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This Is What Life Inside the Standing Rock Camp Looks Like Right Now (Photo Essay)
Source: The Nation
Coming over the hill on Highway 1806 in late October, the sprawling Standing Rock encampment surged into view. Tipis, tents, and a geodesic dome dotted the valley below. Nestled along the Cannon Ball and Missouri Rivers in remote North Dakota, the Oceti Sakowin camp had recently grown to over 7,000 people.
Those camped there have led a months-long effort to resist the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. The 1,170-mile pipeline is slated to transport crude oil from the Bakken shale fields of North Dakota, through Standing Rock Sioux treaty land, under the Missouri River, and on to Illinois. The Standing Rock “water protectors,” however, fear that the pipeline will poison the river and with it, the water supply not only for the Standing Rock Sioux but the millions of others who live downstream. And so they pray and march and refuse to move. So far, their efforts have managed to halt the pipeline’s advance at the west bank of the Missouri pending a final permit from the Army Corps of Engineers.
By the time I arrived, the Oceti Sakowin camp had been inundated by supporters from across the country: from the environmental movement, Black Lives Matter, the progressive media, and elsewhere. Yet the Standing Rock struggle remains an indigenous-led one, an historic coming together of first nations. It’s the first time the seven bands of the Great Sioux Nation have come together since Custer was defeated 140 years ago, and with more than 300 nations standing in official solidarity with the movement, it is by far the largest mobilization of indigenous peoples in the United States in a generation or more. As we drove up to the front gate, the security team that waved us through was a mix of old-timers with American Indian Movement logos safety-pinned to their leather coats and the next generation of indigenous youth from Standing Rock.
The bright flags of more than 300 first nations line the road into the Oceti Sakowin camp, among them the flags of the Red Lake Nation of Chippewa in Minnesota, the Curve Lake First Nation of the Ojibwe near Ontario, the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, the Spirit Lake Nation Sioux from North Dakota, and others. (Jake Ratner.)
Between the sounds of generators humming and wood splitting, helicopters whirring and people hammering, there are quiet moments, too. As the sun dips behind the horizon one evening, people gather for a peaceful moment, followed by prayer at the sacred fire or participation in a sweat ceremony. (Jake Ratner.)
Sunset at the Oceti Sakowin camp, which sits atop 1851 treaty land that was seized by the Army Corps after the completion of the Ohae Dam in the early 1960s. Many elders carry childhood memories of when the dam was built, flooding the tribe’s most valuable rangelands, forests, and farms. (Jake Ratner.)
On November 14th, over 400 people take to the streets of Bismarck, fanning out in the four cardinal directions to surround the state capital building, triggering a soft lockdown at the capital. (Jake Ratner.)
Those camped there have led a months-long effort to resist the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. The 1,170-mile pipeline is slated to transport crude oil from the Bakken shale fields of North Dakota, through Standing Rock Sioux treaty land, under the Missouri River, and on to Illinois. The Standing Rock “water protectors,” however, fear that the pipeline will poison the river and with it, the water supply not only for the Standing Rock Sioux but the millions of others who live downstream. And so they pray and march and refuse to move. So far, their efforts have managed to halt the pipeline’s advance at the west bank of the Missouri pending a final permit from the Army Corps of Engineers.
By the time I arrived, the Oceti Sakowin camp had been inundated by supporters from across the country: from the environmental movement, Black Lives Matter, the progressive media, and elsewhere. Yet the Standing Rock struggle remains an indigenous-led one, an historic coming together of first nations. It’s the first time the seven bands of the Great Sioux Nation have come together since Custer was defeated 140 years ago, and with more than 300 nations standing in official solidarity with the movement, it is by far the largest mobilization of indigenous peoples in the United States in a generation or more. As we drove up to the front gate, the security team that waved us through was a mix of old-timers with American Indian Movement logos safety-pinned to their leather coats and the next generation of indigenous youth from Standing Rock.
The bright flags of more than 300 first nations line the road into the Oceti Sakowin camp, among them the flags of the Red Lake Nation of Chippewa in Minnesota, the Curve Lake First Nation of the Ojibwe near Ontario, the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, the Spirit Lake Nation Sioux from North Dakota, and others. (Jake Ratner.)
Between the sounds of generators humming and wood splitting, helicopters whirring and people hammering, there are quiet moments, too. As the sun dips behind the horizon one evening, people gather for a peaceful moment, followed by prayer at the sacred fire or participation in a sweat ceremony. (Jake Ratner.)
Sunset at the Oceti Sakowin camp, which sits atop 1851 treaty land that was seized by the Army Corps after the completion of the Ohae Dam in the early 1960s. Many elders carry childhood memories of when the dam was built, flooding the tribe’s most valuable rangelands, forests, and farms. (Jake Ratner.)
On November 14th, over 400 people take to the streets of Bismarck, fanning out in the four cardinal directions to surround the state capital building, triggering a soft lockdown at the capital. (Jake Ratner.)
More: https://www.thenation.com/article/this-is-what-life-inside-the-standing-rock-camp-looks-like-right-now/
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