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Grassroots News & Progressive Views

Local Native Community Rallies Against Dakota Access Pipeline

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nodaplprotestWater is Life, You Can’t Drink Oil

Photos by Brent E. Beltrán

On Sunday, August 28 Native people and their allies from throughout San Diego County came together in Horton Plaza Park to rally against the Dakota Access Pipeline. The Standing Rock Sioux reservation in South Dakota, lead by Chairman Dave Archambault, has made a call to all Native Americans and supporters to nonviolently protest the creation of the pipeline which would cross the Missouri River potentially harming this great, natural source of water.

He stated: “I am here to advise anyone that will listen that the Dakota Access Pipeline project is harmful. It will not be just harmful to my people but its intent and construction will harm the water in the Missouri River, which is one of the cleanest and safest river tributaries left in the United States. To poison the water is to poison the substance of life. Everything that moves must have water. How can we talk about and knowingly poison water?”

In Horton Plaza dozens of people came out to stand, drum, and sing in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux. Many came with signs proclaiming Water Is Life, No DAPL, and You Can’t Drink Oil. The unity of Native peoples around an issue hasn’t been seen since Wounded Knee in 1973.

“[T]here are a lot of people at Standing Rock today who remember their history and the long standoff at Wounded Knee in 1973. In fact, some of those in Standing Rock today were there in 1973 at Wounded Knee, a different, but similar battle for dignity and the future of a nation,” wrote Winona LaDuke in her must read essay on the history of Standing Rock, What Would Sitting Bull Do?

Native folks are idle no more. They are standing up for their dignity, their rights, and the treaties that our government continues to break. But they not only protest for themselves they are doing this for all of us. Because water is life.

The Standing Rock Sioux’s call for support still stands visit their website for information on how you can help Stop the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Brent E. Beltrán

Brent E. Beltrán

Brent E. Beltrán is a third generation pocho and second generation San Diegan that lives next door to Chicano Park in Barrio Logan. He's married to his warrior healer wife Olympia and is the proud father of a youngling name Sandino. Brent is a member of the SDFP Editorial Board, occasionally writes the column Desde la Logan and posts Looking Back at the Week every Sunday morning. He can be contacted at desdelalogan@gmail.com and through his Twitter account @DesdeLaLogan.
Brent E. Beltrán

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Comments

  1. We listened and learned from the native people when we arrived, when we wrote the constitution; we should listen and learn now. Our addiction to “energy” is as bad as any other addiction. One simple passive thing that would help is if everyone would hang up one load of laundry a week to dry in the sun and air for free, instead of using the energy glut dryer, especially here in Southern California…but everywhere too…Laundry lines, not pipelines.

  3. Thank you for sharing this information. The media coverage suddenly picked up when the headline could read “Violence.” KPBS posted an article yesterday: http://www.kpbs.org/news/2016/sep/04/dakota-access-pipeline-protests-in-north-dakota/, and then buried it. I tried searching on the KPBS website and the article doesn’t come up, neither is it showing in their list of “National” news. I could only find that link by doing a google search. Thankful for grassroots networks getting the word out on this large and peaceful protest.

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