The pipeline protests have been occurring for a few months now, but have taken a backseat in the media world because of the election and other events. It seems that there is always something more important to be written or talked about, but this is too important to get glossed over any longer.
Here are the basics of what is going on: In North Dakota the Dakota access pipeline is trying to be built over Standing Rock Sioux land. The tribe is arguing that this pipeline could hurt their water supply and scared land. Their protest has gotten the attention of people and tribes from all over the country and everyone has been coming together to help, but they have been met with roadblocks and violence along the way. They even took their case to court but they were denied by the court.
Why you should care: They have been peacefully protesting from the beginning but have been met with violence every step of the way. Actress Shailene Woodley went to go peacefully protest and was arrested. She recorded the whole thing to show the harsh treatment the protestors were facing. Many other celebrities like Mark Ruffalo have joined in protesting but still not enough people are talking about it. This past week the pipeline construction had grown closer to the river so the protestors went down by the water to peacefully protest. Law enforcement at the protest shot down the protestors with rubber bullets. That may not sound like much but this injustice is what they've been dealing with since the beginning. All they are trying to do is protect their land and water supply.
How you can help: The Standing Rock Sioux tribe and many others have been protesting for months through everything that has been thrown their way, and they still haven't given up. If you'd like to join the fight you don't have to go all the way to North Dakota. Getting the word out there and get people talking about it. This past week people "checked in" to the Standing Rock Indian Reservation so it would pop up on their Facebook feed. When you see that 15 of your Facebook friends are all at the same place you're bound to look into it more. Too many people have no idea what is happening but if we all started talking about it someone will have to listen. You can also donate to the fund here.
Native Americans have been getting the worst end of the deal from the beginning. They were on this land first, yet we continue to treat them as second class citizens. The least we can do is fight to help them keep their land and water safe today.
