many ways. We’ve come to say that we are sorry, we are at your service, and we beg for your forgiveness.

These words were spoken by Wes Clark, Jr., son of the 4 Star General Wesley Clark, along with hundreds of Vets kneeling before the Tribal Elders & Chiefs! It was an incredibly moving ceremony.  There was not a dry eye in the auditorium.

If we humans would only realize that we belong to the EARTH and not the other way around - that We, by virtue of being born, have the right to fresh air to breathe, clean water to drink, and fertile land to grow food, then, perhaps we would be able to give back to the generations that follow us and make this world and our life here sustainable

In closing, I want to gift you with a simple quote from Tatanka Iyotake:

Let us put our minds together and see what life we can make for our children.

Aho Mitakuye Oyasin

Me, Renzo Spirit Buffalo