The battle to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline is the expression of the determination of thousands of indigenous people coming together – the largest such gathering in over a century – and, through their perseverance and example, inspiring thousands more to join with them to stop another disaster for our water and the life that depends on it. And make no mistake: President Obama has the power to stop the military assault on the Water protectors. The Army Corps of Engineers is under the cammand of the executive branch. BUt he has not. Instead, he declared November “National Native American Heritgae Month.”
Right now, Veterans for Standing Rock have announced that they will be at the Standing Rock encampment by December 4 to stand with the Water Protectors, joining thousands who are already there. Tens of thousands more around the country are gathering supplies and donations to have their back, whatever the armed authorities throw at them. And thousands more have been in the streets across the country to protest this assault on native peoples, their savred grounds, their past and their future. We urge you to join, in whatever way you can, to “step into this struggle NOW!”
From Travis Morales, reporting from Standing Rock for Revolution newspaper:
Sunday November 20 Sheriff’s Deputies fired water cannons at people in 25° weather. Photo: Twitter/@erinschrode
“In a letter to Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault II, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced the eviction of the Oceti Sakowin encampment just north of the Cannonball River. Thousands of Water Protectors have been camping there to oppose and stop the Dakota Access Pipeline. The Corps of Engineers threatened, ‘To be clear, this means that no member of the general public, to include Dakota Access pipeline protestors, can be on these Corps’ lands…. Any person found to be on the Corps’ lands north of the Cannonball River after December 5, 2016, will be considered trespassing and may be subject to prosecution under federal, state, and local laws.’
“This threat came just five days after Morton County Sheriff’s Deputies unleashed a vicious attack on 400 Water Protectors on the Highway 1806 bridge just north of the encampment, where police unleashed water cannons in 25° temperatures, rubber bullets, mace, tear gas, and concussion grenades. Sophia Wilansky had her arm nearly torn off as a result of a concussion grenade and faces possible amputation.
“This eviction notice is a threat to use this vicious repression against the Native people and others who have put their bodies on the line to STOP this genocidal pipeline. It needs to be a rallying call for many more to step up and step into this struggle NOW!”
Sunday November 27 Water Protectors at #StandingRock.
Josh Fox