In 2014 a four billion dollar proposal was put into place to build a pipeline from North Dakota to Illinois, to transport 570,000 gallons of oil. The oil fracking industry has boomed in this area due to the tremendous amounts of oil recovered recently.
According to an article in BBC, What is fracking and why is it controversial?:
"Fracking is the process of drilling down into the earth before a high-pressure water mixture is directed at the rock to release the gas inside. Water, sand and chemicals are injected into the rock at high pressure which allows the gas to flow out to the head of the well."
This campaign was not something that happened overnight. It has been in the works since 2014 and only recently has it gained national attention. This is because of the fact that Native Americans along with other protesters have begun a large action in order to get the attention of the rest of the nation.
Most of you have probably heard about the NoDAPL protests happening in places like Standing Rock, North Dakota. These protestors want to be called water protectors because they want to keep the water safe and drinkable for the people of these communities.
The decision to put this pipeline in brings a lot of environmental risks to the table. Greenhouse gas emissions is a big one and a breach in the pipe that could contaminate their water source. This pipeline is supposed to go under the Mississippi River, and what if the line breaks and contaminates the river? Animals and people will get sick and/or die due to contamination of their water.
The oil pipeline is more than just drinkable water too. It has to do with sacred Native American land being stripped away from the native people, sounds a lot like history repeating itself. The Standing Rock reservation (originally The Great Sioux Reservation) was established April 29, 1868 in North Dakota. However, in 1889 the reservation was reduced in size by the government into six reservations and one was named Standing Rock Reservation.
According to the website, http://standingrock.org/history/:
"The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe stands by its right to self-government as a sovereign nation, which includes taking a government-to-government stance with the states and federal government entities. Having signed treaties as equals with the United States Government in 1851 and in 1868, which established the original boundaries of the Great Sioux Nation. The tribe staunchly asserts these treaty rights to remain steadfast and just as applicable today as on the day they were made."
The reservation was reduced further though and this created some inclusion of non-native landowners. The Sioux Tribe is still in charge of waterways and streams, but this has caused civil and criminal encounters in court. Even though the Sioux reservation has its own government it is still always in conflict with the state and federal government.
Now the Sioux tribe is fighting for the land that they have, once more. Their land is sacred and historical, and no one seems to care about that. The greed in this developers eyes is what they are blinded by. The tribe and many allies have band together around the country to stop the pipeline.
New York City, Atlanta, and Chattanooga are just a few of the places around the nation who have stood in solidarity with the water protectors. In North Dakota, however, it has begun to escalate. Peaceful protestors are being pepper sprayed and shot with rubber bullets. Concussion canons are being used on the water protectors, and people are getting severely injured. This huge sit in going on in North Dakota has been going on for months now, and the violence is only escalating.
If you are looking for ways to stand in solidarity you can go to the website below or even organize your on NoDAPL protest:
For more information go to this link below.
https://nycstandswithstandingrock.files.wordpress....
