Since the “White Man” first discovered Native people, we have been forced to submit to their will, we have went through genocide, slavery, and just about anything else you can possible think of; however, even after all Native people have went through we still stand strong today, and we even fight in wars that aren’t our own. Today I want to tell you about a subject that could get messy if you are dead set in your ways, but I ask that you please keep your mind open, because I as a Native American can tell you first hand the hardships we have had to face and why we still fight to this day for a country that doesn’t care for us much. Today I want to talk to you about the Dakota Access Pipeline and why natives are so dead set on it not being created;
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The protesters at Standing Rock are protesting peacefully, yet somehow these peaceful protests call for armed police, dogs, teargas, rubber bullets, and water canons to be used. Yes, some of the protesters have vandalized the pipeline equipment but none of them are armed or using any violence at all. They aren’t rioters, like we’ve seen in Baltimore or Ferguson; the native people are standing and BLOCKING the path of the pipeline. They aren’t lighting equipment of fire, shooting at the police, or doing anything like we’ve seen in the past, this is a purely peaceful protest. Yet, there have been several accounts of police brutality, there has been video that’s been released, photos of the after math, and photos of the brutality actually happening. In October of 2016 one reporter has on video a show of what the police of Morton County are doing to the protester. This video shows her talking to a protester while many more are standing in the freezing cold water in front of the Morton County Police when all of a sudden the reporter is shot with a rubber bullet. The Protesters in the water were later “sprayed with a unknown irritating white substance that turned their skin red and was extremely painful.” The Morton County Police Sheriff released a statement saying that the US Army Corps of Engineers actually asked them to help remove the protesters from the Army Corps land; however, when the reporter was shot herself and the other protesters were technically on the Department of Justice land and not the Army Corps. The Army Corps has since come out to the say they didn’t ask Morton County to help them (Nienaber). There are many more incidents like this one and some that are even worse than
The protesters at Standing Rock are protesting peacefully, yet somehow these peaceful protests call for armed police, dogs, teargas, rubber bullets, and water canons to be used. Yes, some of the protesters have vandalized the pipeline equipment but none of them are armed or using any violence at all. They aren’t rioters, like we’ve seen in Baltimore or Ferguson; the native people are standing and BLOCKING the path of the pipeline. They aren’t lighting equipment of fire, shooting at the police, or doing anything like we’ve seen in the past, this is a purely peaceful protest. Yet, there have been several accounts of police brutality, there has been video that’s been released, photos of the after math, and photos of the brutality actually happening. In October of 2016 one reporter has on video a show of what the police of Morton County are doing to the protester. This video shows her talking to a protester while many more are standing in the freezing cold water in front of the Morton County Police when all of a sudden the reporter is shot with a rubber bullet. The Protesters in the water were later “sprayed with a unknown irritating white substance that turned their skin red and was extremely painful.” The Morton County Police Sheriff released a statement saying that the US Army Corps of Engineers actually asked them to help remove the protesters from the Army Corps land; however, when the reporter was shot herself and the other protesters were technically on the Department of Justice land and not the Army Corps. The Army Corps has since come out to the say they didn’t ask Morton County to help them (Nienaber). There are many more incidents like this one and some that are even worse than