Non-indigenous Americans
also have activists who, in the spirit of
Gandhi and Jesus are impelled by faith to oppose war, nuclear power, torture
and other atrocities, but they are a dedicated few, who have mostly failed to
mobilize mass support. In standing with
the Lakota, people who support the Water Protectors are implicitly opening
themselves to a whole new experience of spirituality. We see these people as leaders in the
environmental fight; they are also spiritual leaders.
3) The connection of Native Americans to land is fundamentally different from that of the rest of us. To us it is real property, to be divided up, bought and sold, like any other commodity. To Native Americans, it is the Mother, sacred source of life, to be held in common by the tribe, cherished and protected.
As the continent was taken over by people who see land as a commodity, a few portions were given to Native American tribes, considered sovereign nations, under solemn treaties. Most of these have been violated over the years, including the Treaties of Ft. Laramie 1851 and 1868, which gave the land between the upper Missouri and the Cannonball River, including land now owned on paper by Energy Transfer, to the Standing Rock Tribe.
The Water Protectors are attempting to reclaim this land. They built a Treaty Camp in the path of the pipeline, which was dismantled on 10/27. They are continuing to claim that the land belongs to them, and will fight to protect it. It's not known whether the Standing Rock Tribe will go to court to protect these treaty rights.
Many treaties with Native American tribes have been violated over the past 100 years. The US government has offered monetary compensation for the stolen lands, and some tribes have accepted this, but others, like the various Lakota groups, have refused to trade land for cash. The Oglala Sioux, further south, still claim the Black Hills under the Ft. Laramie treaties, and will not take money in exchange.
So the stand of the Hunkpapa Lakota at Standing Rock, if examined deeply, forces us to confront some of the uglier aspects of American history. In the past, these situations were polarizing- the Indians vs. the rest of us. But now, mainstream America is much more willing to honor the rights of Native Americans and stand behind them, because we so appreciate their courageous stance for the land and water they hold sacred.
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