The smothering of the Native American culture began long before the trail of tears; Native American oppression stretches far back to the colonization of America. The catastrophic history of the Natives is associated with the foundation of America as we know it, yet their plights are utterly ignored.

The Dakota Access Pipeline Project is a “1,172 miles, 30-inch diameter pipeline." According to the project’s site, the pipeline will be finished and ready to deliver “470,000” barrels per day to other refining markets.

This project is not guaranteed to increase domestic revenue and promote the U.S.’s status as an oil producer, and the costs exceed the benefits by far. Two billion dollars in generated tax revenue is the assumed goal of this project, but the costs outweigh the benefits by far. The people being harmed by the production of the project are American citizens. It would be nearly impossible for this project to be sustainable, as it is promoting the exportation of crude oil.

Environmental degradation caused by the project is critical. The project’s platform heinously fabricates the fact that this project will be environmentally sustainable. Yet the only promise it makes is that they will avoid demolishing sensitive and endangered areas. The Dakota Access Pipeline has gone through the Mississippi river. A project ensuring the safety and protection of the environment surely cannot in like to a project drilling through a freshwater river.

Native Americans’ entire lives are at stake. The project blatantly ignores the Native Americans suffering severe consequences. Natives are trying their hardest to stop a pipeline from being built on their land. Protests have been faced with violence on the side of the authorities. Rubber bullets are pelted at the face of peaceful protestors, leaving them bloody and bruised. At the hands of corrupt authority, concussion grenades and tear gas have been combated with along with lethal weapons. Police have gone as far as waterboarding the natives, by suffocating their faces with bags and pouring water over their heads.

It was best and brusquely phrased by nativenews:

The current buildup of tremendous force at Standing Rock should be understood as a military invasion of a sovereign nation on behalf of a foreign oil company.

Not only does this statement reveal the interest of the pipeline as profiteering, but abusive. It directly ignores the lives and wishes of American citizens. It also slanders an entire spiritual belief system. The Natives believe that land should be free for all to roam, owned by none—and this land was theirs initially. A safe space allocated to the Natives is now being torn from the grasps of families. It is a hideous mockery of the Native American culture. Our country wears their faces as a mascot for sports' teams and cheers at the symbolism of their culture, yet ignores the true dilemma facing their people.

While Barack Obama had promised solidarity and hope to the natives, he has recently been passive about the problem. He promised hope to the access pipeline and the natives, yet no change has prospered. Our president, as well as mainstream media, is not providing nearly enough coverage, which speaks volumes about the priorities of our country. Senator Sanders has called upon president Obama in order to settle the dispute and put an end to the violence occurring in Standing Rock. You can read more about Sanders's letter to Obama here.

The Native Americans are firm believers in the power of buffalo. As long as buffalo roam free, the natives believe that their spirit and peoples will prosper. During mass arrests and mace attacks, a stampede of buffalo appeared, prompting cheers of joy. The spirit of the natives is bound to live on. To ensure this, we must stand in solidarity and raise awareness for the Native American community.