While Thanksgiving may serve as a time many love and enjoy, celebrating the holidays with family and friends, this November 24 served as a somber reminder for many Native Americans of the dark chapters in this nation’s past: the forcible displacement from their homeland and of their livelihoods.
And even though some Americans reflect upon this reality yearly come Thanksgiving Eve or Day, the immense denigration of human rights that our Native brothers and sisters have so sadly come to accept as commonplace for their children and families has hit an all-time high in recent weeks (ironically, too a time annually remembered by that community for being not-so-much of a holiday in the first place).
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On the evening of Sunday, November 20, a video of the heinous altercation at Backwater Bridge between police and the unarmed protesters (Water Protectors) opposing the construction of the Dakota Access Oil Pipeline over the sacred Native soil of Standing Rock circulated on social media. Police officers employed the use of sound weapons, tear gas, water cannons and hoses in the freezing 25°F weather of the night.
The militarization of law enforcement being exercised at Standing Rock and against Native persons of this country has been occurring for months (and arguably for hundreds of years from a broader historical perspective). On September 3, improvised fire bombs, pepper spray, attack dogs and intimidation tactics via mass arrests were employed by law enforcement, garnering much outrage from “#NoDAPL” activists online. Many Natives standing at the frontline of opposition have also noted an assault on the Native way of life in the form of spiritual desecration, as one noted that the police “took their c’anupas (ceremonial pipes) and their prayer offerings. They called our prayer sticks weapons.”
Starting in April, Native Leaders and their families, along with their Water Protector allies, began gathering at the site of the new pipeline route, and have bravely maintained their unarmed demonstration since. Fighting not only for the preservation of clean and safe water sources for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Reservation’s Natives (DAPL will poison water for millions) and protection of water’s inherent sanctity to the Earth (Mni Wiconi or “Water is Life”), our Native brothers and sisters also fight for honoring the 1851 Federal Treaty signed in Fort Laramie, by halting a pipeline which would cut through 38 miles of territory sanctioned to the Natives without their consent, and by a grander standing up for indigenous rights and dignity, so long forgotten and disposed of, a betrayal these people so deeply feel.
Beyond their outrage at the militarization and brute force exercised against them lies the frustration they and many of their allies hold at the complete media block-out of what many deem to be a violation of their first amendment rights and a crime against humanity, state-sanctioned force against its own people. Many "#NoDAPL" activists have turned outrage towards the Big Oil industry and some prominent funders of the pipeline (Goldman Sachs, Citibank, Bank of America and Wells Fargo to name a few), liquidating their accounts and transferring their funds to credit unions out of defiance to the atrocities at Standing Rock.
The lack of response, or at the very least, one indicative of understanding or firm intent to intervene, from the White House and other prominent political figures is being perceived by many as the ultimate government betrayal and neglect waged against its Native people. From temporarily blocking construction of the pipeline in early September to quietly approving permits for two Energy Transfer Partners’ pipelines in Texas and resuming construction while considering alternative routes only to halt construction once more in early November, the exercise of militaristic force has continued up to and through November 20 and has left many pressing President Obama to stop his wavering stance in favor of more stringent intervention to uphold Native treaties, protect Native lives and honor indigenous rights.
Senator Bernie Sanders has been a prominent leader in the “#NoDAPL” efforts, sending a letter to President Obama in October, joining the global day of action against the pipeline and addressing DC protesters outside the White House, and most recently, tweeting in light of the heinous incidences on Sunday that the President step up to protect our people. His organization, Our Revolution, expressed its solidarity with Water Protectors in October and started two petitions to oppose Secretary Clinton’s weak response to the controversy and to urge President Obama to declare Standing Rock a national monument. Native Youth of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe have too started a petition in opposition, which may be viewed here.
Thus, I would urge that our Thanksgiving holiday - a yearly time for Native Americans’ recollection of their past struggles as a people - bear tribute to the especially turbulent times that our Native brothers and sisters in Standing Rock now face and that we as a nation do all in our power to uphold human rights for all people, not just abroad but right at our home front.
