Recent news says Shailene Woodley was arrested for trespassing during a protest. A group of 200 people, some including the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, were protesting against the Dakota Access Pipeline project, which is where big oil companies want to instal a pipeline underground for quicker oil transportation. Not only would this be cutting through sacred burial grounds, but it would also affect the town's drinking water.
According to The Washington Post, Joe Heim is a member of the pipeline activist movement and previously talked about the effects it would have on the citizens who live in this area:
“...That river is the source of water for the reservation’s 8,000 residents. Any leak, tribal leaders argue, would cause immediate and irreparable harm...The tribe says it also is fighting the pipeline’s path because, even though it does not cross the reservation, it traverses sacred territory taken away from the tribe in a series of treaties that have been forced upon it over the past 150 years.”
Bernie Sanders recently tweeted that this project would have the same impact on the planet as adding 21.4 million cars.
Although this project will bring in many openings for jobs and will make the U.S less dependent for energy from unstable parts of the country, there are people who will continue to fight for the rights of the natives and their land considering we invaded it in the first place.
Other than the recent protest, people have been fighting for months for their land to be protected.
Shailene Woodley, actress from Divergent and more, is a huge activist in this campaign. Last year she tweeted:
She's even on a diet now called the 'indigenous peoples diet', and continues to remind the community that the world, and the people in it, are important and indigenous.
Woodley and about 27 others were arrested on charges of trespassing, which is kind of ironic considering the pipeline project is trespassing onto native lands as well. She decided to live stream the protest and the arrest to spread awareness of the harmful project and the importance of indigenous species, and give a glimpse into the slight police brutality. The video shows that she was peacefully walking to her car to take a break for the day when the police approached her and others telling them they may not continue and are now under arrest, but refused to tell them why. Her live stream had about 2.7 million viewers within the two hours that it went on, and now the indigenous people's movement and anti-pipeline has many more supporters.
She has been released and there are many more people on her and her peers side of eliminating the pipeline. Some believe the arrest was necessary as there are rumors of the owner of the land being completely okay with the continuation of the project. Either way, she gained a lot more respect by a lot of people for being so caring of the world around her by supporting a good cause.
If you're interested, check out this website that will tell you more about the indigenous movement.
