Despite the international outcry and daily presence in media outlets across the United States this past fall and winter concerning the Dakota Access Pipeline construction, you may not be hearing much in the news these days. However, the absence of news headlines might suggest that nothing is happening and the Water Protectors and their allies and advocates have given up. This month's blog is to assure everyone that this is far from the truth, despite our current U.S President's statement that after he approved the continued construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines his first week in office "nothing happened--no one protested." This is a completely false claim!

Here is what is happening after the President's easement in January allowed drilling:

February 8, 2017: Journalist Jenni Monet (pictured below) is arrested by Morton County Police, despite showing her Press Pass. Nearly 700 people were arrested in total for their role in the movement to stop the pipeline. She writes that in the jail “#MniWiconi is inscribed everywhere.” In Lakota, the term means "water is life."

April 3, 2017: Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism bestows Jenni Monet the prestigious Paul Tobenkin Memorial Award for her objective coverage of the No Dakota Access Pipeline movement where she embedded herself to gain pivotal access to events in North Dakota.

May 16, 2017: Journalist Ruth Hopkins writes in Indian Country Today Media Network some troubling behind-the-scenes info linking Senator John Hoeven (Rep-North Dakota), the organization Blackwater, and the Trump Administration in relation to the Pipeline: "The [Morton County] Sheriffs’ Association has a $3.46 million dollar budget, according to tax forms. Some of this funding comes from corporate sources, like TigerSwan. TigerSwan maintains offices in Iraq and Afghanistan. TigerSwan’s CEO is a former adviser to the multinational private security firm, Blackwater. Blackwater was founded by Erik Prince, a Trump campaign donor and the brother of Betsy DeVos, the U.S. Secretary of Education. Besides funding the Sheriff’s Association, TigerSwan is in charge of Dakota Access intelligence and supervising overall security for the company."

June 14, 2017: U.S. District Court Judge Boasberg ruled that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers violated the law when it failed to consider the environmental impacts of the construction of the Dakota Pipeline. This is a significant victory for the Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Sioux nations and for every being who would be affected by the pipeline, which includes 17 million people's drinking water. This ruling does not shut-off the pipeline however, but is a positive step in the direction of environmental protection and advocacy. In April and May of 2017, there were two small spills of oil that were contained and cleaned-up immediately; still, they were spills.

On-Going Lawsuits: Many organizations are suing the oil companies and/or the United States government for violations of Indigenous tribal sovereignty, treaty rights, environmental issues or other violations of the law.  Some of these organizations include:

     Standing Rock Sioux Nation

     Landowners in Morton County, ND who own over 9 miles of land impacted by the pipeline

     National Resources Defense Council

     Earth Justice

     Sierra Club

     Honor the Earth

     Rainforest Action Network

     Indigenous Environmental Network

     Center for Biological Diversity

Despite the President's claim that there was "no response--no protests" when he signed the executive order in January allowing the construction of the pipelines to continue, this is not the truth! There has been a widespread response in the United States and abroad (Norway's largest private investor pulled out their financial support of the pipeline in winter 2016) that reaffirms people's commitment to supporting the rights of Indigenous peoples, their devotion to protecting the earth, and their vision for a sustainable future in the United States. No one has stopped believing in the necessity of protecting the Sacred Earth Mother, even if those protests do not receive front-page headlines, for now at least. For the Water Protectors and Environmental Advocates around the world, failing to care for our world and all its people is simply not an option!

Keep the Faith everyone!