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Law enforcement officials work to clear out pipeline resistance camp

February 23, 2017 By Art Hughes

By National Native News staff

Law enforcement officers arrested at least 10 people Wednesday (2/22) during a short confrontation with those left in the former Oceti Sakowin camp on federal land in North Dakota. Officers moved in again Thursday morning to clear remaining inhabitants and start the process to clean structures and debris off the land.

Most of the remaining protesters—about 150 people—marched out of the camp accompanied by singing, drumming and prayers before the 2 p.m. deadline. Among those leaving was Dan Nanamkin (Nez Perse Umatilla and Lakes Okanogan). He had been at the camp since September. He said it was a heartbreaking decision.

“We decided among ourselves, if we were to be peacefully removed, we were going to do so with dignity, we are going to leave with dignity and in a respectful, prayerful way,” Nanamkin said. “So we could have our heads help up high in regards that we did the best that we could and there’s no shame in leaving. So we took care of ourselves in that way.” He said he has set up for now at the nearby Eagle Nest camp and is deciding whether to stay on.

Those leaving the camp set fire to as many as 20 structures, reportedly for ceremonial reasons. The Morton County Sheriff’s office reports two people were treated at the hospital for burns although it’s still unclear how those happened. A large contingent of officers in riot gear moved in about two hours after the 2 p.m. Wednesday deadline set by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and North Dakota officials passed. The officers repeatedly rushed a group of protesters, grabbed selected people, then retreated.

North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum said those remaining had another chance to leave Thursday without risk of arrest. State officials said clean-up would continue and anyone interfering would be arrested.

North Dakota officials offered meals, short-term lodging, medical exams and even bus tickets for protesters who left by Wednesday afternoon. Officials say only four people made use of the services.

Construction on the pipeline has already resumed. Pipeline backers say oil could be flowing as early as March 6th.

Deadline day at Oceti Sakowin

February 22, 2017 By Art Hughes

By NNN staff

Dozens of people participated in ceremonies and left on foot from the Oceti Sakowin camp under threat of deadlines by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the state of North Dakota. Others stayed to risk arrest by authorities clearing the land to continue construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline under Lake Oahe.

The state provided travel assistance and other services for those voluntarily leaving the main camp for people opposing the pipeline. Buses came to take people to an assistance center in Bismarck. The state is providing health services, bus fare, food vouchers and a one-night hotel stay. Grassroots groups are also providing assistance.

Muddy conditions hindered debris removal. Rain and snow hit the area the morning of the evacuation. Campers had asked the Army Corps for more time to continue clean up efforts, but the agency denied the extension. Law enforcement officials said anyone still at the camp after 2 p.m. local time would be arrested and remaining property, structures and vehicles would be impounded.

The Army Corps set Feb. 22 as the deadline for people to vacate the camp. The state also called for people to leave through an evacuation order issued the week before.

Tribal leaders express concern over Trump administration picks

February 17, 2017 By Art Hughes

by Matt Laslo

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) Some Native leaders are voicing concerns over the potential direction of federal education policy and other implications of President Donald Trump’s cabinet picks.

Only a small percentage of Native American children go to tribal schools. The majority attend public schools. That has many native leaders worried that the new Dept. of Education secretary, Betsy DeVos, has been a big proponent of school choice and charter schools.

“I’m just concerned with some of her past positions on privatization. The majority of our native children are in public schools – we have like 6% in Indian schools. So I want to educate her on the unique needs in Indian Country,” said Patricia Whitefoot is the former president of the National Indian Education Association, who was in Washington, D.C. for the annual State of the Indian Nations Address.

Whitefoot is not alone.

“We are worried about that – not only public schools but Indian schools. I don’t know that she has enough experience in that or even interest in that so that does worry us,” said Teri Pepper, tribal council secretary of the Kaw Nation of Oklahoma. She says a lot of members from her tribe go to school in nearby Lawrence Kansas, which she hopes DeVos will come and visit to gain firsthand knowledge.

“It’s deplorable conditions. It would be wonderful if she could come there. Both my parents went there and a lot of proud people went there. Changes need to be made in Indian education,” she said.

