There is much turmoil in North Dakota with the imposing Dakota access pipeline. The Dakota access pipeline is a 1,885km crude oil delivery pipeline that runs from Bakken, North Dakota to Patoka, Illinois. If it is completed, it will be able to carry 570,000 barrels of oil per day. Sounds all peaches and creamy, right? Until you consider that the pipeline would have an immense effect on the drinking water of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe due to leaks in the pipeline.
It will also infringe upon the ancestral lands by damaging and destroying historic, religious, and cultural sites. The tribe has even tried to sue the engineering company that is involved with the construction of the pipeline on the premise that the pipeline is a threat to their environment and emotional state. Unfortunately, efforts failed. While efforts to take legal action were unsuccessful, the Standing Sioux have begun protesting the Dakota Access pipeline, calling themselves “water protestors."
Their protesting has delayed the process of construction on the pipeline. The protest has remained peaceful for the most part, however, violence has erupted recently mainly in part due to the local police department. Police used a water cannon in an attempt to disperse protesters, in response to protesters starting fires on Nov 20th. Spectators managed to capture video of police using high-pressure water cannons on protestors in 20-degree weather. Police also used concussion grenades and rubber bullets.
The #NoDAPL protesters have garnered much outside support from celebrities, such as actress Susan Sarandon, who attended a rally in Washington D.C in Support of the Standing Sioux Tribe. Other celebrities have also shown their support via social media like musician Pharrell Williams and actor Leonardo DiCaprio. The youth of the Standing Sioux Tribe ran 2,200 miles to Washington D.C. to deliver a petition to halt construction of the pipeline. Political leader Bernie Sanders voiced his support for #NoDAPL. Our country is built on being the land of the free, so why aren’t the Standing Rock Sioux free to have clean water, and their sacred land to not be disturbed? After all, it was theirs, to begin with. Hopefully, a compromise can be made, and the Standing Rock Sioux can once again have peace.
