Standing Rock will not go away

SUBHEAD: Water Protectors hope supporters on March 10th will demonstrate in Washington D.C.

By Mark Trahant on 24 February 2017 for Yes Magazine -
(http://www.yesmagazine.org/people-power/water-is-life-the-story-of-standing-rock-wont-go-away-20170224)


Image above: Veterans, water protectors and the independent media facing riot police. Photo by Rob Wilson. From original article.

The Dakota Access pipeline is set and oil will flow. But this is not the only fight about water, and Standing Rock is only one chapter somewhere in the middle of a long story. 

Every day I write rhymes on Twitter. I get a kick out of reducing complicated ideas and events down to 140 characters. So yesterday I wrote:

Powers That Be think it’s the endDAPL will now have much money to spendBut Standing Rock is a rally cryRebalance our world before we die

And that is the story I want to tell. Standing Rock is only one chapter somewhere in the middle of a long story.

It’s true that North Dakota used the power of the state this week to march into the camps along the Missouri River and round up the remaining water protectors.

But think about that story: A few dozen people were arrested at camps where more than 10,000 people once said no to the Dakota Access pipeline. That people power did not evaporate. Even today more people, tens of thousands, perhaps millions, are still a part of that effort via social media and through direct action.

The Standing Rock Sioux tribe and its allies have been repeating the same story for more than a year: Mni wiconi (water is life). This is a narrative that the state of North Dakota, the pipeline company, and the oil industry could not counter, despite spending millions of dollars and advancing into Great Sioux treaty lands with a law enforcement army.

The chief executive of the company behind the Dakota Access pipeline told investors on Thursday that he “underestimated the power of social media,” where stories spread so rapidly. According to Bloomberg News, Kelcy Warren complained:

 “There was no way we can defend ourselves.” 

Actually, there was a way: Many energy companies have figured out that it’s far better to work with communities than to roll over them.

The point is that the company and the state lost the narrative. But then, “lost” might not be the right word. The company was in a rush to build and North Dakota made the story more compelling by acting against its own interest.

Think about what story we’d be telling now if the North Dakota governor spent the first few weeks listening to the community and exploring alternatives. No one would have turned the page to see what happened next. No drama.

Instead, the county sheriff took center stage playing a villain. In August, Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier arrested Standing Rock Chairman David Archambault II and the plot raced ahead to a military occupation, a company line to defend, and a global audience via social media. Lots of drama.

But this is not the only fight about water. There are now hundreds of scenes spread across North America.

The protection of water, the rebalancing of the world, now has a symbol and a memory to carry that story forward. Every pipeline project that’s planned across North America will have to defend itself in every community, on social media, and with investors.

The Standing Rock Sioux tribe hopes supporters on March 10th 2017 will march and pray in Washington, D.C. The tribe asks people to “rise in solidarity with the Indigenous peoples of the world whose rights protect Unci Maka (Grandmother Earth) for the future generations of all.” I think people will go. And by the thousands. Standing Rock is the call to action.

The White House tried to rewrite the story Thursday. Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters at the daily briefing that the White House is “constantly in touch with” the Standing Rock Sioux. The idea here, which has been brewing for a while, is to cast the tribe as a partner of the state.

The tribe immediately called out that statement as false. Archambault said in a news release: “We repeatedly asked for meetings with the Trump administration, but never received one until the day they notified Congress that they were issuing the easement.

I was on a plane to Washington, D.C., when the easement was issued. It was an insult to me and to the Tribe. I cancelled the meeting upon hearing this news. We have since filed a lawsuit for the immoral and illegal issuance of the easement and suspension of the environmental impact study.”

This lie from the White House is revealing: The Trump administration (and its allies in the oil industry and North Dakota) understands that this story is not over. They want their narrative back.

And that’s not going to happen. How could it? We all know water is life.

