Billionaire Kelcy Warren, the owner of Energy Transfer Partners, is trying to build a Dakota Access Pipeline which is intended to carry out around 450,000 gallons (570,000 barrels) of oil every day from the Bakken Oil Fields located in North Dakota, to Illinois. This action is supposedly said to make the American country less dependent on importing foreign oil in a more cost-effective and safe manner since North Dakota is a major source of crude oil within the country.
Complaints have been pouring in about the pipeline from farmers to Native Americans because this pipeline could potentially threaten the Native communities' drinking water supply, which interrupts sacred areas. The trending hashtag, #NoDAPL (No Dakota Access Pipeline), has been trending all over every social media site trying to bring awareness to the Native American communities, especially around the Thanksgiving holidays. Many supporters claim that we owe the Natives our support and reasons to protest since the American ancestors already took most of their rights and lives back in the historical events of Thanksgiving.
Unfortunately, this past weekend the law enforcement officials turned to aggressive force of action on a couple hundred unarmed protesters. They fired rubber bullets, teargas, and water cannons in a sub-freezing environment last Sunday night. According to the Standing Rock Medic and Healer Council, it's been stated that they had to treat 300 injuries and had ambulances transporting 26 people to local hospitals.
Were the protesters violent? No, the water protectors have said and intended to stay unarmed and nonviolent throughout the whole process. Some of their principles were:
1. We are peaceful and prayerful.
2. We are non-violent.
3. Respect the locals.
4. No weapons.
5. Property damage does not get us closer to our goal.
6. No children in potentially dangerous situations.
7. We keep each other accountable to these principles.
8. This is a ceremony. Act accordingly.
Why should you care about #NoDAPL? To start off with the obvious reason, access to water is a basic human right. No one should be restricted from that right since it's a key for survival. The American country also elected Donald Trump to be our next president and according to The Guardian, Trump has close financial ties to the company that's building the Dakota Access Pipeline. Don't believe he'll do anything harmful to the Native American community? Trump was questioned about the authenticity of the Native American community and answered, "They don't look like Indians to me."
Like other supporters said, we owe the Native community so much already. They have shared their culture and their respect for the environment with us, and unwillingly gave their country to us. Their issues are never properly heard among the news until now, when their treaties have been broken and we owe them our ears and respect.
For more information about the Dakota Access Pipeline situation, here are a couple links to their sites.
