The Paddle to Standing Rock has drawn tribal canoes from the Pacific Northwest and Alaska to North Dakota. "Water is life. Caravan arrived and hit the water. #nodapl," Melissa Eir Morerar wrote on Facebook. Photo by Melissa Eir Morera
Jim Gray, a former two-term chief of the Osage Nation, wonders why the mainstream media continues to ignore the voices from the #NoDAPL encampment in North Dakota. His tribe has joined the movement in support of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe:
Setting aside who is to blame for the lack of understanding of our issues, let’s fast forward to today’s action going on in North Dakota where the largest gathering of Native people in opposition to the construction of a massive pipeline project going on near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. Officials there claim the project threatens the only water supply for the impoverished reservation which adversely affects the quality of life for Indian and non-Indian people in the area. To add insult to injury, the Tribal leadership’s concerns have been ignored by Army Corps of Engineers who failed to properly consult with the Tribe prior to the approval of the pipeline project. Now we are learning that sacred sites have been identified in the path of this project and again no acknowledgment of what Indian country has to say about it. In the last year, thousands of Native people have traveled to Standing Rock’s reservation to join their brothers and sisters in what could be a long sustained presence to resist the construction of this pipeline project. In recent months, over 150 tribal governments across the U.S. have passed letters of support, resolutions and have sent tribal delegations with provisions to the reservation to assist the “Protectors”. This kind of commitment is unprecedented in the modern era. Even during the height of the 70’s, there never was this level of support both politically and in resources to help another tribe in their time of need. Armed with an improved economic condition of many tribal nations around the country in law and policy, a new generation of Native people who have a grasp of the power of social media we now have a chance to flip the script that’s been written in the past. But there is where the challenge lies. What was the point in all of these gains by Indian people and tribal governments in the past 50 years if the rest of the country isn’t aware of our story? If it’s news to the media, then it’s time they started paying attention.Read More:
Jim Gray: Standing Rock: The Biggest Story That No One’s Covering (Indian Country Today 9/8) Also Today:
Osage delegation delivers supplies to Sacred Stone Camp on Standing Rock Reservation (Osage News 9/7)
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