Recently, the Dakota Access Pipeline has been towards the back of mainstream news because of the recent election and all of the news around that. This pipeline ultimately stretches through four states that could gather around 7 billion barrels of oil. However, this pipeline would run through the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s land. Ultimately threatening the environment and damage the culturally and historic sites of reservation, something the US has done multiple times already.

There are many activists all around the United States protesting against the pipeline. The Sioux Native Americans have argued that the pipeline has already revealed itself towards multiple ancestral sites and sacred grounds. Of course, on the other side, the Energy Transport Partners have argued that this has not been happening and that they have tried to be accommodating towards the natives. Ever since the beginning of the United States, they have been very unfair towards the natives, moving them from place to place and giving them very small patches of land. This idea of forced movement cannot be pushed away because of the continued discrimination being put towards this group. This same concept is used with African Americans and how we as a country simply cannot dismiss the use of slavery in the country. It’s apart of our history and we, as a nation, need to continue to right these wrongs.

Despite the argument of any cultural locations being tampered with, this pipeline has even more environmental effects on the Sioux tribe than anything else. This pipeline would be going through their main water supply. Pipelines are infamous in having cracks and even bursting all together. There have been a ton pipelines all across the world that have cause accidents and this is no different. For the majority of people in the US, the idea of drinking dirty water isn’t a big issue, but with the possibility of any ruptures, especially through a major river, this could be disastrous. The possibility of a rupture can cause entire groups of natives and even locals to have a lack of clean water.

Protests have been going on for the majority of 2016, but to very little accomplishment. In the beginning it was only the natives protesting because they knew that it was their land that was being intruded upon. But today, people from all over the country have come out to show their support, including major celebrities such as Shailene Woodley, who has been actively protesting against the pipeline, even to the point of being arrested. A common argument of this protesting, which has showed up a lot recently following the election, was peaceful protesting. There might be differing views with protesting because of the results of the election, but this protesting has been nothing but peaceful. An argument shown is that because these people are there protesting they are slowing down the production of the pipeline by simply placing themselves in front of vehicles made for the construction of the pipeline. Though this may be argued, it’s proven to be the most effective way of protesting peacefully, because their simple existence has shown to be enough to make a difference. Their simple standing does not allow violence to be used such as pepper spray and beating and uses of water hose. It doesn’t give them the right to attack them because of our constitutional right to protest.

Ultimately, this situation simply comes down to the United States legal system making the right choice. After this election, God knows what is going to be in store for the Sioux Tribe and their chances at trying to legally change the outcome. Back in October they were denied the request of blocking the pipeline, but interestingly enough, the judges ultimately felt sympathy and were unsure about the ruling, stating that although they are giving the green light for the construction of the pipeline, “ours is not the final word”. Now with President-elect Donald Trump preparing to enter the office in January, it’s starting to seem as though hope is slipping away. Trump hasn’t directly commented on this issue, but with his energy policy ideas, it sounds as though he would support the completion of the pipeline. The argument stands though. Even though there was a delay in the making of this pipeline due to health concerns, they are unwilling to stop it completely despite the harmful effects in can have on the tribe. In my opinion that is ridiculous and it very much comes from the stance of the government basically saying “those people don’t count as much”. That’s all it comes down to.