Thousands of Native people have rallied at Standing Rock, North Dakota, to oppose the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). This is one of the largest protests by Native Americans in decades, as Native people and their supporters came from across the country stop the ecological disaster that DAPL would mean for Native lands and rivers.

Almost 100 Native American tribes have formally endorsed the protest, and representatives from more than a hundred different Native peoples have gone to Standing Rock. Massive civil disobedience to stop the DAPL is being met with armed force and mass arrests by the National Guard, along with local sheriffs and police mobilized from across the Midwest.

The DAPL is being built to bring oil from the Bakken oil fields of North Dakota through North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Illinois. This more than a 1000-mile-long oil pipe, like the long opposed Keystone pipeline, is meant to bring oil from the upper Midwest and Canada to tank farms and refineries in the Midwest and Gulf coast of the U.S.

Many environmentalists oppose these oil pipelines, not only because of the danger they pose to the communities that they pass through, but also because they help perpetuate the production, distribution, and use of oil and its products, which is a major source of carbon dioxide, a leading contributor to climate change.

The Freedom Road Socialist Organization urges all progressive activist to take action to support the Native Americans in their fight against DAPL. Those who can provide direct support in person or with financial and material aid to protesters at Standing Rock should do so. Local solidarity protests aimed at local sheriffs and police departments that sent police and weapons to try to suppress the protests as well as the corporations and banks backing the DAPL have brought out thousands of people across the country.

In addition to standing in solidarity with the Native people fighting to protect their lands and waters, the Freedom Road Socialist Organization also supports the return of land, lakes, and rivers to Native peoples so that they can live their lives as they choose, free from the constant threat of giant corporations. Return of natural resources is only right, given that the U.S. was founded on the genocide of Native Americans and theft of their land.

Stop the Dakota Access Pipeline(DAPL)!

Support the struggle of Native Americans to protect their lands and waters from corporate greed!

#CannonBallND #IndigenousPeoples #EnvironmentalJustice #DakotaAccessPipeline #NODAPL

Steve and Rhiannon Moon live in Saint Cloud, Minnesota with their four-year-old son. Their respective mothers come from Standing Rock Reservation. They were at the encampment on day three, when the DAPL machines were stopped for the first time.

Rhiannon Moon:

“I came here on day three of the front line, with my son and my husband. We came here together. I ended up staying the day, then I had to go back because I had other commitments to keep. I worked that whole week and I was torn, like my heart was ripped. And I told my boss I couldn't be there. I was just in tears, like I have to go, I can't do this. He supported me in it and he gave me the week off. I wish I would've said 'I don't know how long I'll be gone’.

“It was a Friday, and we got here at like 7:00 in the morning. And it was really a small crowd. There was maybe 50 of us, maybe, that's being generous. They were protecting the gates from when the oil companies come in with their vehicles and machinery and things like that. There were a total of seven arrests that day or that morning. We were all singing and praying, and trying to protect the land, trying to stop the trucks from coming in.

“That day was really intense. There were a lot of prayers and a lot of singing. It was really humbling. It was beautiful.

“It is all so beautiful. The last time this happened, the government did not win, and that's what I want to happen here.

“In 1873, I believe, was the last time the Seven Council Fires burned united. So for Standing Rock as a whole, that's huge because that hasn't been the way it's been. Even though we're one, Standing Rock, we each have our own divisions, and it's been separate, have not been united. And that's not just Standing Rock, that goes for multiple nations. It's disheartening because we're losing so much.

“Hopefully this will change everything for the future. It's for my little guy that runs around and raises hell. That's why. Everything I do is for him. And they [future generations] deserve it.

“He earned his first eagle feather on day three. I was so proud of him. And even like the march this week in Bismarck, oh my gosh, he was just there, stone-faced with his fists in the air. A four-year-old knows that this is what should be done. Why is this a question? How do you question something so powerful? Very proud, very proud of him.

“If need be, it'd be worth risking my job for.”

Steve Moon:

“After 150 years, this is all we have left and we can't let that be taken away – an aggressive word, rape – [is] essentially what's happening. So we came up. My wife and I said, 'we have to go.'

“It just sinks in, the community, that you have a purpose – everybody needs that in life. Not just us here, but every color, every race. Once you have that feeling, you can't get rid of it.

