So far more than 1500 Native Americans and 150 First Nations and Tribes have united to fight the proposed project.
The proposed Dakota Access Pipeline would bulldoze through sacred sites, and pass less than a mile under the main drinking water source of the Standing Rock Sioux Nation.
But the pipeline company has stopped at nothing to get its way. It’s levelled sacred sites, unleashed dogs to bite Indigenous protesters, and used pepper spray indiscriminately on crowds.
Now is the time to stand in solidarity with this powerful movement to protect land, heritage, and sovereignty.
History is being made as we speak. If this $3.8 billion dollar pipeline is completed, it would transport approximately 500,000 barrels of crude oil every day all the way from oilfields in North Dakota to Illinois, resulting in water contamination of the sacred Mississippi River that is less than a mile from the Standing Rock Nation.
While regulators say the pipeline isn’t dangerous, we know this isn’t true. In fact, the only reason it’s passing through the community of Cannon Ball in the first place is because it was intentionally diverted away from North Dakota’s the capital for being too risky.
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is not giving up its right to steward the land without a fight, suing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for approving the pipeline and requested a restraining order from the Dakota Access Pipeline Company responsible for the construction.
And they had a huge victory last week! The US federal government said key pieces of the approvals need to be reviewed, and it will revisit the whole way in which the government interacts with Indian Tribes on major projects like this.
That’s all thanks to a historic movement, and the grassroots power and tireless organizing on the ground at the Standing Rock Sioux Nation. They’ve brought a global energy company down to its knees, and ignited resistance across the US and globally.
They are not alone, and together from around the world we can join in solidarity.
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More information:
Dakota Access Pipeline Co. Attacks Native Americans with Dogs & Pepper Spray, Democracy Now!, September 6, 2016
Standing Rock Sioux sues Corps over oil pipeline permits, Washington Post, July 28, 2016
More information
Washington Post.