Native Americans from left, Eugene Sanchez, Jason Umtuch, Martan Mendenhall, and Hugh Ahnatock, all of Portland, Ore., drum and sing at the Oceti Sakowin camp where people have gathered to protest the Dakota Access oil pipeline in Cannon Ball, N.D., Sunday, Dec. 4, 2016. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Sunday that it won’t grant an easement for the Dakota Access oil pipeline in southern North Dakota, handing a victory to the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and its supporters, who argued the project would threaten the tribe’s water source and cultural sites. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
On Sunday, Dec. 4, the Army Corps of Engineers denied permits for the construction of a crucial easement meant to run under Lake Oahe near the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation.
This means that the oil company has to reroute the pipeline away from tribal lands, marking a significant victory for the several thousand Water Protectors at Standing Rock, and a huge victory for Indian movements in general. However, this victory is not without its caveats and questions.
For one, why now? This has been happening since April, and really took off in August. Protectors have fielded dogs, mace, water cannons in freezing temperature, and smoke and concussion grenades. Why would the ACE decide now was the time to finally make some tangible move to change things?
The simple answer is that people are finally watching now.
That isn’t to say that people as a rule have been blind to the events at Standing Rock. In actuality, it was the people themselves that controlled the flow of information out of the camp. Had it not been for things like Facebook and Twitter, the efforts of the Water Protectors would have gone largely unnoticed. It wasn’t until last weekend that the media as a whole finally descended on Standing Rock, and that was only after the forces on the other side of the river had used some terribly violent methods of crowd control. The media didn’t show up until after the dogs, the water cannons, the grenades… But once they got there, all eyes were effectively on Standing Rock.
Add to that the extraordinary events that served as a precursor to the Army’s announcements and it’s fairly clear that their initial deadline of Dec. 5 was becoming something of an issue for them. See, Dec. 4 also saw a few thousand American veterans self-deploy to Standing Rock, intending to form a human shield between police forces and Water Protectors. I can’t think of another occasion that saw so many men and women of our Armed Forces make the choice, sans any order, to deploy themselves and protect the American People.
In light of that, and considering the initial ultimatum to vacate the camp by the river by Dec. 5, and it certainly seems like this decision has come because they could see the fight they had on their hands. The eyes of the world were already on them, but now they were there in an official capacity as well, the lenses of hundreds of different news cameras focused sharply. Add to that the huge number of American veterans who showed up with the sole purpose of protecting the Protectors and the way in which things have been handled for the last few months, the decision is a bit baffling.
So there’s the grain of salt many native peoples are taking this victory with, but it is a victory nonetheless, and an historic one at that. I was originally going to wait until Dec. 6 to write my article to make sure nothing horrible happened the night before. Folks can say I was overreacting, but history speaks for itself on matters like this, and it rarely falls on the side of the native peoples.
Victory At Standing Rock
Native Americans from left, Eugene Sanchez, Jason Umtuch, Martan Mendenhall, and Hugh Ahnatock, all of Portland, Ore., drum and sing at the Oceti Sakowin camp where people have gathered to protest the Dakota Access oil pipeline in Cannon Ball, N.D., Sunday, Dec. 4, 2016. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Sunday that it won’t grant an easement for the Dakota Access oil pipeline in southern North Dakota, handing a victory to the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and its supporters, who argued the project would threaten the tribe’s water source and cultural sites. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
On Sunday, Dec. 4, the Army Corps of Engineers denied permits for the construction of a crucial easement meant to run under Lake Oahe near the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation.
This means that the oil company has to reroute the pipeline away from tribal lands, marking a significant victory for the several thousand Water Protectors at Standing Rock, and a huge victory for Indian movements in general. However, this victory is not without its caveats and questions.
For one, why now? This has been happening since April, and really took off in August. Protectors have fielded dogs, mace, water cannons in freezing temperature, and smoke and concussion grenades. Why would the ACE decide now was the time to finally make some tangible move to change things?
The simple answer is that people are finally watching now.
That isn’t to say that people as a rule have been blind to the events at Standing Rock. In actuality, it was the people themselves that controlled the flow of information out of the camp. Had it not been for things like Facebook and Twitter, the efforts of the Water Protectors would have gone largely unnoticed. It wasn’t until last weekend that the media as a whole finally descended on Standing Rock, and that was only after the forces on the other side of the river had used some terribly violent methods of crowd control. The media didn’t show up until after the dogs, the water cannons, the grenades… But once they got there, all eyes were effectively on Standing Rock.
Add to that the extraordinary events that served as a precursor to the Army’s announcements and it’s fairly clear that their initial deadline of Dec. 5 was becoming something of an issue for them. See, Dec. 4 also saw a few thousand American veterans self-deploy to Standing Rock, intending to form a human shield between police forces and Water Protectors. I can’t think of another occasion that saw so many men and women of our Armed Forces make the choice, sans any order, to deploy themselves and protect the American People.
In light of that, and considering the initial ultimatum to vacate the camp by the river by Dec. 5, and it certainly seems like this decision has come because they could see the fight they had on their hands. The eyes of the world were already on them, but now they were there in an official capacity as well, the lenses of hundreds of different news cameras focused sharply. Add to that the huge number of American veterans who showed up with the sole purpose of protecting the Protectors and the way in which things have been handled for the last few months, the decision is a bit baffling.
So there’s the grain of salt many native peoples are taking this victory with, but it is a victory nonetheless, and an historic one at that. I was originally going to wait until Dec. 6 to write my article to make sure nothing horrible happened the night before. Folks can say I was overreacting, but history speaks for itself on matters like this, and it rarely falls on the side of the native peoples.
This time though, history was on our side.