“My youngest son is along. He loves it. To watch him be comfortable here is huge. He already has four years of knowledge, where we had to fight tooth and nail just to survive for 30 years before we got here. It's pretty amazing to see all the kids, the feeling that they have here with the community, the oneness. They're going to take that forever. We’re changing these kids' lives. It's amazing. They're not going to be afraid to stand up. Even at school and at home, they're not going to be afraid to say 'no, this isn't right,' and it's okay to stand up. I think that's the greatest thing here so far.

“Day three we broke through, when they said they found remains and they were taking heads home and stuff. We broke through that day. We broke through the fence. The word came through and everybody got pretty worked up. I flanked the side and stood at the fence, waiting for my wife and my boy. My sister said, 'do you wanna go?' Yeah, so we jumped over. A lot of people would look down on that, doing illegal stuff with your kids, but that's standing up for something. That's going to change his life.

“So they actually started breaking earth on Monday when they started bringing trucks in. I'm not sure how the word got through. I mean there were [drones] flying around everywhere, but they said they were disturbing our burial sites. And as soon as that hits the people, everybody's going to go do what they have to do to stop it. The police lined up and people got arrested. The chairman got arrested that day, and some other people. So with all that going on, a lot of people got around the police. If I remember right, the first person over was an old lady. She just hopped right over. She had someone help her get over. 'Help me get over the fence.' So we helped her get over the fence, and she was the first one back there. And then more and more people, they were arresting people, the cops were busy, so a lot of us got over. And we ran back, all the way back, to where they were working, to see exactly what they were doing.

“I'm glad my son got to be there, and my wife. We all went back there. She knows me well enough, she just looks at me and she knows. I'll stand up and chain myself. That's what we do. We stand up for what we believe in and for our families. Even though the water’s not for me, it's my people, it's not even native people, it's everybody.”

#CannonBallND #IndigenousPeoples #EnvironmentalJustice #StandingRockNation #DAPL #NODAPL

Protesters go near the site of the bulldozers to protect the water or to bear witness. The previous day's rains did the protectors’ work today. The ground was too wet for digging and the bulldozers stayed idle. The camp though, is very much alive and there are always tasks to be done. The camp is a village of 1000 tents. The vast majority of the tents are occupied by members of the 129 distinct Native peoples whose flags line the entrance road. All are standing together to stop the Dakota Access Pipe Line.

Today the camp was able to refuel and prepare for what all understand will be an uncertain day tomorrow. The Governor of North Dakota is expected to deploy the National Guard to support continued work on the pipeline.

This National Guard activation comes on the same day that a federal judge will act on an injunction filed by the Standing Rock band to halt construction and protect the water of the Missouri River.

Cars filled with supporters poured into the camp throughout the day. Dennis Archambault, chairman of the Standing Rock Tribe, held a mid-day open meeting around the fire to detail the legal and other challenges to the pipeline. In anticipation of the court decision, he issued a call for continued unity, prayer and protest to stop the pipeline.

#CannonBallND #IndigenousPeoples #DakotaAccessPipeline

Cannon Ball, ND – As the sun came up behind the clouds, Aug. 26, the camp was already stirring in one of the two main Sacred Stone Spirit resistance camps. Flags of different colors and designs flapped in the morning wind, advertising the multitude of different indigenous peoples represented at the camp. Thousands have traveled to the site to stand in solidarity with the people of Standing Rock as they oppose a pipeline’s threat to the water and land of their people, and millions of others down the Missouri River.

The Dakota Access Pipeline is a $3.78 billion project by Dakota Access LLC, which belongs to Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners. The proposed Dakota Access Pipeline is 1172 miles and will connect oil production areas in North Dakota and Illinois. The DAP is only seven miles shorter than the proposed Keystone XL pipeline (which was defeated).

The Standing Rock Nation has invited indigenous and non-indigenous peoples to join them in solidarity to stand against the Dakota Access Pipeline. The occupation and resistance camps have averaged 2000 to 4000-plus people. Currently 87 tribal nations from across the Dakotas and the U.S. have officially taken action to support Standing Rock’s opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline.

A combined camp morning meeting included speakers from many nations speaking on the need to protect sacred water and protect Mother Earth. Each spoke passionately and resolutely about the need to continue the encampment and resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline and oil corporations that are greedily seeking to destroy precious land and water for their own profit.

#CannonBallND #IndigenousPeoples #EnvironmentalJustice #SacredStoneSpirit #StandingRockNation #DakotaAccessPipeline