See also:
Ea O Ka Aina: Tribes divest DAPL bankers 2/13/17
Ea O Ka Aina: Army Corps okays DAPL easement 2/8/17
Ea O Ka Aina: Trump orders go on DAPL EIS 2/3/17
Ea O Ka Aina: Trump orders shale oil pipelines 1/24/17
Ea O Ka Aina: Missile launcher at Standing Rock 1/19/17
Ea O Ka Aina: Lockdown at Trans-Pecos Pipeline 1/10/17
Ea O Ka Aina: Standing Rock has changed us 12/9/16
Ea O Ka Aina: As Standing Rock celebrates... 12/5/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Army Corps denies DAPL easement 12/4/16
Ea O Ka Aina: My Whole Heart is With You 12/2/16
Ea O Ka Aina: The Loving Containment of Courage 12/1/16
Ea O Ka Aina: The Beginning is Near 12/1/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Obama hints at DAPL rerouting 11/3/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Obama hints at DAPL rerouting 11/3/16
Ea O Ka Aina: New military attack on NODAPL 11/3/16
Ea O Ka Aina: How to Support NoDAPL 11/3/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Standing Rock has changed us 12/9/16
Ea O Ka Aina: As Standing Rock celebrates... 12/5/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Army Corps denies easement 12/4/16
Ea O Ka Aina: My Whole Heart is With You 12/2/16
Ea O Ka Aina: The Loving Containment of Courage 12/1/16
Ea O Ka Aina: The Beginning is Near 12/1/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Feds to shutdown NoDAPL Camp 11/25/16
Ea O Ka Aina: NoDAPL people are going to die 11/23/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Hundreds of vets to join NoDAPL 11/22/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Obama must support Standing Rock 11/21/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Trump's pro oil stance vs NoDaPL 11/15/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Kauai NoDAPL Demonstration 11/12/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Obama to Betray Standing Rock 11/12/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Trump impact on Standing Rock 11/12/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Ann Wright on Standing Rock 11/8/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Turning Point at Standing Rock 11/6/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Jackson Browne vs DAPL owner 11/5/16
Democracy Now: Boycott of DAPL Owner's Music Festival
Ea O Ka Aina: World responds to NoDAPL protests 11/5/16
Ea O Ka Aina: NoDAPL victory that was missed 11/5/16
Ea O Ka Aina: DAPL hid discovery of Sioux artifacts 11/5/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Dakota Access Pipeline will leak 11/5/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Route of the Dakota Access Pipeline 11/4/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Sanders calls for stopping DAPL 11/4/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Obama hints at DAPL rerouting 11/3/16
Ea O Ka Aina: New military attack on NODAPL 11/3/16
Ea O Ka Aina: How to Support NoDAPL 11/3/16
Unicorn Riot: Tweets from NoDAPL 11/2/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Standing Rock & the Ballot Box 10/31/16
Ea O Ka Aina: NoDAPL reclaim new frontline 10/24/16
Ea O Ka Aina: How far will North Dakota go? 10/23/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Amy Goodman "riot" charge dropped 10/17/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Amy Goodwin to face "Riot Charge" 10/16/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Shutdown of all tar sand pipelines 10/11/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Why Standing Rock is test for Oabama 10/8/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Why we are Singing for Water 10/8/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Labor's Dakota Access Pipeline Crisis 10/3/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Standing Firm for Standing Rock 10/3/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Contact bankers behind DAPL 9/29/16
Ea O Ka Aina: NoDAPL demo at Enbridge Inc 9/29/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Militarized Police raid NoDAPL 9/28/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Stop funding of Dakota Access Pipeline 9/27/16
Ea O Ka Aina: UN experts to US, "Stop DAPL Now!" 9/27/16
Ea O Ka Aina: No DAPL solidarity grows 9/21/16
Ea O Ka Aina: This is how we should be living 9/16/16
Ea O Ka Aina: 'Natural Capital' replacing 'Nature' 9/14/16
Ea O Ka Aina: The Big Difference at Standing Rock 9/13/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Jill Stein joins Standing Rock Sioux 9/10/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Pipeline temporarily halted 9/6/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Native Americans attacked with dogs 9/5/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Mni Wiconi! Water is Life! 9/3/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Sioux can stop the Pipeline 8/28/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Officials cut water to Sioux 8/23/16 

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