Canon Ball, ND – A roar of celebration spread through Camp Oceti Sakawin at Standing Rock as the water protectors and their supporters learned that the Dakota Access Pipeline had been stopped in its tracks.

The Army Corp of Army Engineers denied the pipeline company an easement permit and will begin a new environmental impact study. An alternative route will be considered. This occurred a day before the threatened eviction of the camp and the day that thousands of veterans from around the country answered the call to stand with Standing Rock.

Barry Riesch, of Vets for Peace Chapter 27 who organized the Twin Cities veterans’ contingent that traveled to Standing Rock, said, “This is true service to the American people.”

#CanonBallND #PeoplesStruggles #IndigenousPeoples #DAPL #StandingRock #NorthDakota #WaterProtectors #WaterIsLife #NorthDakotaAccessPipeline #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

Alfred Bone Shirt, a Lakota elder from the Rosebud reservation in South Dakota, traveled to Standing Rock Reservation early in August and set up camp. He, like thousands of others, came to North Dakota to unite in opposition to the Dakota Access Pipe Line. Alfred states when he got the call from his brother, who is coordinator for Grassroots AIM in Rapid City, SD, about the stand being taken at Standing Rock, he didn’t hesitate to travel. He went on KOYA 88.1 FM, the Rosebud Nation Community Radio Station, to issue a public service announcement that called on others to do the same.

Alfred Bone Shirt:

”I called for people to – I said, practically to ‘stop what you’re doing’ – this word goes out to our warriors and members of the American Indian Movement to come up and support the people in Standing Rock.’

We got ready and we headed this way. My niece and her husband, we mentioned that and they said we’re gonna come, so they hurried and got a babysitter and they got their bags and we headed out this way.

The major reason behind all this is our people – Red people – are always looked at as an impediment to progress for the white man. Everything, our resources, we’re an impediment. And I don’t like the racism; I pray against the racism. South Dakota is in denial of racism, North Dakota is in denial of racism.

It really bothers me what they say about these corporations coming in and the damage it’s going to do. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to envision – and if you listen to any type of news, you hear of oil spills across the country, catastrophes affecting a lot of areas, and it can’t be undone that easy, it’s really bad.

I know the river, the damage that could be done here, affects whites, rednecks, peaceful farmers, the clergy, down river, it’s gonna affect everybody. If I’ve never done nothing right in my life, let me come here. We come and do what we can.

In my lifetime, the only time I seen so many tribes together was Wounded Knee Two, and the International Treaty Council meeting, that first one at Mobridge, there was a lot of union there.

But prior to that I don’t think there was a representative of so many tribes on the same page, I don’t think there ever was, and this is great. Not only the American nations here are together, but like South American tribes,they’re looking this way. We sent word down to Brazil, we’re gonna send word out again, because they pretty much [know] as far as what the U.S. and corporations do, because what they do in South America, and the evil there, they can identify, they can empathize with what is occurring here. The outright blatant racism, and the civil racism, backed by big oil, backed by the government, backed by corrupt politicians, racist politicians. And here’s the end result. We’re impediments to their progress, again.

They were supposed to put it [the pipeline] above Bismarck, then they move it down here, because it don’t affect them. But see they’re narrow minded, they forgot about Mobridge, Pierre. Why they disregard their own people, I can’t understand it.

I seen the power of that spirit one other time up in Dakota Teepee Sundance. I seen that here when the horses came in [to break through the police line], and I seen the horses dance and I seen them spin and the songs were going up in a good way, the prayers were there. We said nonviolence, I seen that spirit, the same time that spirit came in again, and that was beautiful, the way they [the police] broke ranks and scattered, you know it was really beautiful to see. We were right there where the barricades were. That’s why people say, prayer is at work here, prayer is being answered, and that’s one of the most beautiful things.

When we talk about water, not just for humans, we talk about the survival for fish, other living creatures in there, and our spiritual wiwilas. I want to say, to please encourage people to keep coming. Dedicated people. We need the support, basically reinforcements. I encourage people to keep coming. I know it’s cold and luxuries in life, and it’s for hard for them to break loose from that. They need to come, continue to support and prepare for the long haul.”

#StandingRockSD #IndigenousPeoples #EnvironmentalJustice #DakotaAccessPipeline #DAPL

J. Sitting Bear is a Lakota mother and grandmother from the Rosebud reservation in South Dakota and now lives in Rapid City. She was a continuous presence in the kitchen that feeds the multitudes of protectors at the Oceti Sakowin encampment along the Cannonball River, where thousands traveled to oppose the Dakota Access Pipeline. J. Sitting Bear and her daughter traveled to Standing Rock near the beginning of the encampment and have worked tirelessly from early morning until night to prepare meals and to help with security since they arrived at the site.

J. Sitting Bear has lived a life of activism. At 16 years old, she was at the Wounded Knee uprising on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Now 59, she has a legacy of standing up for the rights of native people in multiple forms, including fighting against police brutality and killings of native people in South Dakota.

J. Sitting Bear:

“If there’s one thing in the world I could pay for and to have it go away, it’s this racism. Because of this racism… it’s just like, like cracking of the ice… you know the racism tears in and it all goes out in veins. And the more it goes out the worse it’s getting. And that just breaks my heart to see that. My chante (heart) is sick when I think of it, it really hurts, because those are all of our brothers and sisters out there.

“That’s why I’m here, I just want to be here for my people. Like I said, if it comes to it, I can lay down my life. I would give my blood, I would let my blood flow. If just one person you know doesn’t get hurt by these people [DAPL],or if just one part of the pipeline gets stopped, that’s worth it. It’s our people…and it’s not only just our people. People think it’s just us natives fighting. But it’s for all people – the farmers and ranchers have their cows, they live off the land by selling crops… that’s gonna affect them too. So it’s just so emotional for me to be here. When I heard of this starting, I told my daughter we gotta go, gotta go and she says, you’re going? And I said ya.

“I guess my life is going to be this until my time comes. I will continue to be at these things, these protests standing up for my people. If I have to crawl, I’ll get there. As long as I have a mouth, I can still speak. I’m here to help people, I give my all.”

#StandingRockSD #IndigenousPeoples #EnvironmentalJustice #StandingRockNation #DakotaAccessPipeline #DAPL