Candi Brings Plenty, a citizen of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, was part of the Two Spirit Camp at Oceti Sakowin in North Dakota. Photo by Indianz.Com / More on Flickr
Ray Cook, a citizen of the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe and the opinions editor at Indian Country Media Network, discusses the closures of the #NoDAPL encampment in North Dakota:
It has been almost four weeks since I made it back to Akewesasne Mohawk territory from the Oceti Sakowin camps. I was there to help find images and video that would serve as solid evidence of corporate security and law enforcement misdeeds. There was more such evidence than can be counted. I was there for about three months and spent the majority of time flopping in local hotels. I tried to stay at the main camp, but my arthritis was exacerbated by the cold and I had to forgo sleeping outside in a tent. All suitable yurts were full, so I spent my sleeping hours between a number of hotels. After freezing in my truck, engine running and heat on. Covering and documenting a struggle such as the NoDAPL fight is difficult because of the many different Nations, camps, and non-Natives involved. Next time, one agenda must be manifest and agreed by all to be the guiding light. The mission. Above all, ceremony has to be from where strategy is formed. A problem of competing goals and strategies developed at Standing Rock and it sapped the movement of unity.Read More on the Story:
Ray Cook: Lost and Awaiting a Real Ending to NoDAPL Fight (Indian Country Media Network 3/29)
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