Dozens of organizations across the country stand in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux in opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). The North Carolina Sierra Club, like our national organization, recently joined those ranks.
The tribe began protesting last spring against the pipeline, which, if completed, will transport nearly half a million barrels per day of fracked Bakken Shale crude oil from western North Dakota to southern Illinois for refining.
The protesters scored a significant victory on Dec. 4 when the Army announced it wouldn't approve an easement needed to allow the pipeline to cross a lake. It's still unclear how that decision will fare once President-elect Trump takes office, as he recently re-stated his support for the project.
The pipeline’s proposed route would cross Standing Rock Sioux tribal lands and ancestral burial grounds. The route also calls for the pipeline to be laid underneath a reservoir on the Missouri River immediately upstream from the tribe’s reservation, referred to as “Unceded Indian Territory in 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie. That route threatens the water supply not only of the Standing Rock Sioux but of more than 16 million people farther downstream.
Calling themselves “Water Protectors," the Sioux began their protest peacefully, but were answered by company security who brought attack dogs to drive off protesters. In response, a local rancher released his herd of bison to thunder across the plains near the protest site, to the joy of the protesters.
North Dakota State Police and local law enforcement officials have largely sided with the pipeline company, employing militarized riot gear and equipment such as rubber bullets, concussion grenades and tear gas to intimidate the unarmed, peaceful protesters. Recently, authorities turned water cannons on the protesters in freezing weather. Multiple media reports described how these tactics have injured hundreds of people, including one protester whose arm was so badly injured she might lose it.
It is important to note that this route was chosen because the original route, north of Bismark, was rejected by the citizens of the state capital because they were concerned about the water pollution potential to their drinking water. In essence, the state and the company are now bullying the peaceful Sioux protesters to accept the pipeline threat to their water supply after their white neighbors rejected the original route.
As coverages of the actions grow, it is important that environmental and justice groups express their support for the protesters. The Standing Rock protesters have drawn support from numerous indigenous groups from across the country and the Western Hemisphere. Activists from the Eastern Band of Cherokees traveled from North Carolina to join the Standing Rock Sioux in North Dakota, while environmentalists and numerous environmental groups from around the world have expressed their support.
That includes the Sierra Club, nationally and in North Carolina. Michael Brune, the national club’s executive director, wrote a blog post Sept. 1 and visited the protest site to show the club’s support.
The North Carolina Sierra Club’s executive committee voted unanimously Nov. 15 to stand in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux as well. Committee members were mindful of our chapter’s activist stand in opposition to the Keystone XL Pipeline, when we sent busloads of our members to Washington, D.C., to demonstrate against the project.
The Executive Committee encourages local groups and members in North Carolina to write letters to the editors of their local papers, call congressional representatives, participate in peaceful demonstrations, and/or donate to the cause. We must not let down our guard on the Dakota Access Pipeline!