Ever since Christopher Columbus got dizzy and plopped on North America, the relationship between Native Americans and white people, has been... difficult. There's a long history of us promising them land when we feel like appearing generous, and then taking it away and brushing them aside when it suits our needs. We don't understand how they can live so "primitively" and they don't understand how we can be so wasteful. Our understanding of their culture is limited to Pocahontas and our high school American history classes. Disney and middle-aged men with perpetual frowns (at least that's what my history teacher looked like) aren't bad teachers. But the best way to learn about Native American culture and understand our relationship with them is, presently, just tuning into the news.

Currently, more than 200 tribes and other activists are standing with the Standing Rock Sioux to protest the construction of an oil pipeline being built by Energy Transfer Partners to transport oil 1,200 miles east, from North Dakota’s Bakken field to a refinery in central Illinois. The story is that this energy company was approved by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to build a pipeline across the Missouri river and since the line crossed into sacred land of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, the members sued not just because it trespassed onto their land but it was also liable to affect the water, their main source. The tribe asked for a temporary injunction and was denied by a federal judge. In an effort to halt construction and get the pipe moved to a different location, hundreds of people, natives and non-natives alike, have gathered for peaceful demonstrations, prayer circles, and pipe ceremonies. The police have been accused of responding to their protests with pepper spray, tear gas and beanbag rounds. As far as we know, the oil companies are still planning on drilling. Others are trying to figure out if both sides can be appeased.

When you look at the footage of what's happening there, it's evident that not a thing has changed. Even the false promises like "There will be new and better land for you somewhere else!" or "Nah, this won't hurt your drinking water!" are there. Classic. To the government, these people will always come last when something as important as urbanization or fossil fuels is on the line (lol, puns). We've pushed them to the far corners of the continent to make way for our big cities and big egos, and I'm amazed that after all that history of oppression, their composure is still intact. How do we respond when they meet us with calm opposition? With militarized force. Andrew Jackson would be impressed.

It's not just the poor way the police is reacting to these tribes or even the stubbornness of those fracking jerks (PUNS). It's also the disconnect between cultures and traditions. To the owners of these companies, land is land. The only thing that makes it special is how much oil it has or how much they can buy it for. The reason this issue is about more than human rights is because this oil will have a huge impact on the environment, spiritually and physically.

Something about the Native American belief that everything has a spirit and that we are an integral part of our environment always struck me as beautiful. They honor nature in a way that nature deserves to be honored. Pure nature is so hard to find these days. The only time we recognize Mother Nature is when we're calling her a b**** because it's 98 degrees outside or there's 10 inches of snow on the car. But who's fault is that, really? Global warming can't be blamed on anybody but the human race. Climate change is a real and extreme situation, and yet we're slow to do something about it.

In my opinion, this is because A) We underestimate it because the world isn't on fire yet and B) Because we treat climate change like it's the cracks in our ceiling or the leaking faucet. First, like all issues, we don't notice something's wrong in the world until somebody dies from it. Until the ozone layer gets to the point where it's about as protective as a spider web, the problem isn't bad enough to be concerned about. And besides, why worry about an invisible threat when THERE'S ISIS. Second, the difference between the way that Native Americans look at the earth and the way the other people look at it is that to them, it's an extension of our souls. To us, we own it. We use it until it's dry and then move on, as if it's ailments aren't our concern.

We can learn a lot from these people. I feel like maybe if we treated them like they had more to give than just land, then we would gain a bit more respect for them as a people and for the world as a home. Once we open our eyes and stop making the mistakes of our ancestors, we'll actually earn the right to call this beautiful planet ours.