It’s not just fear over the new Education secretary. Pepper says she’s also bracing for a potential shakeup at the Department of Justice now that Jeff Sessions is Attorney General. Pepper notes he’s been accused of racism in his past and he’s voted against the Violence Against Women Act.

“I worry about his bigotry. That’s one of my fears, not only towards African Americans but Native Americans, and with women. I don’t want to take steps back, not only as women but as Native Americans,” she said.

Journalist organization condemns arrest of reporter covering Standing Rock protest

February 3, 2017 By Art Hughes

The Native American Journalists Association says the arrest this week of a working journalist at the North Dakota pipeline protests is unlawful and a violation of free press principles. Morton County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested reporter Jenni Monet along with 75 others. They were taken into custody while protestors were assembling a new camp on what officials say is private land. Monet—who has covered the protests on location for numerous news organizations including National Native News—was on assignment for Indian Country Media Network.

NAJA President Bryan Pollard says Monet’s arrest is in keeping with a pattern by Morton County law enforcement to try and prevent the press from documenting their actions.

“I think it’s more important than ever that journalists go there and document what’s happening,” Pollard said. “But I think it should be said that any journalist who goes there to cover what’s happening at Standing Rock needs to go there understanding that they are entering something that is resembling a war zone.”

Pollard says Monet is a clearly-credentialed journalist who has covered the events in North Dakota for months. He says officials need better awareness in order to distinguish reporters from protesters.

“Officials in charge either have not trained their forces properly, or simply don’t care that that’s an illegal action and a violation of the First Amendment,” Pollard said.

Monet texted her editors before she was arrested, saying she was unable to get away from the sweep of officers taking protesters into custody. Indian Country Media Network demanded Monet’s release and the dismissal of all pending charges.

Montana’s Denise Juneau ponders what’s next after failed congressional bid

December 20, 2016 By Art Hughes

By Nicky Ouellet
Just a month after losing her hard-fought congressional bid, Montana’s Denise Juneau is looking to turn defeat into a new opportunity. She’d hoped to be the first Native American in Congress. Now, Juneau confirms she’s interested in the top post at the University of Montana.

“I think I have a great record, and I am interested in the position,” Juneau said. “It is something I’ll be looking really closely at and if the answer was today it’d be yeah, I’m going to apply for the UM presidency.”

The current president, Royce Engstrom, made the surprise announcement this month that he’s stepping down. The university has endured declining enrollment and a wave of sexual assault reports.

Juneau’s tenure as Montana’s Superintendent of Public Instruction ends in January and she doesn’t have any solid plans for what comes after that. “I look forward to a little time off to readjust the sails and think about what it is I want to do and accomplish,” she said.

During her campaign, Juneau paid special attention to voters on Montana’s seven reservations – she’s Mandan and Hidatsa and grew up in Browning on the Blackfeet Reservation. Many pollsters and analysists expected her background to draw out the Native Vote, but it didn’t. Get-out-the-vote groups estimate Native American voter turnout in Montana at 59 percent. Montana’s overall rate was 74 percent.

Juneau says the loss stings, but she did everything she was supposed to.

“We just lost,” Juneau said. “People believed in this race, they believed in my candidacy and you can’t ask for more than that.”

‘Water protectors’ ponder choices facing winter and a request to stand down

December 10, 2016 By Art Hughes

James Thomas from California: “We’re all here to stay and be a part of this revolution” (Photo: Antonia Gonzales)

By Antonia Gonzales

The Oceti Sakowin Camp is in transition as extreme winter weather and requests by the Standing Rock Sioux chairman and others are prompting people to leave. Camp organizers closed the camp to new arrivals as another major blizzard approaches.

Lucas Mullikin from Flagstaff, Arizona was folding a tarp and packing up his tent Thursday morning. He was there for about a week. This was his third visit. Mullikin said the winter weather created some challenges.

“Definetly the first blizzard out here in North Dakota I’ve experienced,” Millikin said. “Up late listening to the radio, missing peoples’ reports and going on search parties, helping look for people who got misplaced in the snowstorm. Stressful, but a really big sense of community that brought everyone together.”

Aaron Bercovitch from San Diego was with Mullikin and a couple other people. This was the Californian’s first time to the camp. He says leaving now is the right thing for him.

