It's Thanksgiving Week And Our Government Is Battling The Shit Out Of Indians Over The Dakota Access Pipeline
The Dakota Access Pipeline is a $3.7 billion project conceived and designed to pump crude oil 1,200 miles from North Dakota to Illinois, where it can then be transported across the eastern seaboard. Sounds like some good clean fun, right? Wrong.
The pipeline will border Indian tribal land and go underneath the Missouri River. Indians (think major newspapers and academics call them Native Americans now?) don’t like this, arguing staunchly that the pipeline will contaminate their rightful land, their water supply, ruin sacred sites and violate some treaties/land deals.
I haven’t written about the pipeline because, well, who really gives a shit? We’re predominantly up in the northeast worrying about safe spaces and protesting democracy, don’t really have the time to talk about pipes in North Dakota.
Things change, however, when I purchase the on-flight WiFi and read about our government shooting rubber bullets, water cannons and tear gas at Indians on my flight home for Thanksgiving. That’s a far cry from the things I learned while drawing up sweet hand-turkeys in elementary school.
Protesters — by the hundreds and, overall, thousands — have turned out in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe to stop the construction of the pipeline. They’ve done this since last summer, but things ramped up this week when hundreds were injured Sunday night/Monday morning.
This is North Dakota. In late November. It’s cold as fuck. Imagine what rubber bullets and water cannons do to you?
America celebrates Thanksgiving:
Standing Rock pipeline protesters repelled by water cannons, tear gas at bridge crossing#GivingTuesday pic.twitter.com/anm43iPNmp— Crystal Johnson (@Crystal1Johnson) November 22, 2016
Last night at #StandingRock @MarkRuffako https://t.co/fl28fw4jKX #PepperSpray #Mace #Percussiongrenades #WaterCannons @POTUS where are you? pic.twitter.com/b9maVWi8H4
— Frances Fisher I99 (@Frances_Fisher) November 21, 2016
(kinda love that tribal music tbh)
One protester may lose her damn arm.
Protester nearly loses her arm after an explosion at the Dakota Access Pipeline construction site https://t.co/do5KDark4k pic.twitter.com/0ygLLcUjS1
— CNN (@CNN) November 23, 2016
Standing Rock protester injured in clash could lose her arm https://t.co/o75pr5CFxL pic.twitter.com/qTDBGQJiNy
— VICE News (@vicenews) November 23, 2016
Both sides have blamed the other for the explosion that caused such harm.
Bernie’s been ranting and raving about the pipeline with what look like a bunch of badass Indian chiefs in front of the White House for basically ever.
So yeah, a lot of fuss over a little pipe in the ground.
Seems harmless enough to me but then again I’m not an Indian and oil sucks when someone fucks up dealing with it. The construction has temporarily been paused while negotiations with Native American leaders go on.
The first Thanksgiving was 395 years ago. Still got some things to iron out — let’s hope somebody’s got some good ideas, dare I say it, in the pipeline.