The Standing Rock Pipeline Resistance

This issue had been resolved, but today, January 23, 2017, President Donald J. Trump issued an Executive Order stating that this Pipeline would go forward.

The Native American Standing Rock Pipeline Resistance is based on two issues. The construction of the pipeline will cause sacred sites to be bulldozed. The pipeline will also be constructed under the Native American’s source of water and they are legitimately concerned about leaks. The resistance is entering its eighth month.

The resistance is organized in the Sacred Stone Camp by the Standing Rock Sioux Nation. The news media says that the resistance is unprecedented but Native Americans have organized protests and more than one resistance down through the years. Our news media just does not give the Native American the news coverage it should. We have treaties with the Native American tribes that we seem to conveniently forget when we want to. Many of those treaties have to do with just this type of land infringement.

In 2015, the Rosebud Sioux organized a protest against the Keystone XL pipeline which would have crossed their land, calling it an act of war.

Disregard for the rights of the Native American, the indigenous people of America, is not a new issue. Protests such as the one at Standing Rock have happened down through the years. The U.S. government has a history of disregard for the Native American lands and for our own indigenous people themselves.

Perhaps the most famous resistance was the one that happened at Wounded Knee in 1973. Wounded Knee was the site of the massacre of hundreds of Native Americans in 1890. Protests since then have resembled the one at Wounded Knee including the Standing Rock protest.

The United Nations has called out the United States over the treatment of our indigenous people. We have used violence against them including things such as rubber bullets, tear gas, and compression grenades. They are simply protecting their rights under their treaties with us. The U.N. statement also mentioned cultural rights, free speech, and the environment.

We should take notice that the U.N. is involved. If we can’t honor the treaties between the U.S. government and our own indigenous people, how can we be trusted to honor the treaties with foreign nations? #amwriting #amblogging #writing #StandingRock