“I never felt endangered by the snowstorm per se, but I did realize that I’m not fully prepared for it and so I figured I’m not here to become a burden,” Bercovitch said. “I’m here to support.”

The Crow Creek Spirit Riders were also packing up. Mason Rockwood from the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe says they’re leaving not because anyone asked them to, but they’re participating in a memorial horse ride elsewhere. They plan to return to camp in January. Rockwood says bringing the horses to the camp is an important part of showing support to Indigenous people.

“We also knew we wanted to bring our horses because that is how we show our support as Dakota people, Lakota people, Nakota people,” Rockwood said. “The horses are a huge part of our culture and we just felt like they needed to be here to share this journey with us.”

They held a ceremony before riding out with about nine horses.

James Thomas, Paiute from California, was chopping wood inside the camp. He’s been here for about two weeks and says he’s not going anywhere.

“Just because one (tribal) councilor said to leave that’s not all of them and we all have motivations to stay because we’re all accepted here,” Thomas said. “Of course if you’re scared of the cold and are not prepared then by all means leave or if you have other family matters then go home. But we’re all here to stay and be a part of this revolution.”

Thomas is living in a longhouse with about 15 people. He says they’re hunkering down for the winter. Challenges they’re facing include needing more fire wood, and their water and food freezing.

Modern wigwam is a comfort against North Dakota winter

December 8, 2016 By Art Hughes

The sun was out and snow covered the ground in front of Pat Wabashaw’s structure she shares with her husband and four children at the Oceti Sakowin Camp.

“It’s handmade with maple wood and iron wood. It’s covered in tarp and an insulated tarp on the top,” Wabashaw said.

Pat, her husband and four boys who range in age from three to 15,

She and her husband sold their house and belonging before driving the family van to North Dakota. Her four boys range in age from three to 15 years. They had first been to the camp for about a week in October.

“When we left to Colorado we just couldn’t stop thinking about (being back here),” she said.

The family is Winnebago and Santee Sioux. She says they wanted to be among other Native people who’ve been living at the camp for months and opposing the Dakota Access Pipeline. Wabashaw says life at the camp is a community atmosphere like it was before settlers came. The family gets up with the sun, works and then goes to bed when the sun goes down.

“Everything was here,” she said. “We had family, our roots, the music, the people, the laughter. I think we have the best jokes, the best punter. Because when we lived in the city we didn’t do those things. We lived in a house, we watched TV, we went out to eat and here it’s different. You have to get up in the morning, you have to collect your wood or you’re going to be cold, you have to cook your food, you have to collect water. It’s different. It’s not the headache it was back home.”

Inside the structure are tents, stoves and a few personal belongings.

“If you see the silver those are survival blankets, so when the heat is in there it bounces off those and forces it back in here.”

A big pot sits on a camping stove near the door with wild rice. She says the rice was gifted to them.

“And it doesn’t take too long. The water just soaks into the rice. I have some beef in here, usually it would be bison. So it’s like a dirty rice.”

Pat says they’re ready to take on the next battle for Indigenous people if and when they leave.

Celebration at Oceti Sakowin; Pipeline backers are undeterred

December 5, 2016 By Art Hughes

By Daysha Eaton and Antonia Gonzales

The self-proclaimed ‘water protectors’ honked horns, hollered and sang on a highway near the Oceti Sakowin Camp in North Dakota Sunday. The celebration came after hearing the news the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers denied a key easement to run the Dakota Access Pipeline under the Missouri River near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.

Kandi Mossett, with the Indigenous Environmental Network calls the decision a victory. “The mood is one of celebration and happiness and relief because we’ve been fighting for so long,” she said. The Army Corps decision calls for an environmental study and an exploration of alternative routes.

Tom Goldtooth, Executive Director of the Indigenous Environmental Network says he’s cautiously optimistic.

“We have to be prepared to see what Energy Transfer Partners does, whether they are going to file a lawsuit,” he said. “If they do that, we are sure because of the timeline schedule it may take the hearing at district court on something like that into the next administration under Donald Trump.”

The pipeline is nearly complete. The 1,000 feet across the river is one of the last remaining obstacles for Energy Transfer Partners, the company building the nearly 1,200-mile oil pipeline. In a written statement late Sunday, Energy Transfer Partners said the decision does not change the company’s plans and they expect to complete construction of the pipeline without any additional rerouting. The company lashed out at the Obama Administration, which they say “abandoned the rule of law in favor of currying favor with a narrow and extreme political constituency.” The advocacy group, Midwest Alliance for Infrastructure Now went further, saying Donald Trump’s inauguration day, January 20th, “can’t come soon enough.”

Standing Rock responds to Army Corps notice

November 28, 2016 By NNN

By Daysha Eaton

A snowstorm blanketed the plains of North Dakota Monday bringing winter to the main camp for people demonstrating against the Dakota Access Pipeline.

The Army Corps of Engineers says the fast-approaching winter is one reason it issued an eviction notice to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe on Friday. In a letter, the Corps states demonstrators need to move the main camp south of the Cannonball River, due to safety concerns.

Tribal leaders say they’re disappointed in the Corps’ decision and adds it’s “unfortunate and disrespectful” that the announcement came right after Thanksgiving.

On a hill overlooking a sea of tents, teepees and yurts, Native leaders gathered Saturday to respond to the notice. Standing Rock Sioux Chairman Dave Archambault II says people are there for peaceful and prayerful ceremony.

“What they gave us was a notice, that these lands are no longer available for hunting and for fishing and for recreation and recreation can include camping but what we are doing here is exercising our First Amendment right – and we are not breaking any laws, we’re not violating any laws,” Archambault said.

People have been occupying Corps land along the path of the pipeline since April, claiming tribes are the rightful owners under an 1851 treaty.

Nick Tilsen, Oglala Sioux from Pine Ridge, is among those who do not plan to leave the camp.15

“Indigenous people are here to stay and we’re not going to leave unless it is on our own terms because this is our treaty land, this is our ancestral land,” Tilsen said. “This is where our people have been for thousands of years.”

Camp organizers estimates the number of people at the main camp, Oceti Sakowin, at somewhere between five-thousand and eight-thousand people. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is preparing a place to move campers if it gets too cold. The Army Corps does not plan to forcibly remove people from the camp, but may issue citations.

Athabascan witnesses fault law enforcement overreaction at Standing Rock

November 24, 2016 By NNN

Demonstrators against the Dakota Access Pipeline say they endured rubber bullets, water hoses, tear gas and concussion grenades from law enforcement officers during protests Sunday, Nov. 20. (Photo-Tracy Peterson)

By Daysha Eaton, Cannon Ball, ND

Two Athabascan men from Alaska are among the estimated 2,500 people now gathered near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation and witnessed the confrontations with law enforcement officials. They came to support the Oceti Sakowin in the efforts to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline from crossing under the Missouri River.

Some people participate in direct actions– protests near the path of the pipeline. Samuel Johns, an Anchorage resident who is Ahtna and Gwich’in Athabascan, originally from Copper Center, says that’s where the trouble comes in.

“They are unarmed,” Johns said of the protesters. “They just want to protect the water and they are being maced, they are being shot by rubber bullets.”

Fred John Jr. an Ahtna Athabascan elder from Delta Junction, also traveled to the camp. John says he is concerned that local law enforcement are overracting.

“They come with their stick, they come with their mace against peaceful protectors,” John said. “It doesn’t seem right to me. We have more right to be on that land. It’s tribal land, plus contested treaty land.”

Both men say they hope to return to Standing Rock soon with a group to help with construction and winterization projects before the bitter North Dakota winter sets in.

Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners is building the $3.7 billion, nearly 1,200-mile long pipeline across four states.

The tribe says the pipeline is a threat to their water supply and that construction threatens sacred sites. The federal government has halted construction, but the companies building the pipeline have asked a federal court to let them complete the project. Demonstrators have been occupying privately-owned land in the path of the pipeline, claiming that they are the land’s rightful owners under an 1851 treaty with the U.S. Government. Demonstrators report being shot by law enforcement with rubber bullets and water cannons in below freezing temperatures on Sunday, Nov. 20. Several went to the hospital for treatment.