...and just causing a lot of trauma for our Water Protectors on the ground. And, there was an action earlier this morning, there's folks that locked down at construction, to stop construction, [unintelligible] that occurred that were successful, that endeavor, but they weren't able to, we didn't have that many photos of it because police moved in pretty quick and shut off access to that site.
Meanwhile, over 300 Water Protectors did a walk of prayer and from what I understand, they were not on the easement itself but were on the land and doing a walk of prayer.
And the police, along, it was law enforcement, Dakota Access security, as well as the National Guard. So far, the National Guard has only stayed at the check point for traffic. They took that barricade down, they took out that checkpoint and they have since put up a new one. A military, a police barricade checkpoint for traffic on highway 1806.
But, this is the first time, really, that the National Guard was engaged in an operation to arrest people. They were helping corral folks, they were, um, pursuing Water Protectors who were on the land. So, at least 10 people were pepper sprayed as they were being pushed back towards the road.
As the group, the 300 people were out there praying, they were directed, they were given a clear instruction that if they stayed they would be arrested and they can move back, so the people said, okay, we'll start moving. So they started moving back towards the road.
But this group had women and children, it had women in it, it had children in it, it had pregnant women, it had some elders, there was some children there. Again. This was a prayer march, a prayer walk, that was not near, it was not near people locking down on equipment, it was a prayer walk.
And as they were making their way back to the road, the police started aggravating the situation, the groups split into two.
There was larger group with a lot of journalists, a lot of people with media and press in that group. And, that group was all arrested. They were corralled, the police circled them up and started picking them off, one by one.
There was the second group that had some of our youth, from our Indigenous Youth Council in the camp there. Um, one of the Water Protectors is a young woman, there's a video on my page, that I shared it, where she was giving a testimony about her experience and in that testimony she was talking about how police were aggressively poking with the batons to push them back.
There was a ten-year-old child in that group. [Who was separated from his family] They were trying to say, hey, let the ten-year-old child go. Um, in that process, protecting a ten-year-old child from the aggressive police, this young woman's arm was struck with the baton, with a potential fracture in it. Protecting a ten-year-old child!
Uh, they ended up going, the child ended up going but they, a lot of the folks in that group ended up getting arrested, Um. You know... [deep breath out]
This is time a lot of folks are sharing information, like there is a general callout, and ongoing callout for people to come to camp, to Stand with Standing Rock. This is a general call to action for people.
I wanted to add something to this, is that, what we are in need of is (1) People that are willing to get arrested. (2) People that have training, a special focus on those that have actual training or have been in action experience, that know the ins and outs of civil, peaceful, civil disobedience and non-violent direct action.
There's a general callout for people who might have building skills to help us with the winter camp, which is no where near, which is separate from the action space.
And, to also understand that if you're going, it's your duty to listen to local leadership. Listen to the local Indigenous leadership and follow directions. Follow what's going on.
And, um, the other thing I want to end with is and I'm gonna end it here. Dakota Access isn't the only fight. It's not. I mean, it's the big fight right now, it's the big focus. And it can be one of the most monumental victories in our generation. Because not only will it demonstrate the power of Indigenous resistance and the power of self-determination and sovereignty, but it's also a moment for us to decide our future relationship with fossil fuels.
Dude, this is gonna, you have no idea, this could potentially strike, such, it's gonna be such a powerful moment for the climate justice movement but for us as a society. Or we're gonna, we're, demonstrating that people power is gonna decide the future of our society. And decide what just transition and climate justice looks like.
But, that's not the only fight, we have a number of front line Indigenous struggles happening all across this planet and it has to be understood that we are doing this in solidarity with each and every one of them. And this is a coordinating effort.
It is no mistake that there is a fight against the same old pipeline down in Florida, or against an [L&G?] liquid natural gas pipeline in the Klamath River basin up in Oregon or there's a struggle against oil port terminals and coal port terminals up in the Pacific Northwest. Or the fight against pipelines up in BC, or the East Coast, the AIM pipeline, that's actually on the verge of being built, I know it's called AIM, it's kina weird, right? There's a pipeline that's going underneath fricking New York City and actually going right near a nuclear power plant!
And people are standing up and resisting. So the movement against Dakota Access is not just a movement happening in South Dakota or Iowa. It's a movement that we’re all a part of and a movement to keep fossil fuels in the ground. It's a bigger picture here. And each and everyone of us is a part of it. You're a part of it. I'm a part of it. And were doing this for the land, the water, the air, our future generations.
Um, and it just pisses me off, just to see, to see, [heavy, exasperated sigh] the response and the ridiculous, absurd escalation by law enforcement in North Dakota, by law enforcement in Iowa, by law enforcement and by our elected leaders in, in, and the fact that this shit was not even... like, that, our elected leaders... everyone's focused on the election, but there's BEEN NO DISCUSSION ABOUT DAKOTA ACCESS, NO DISCUSSION ABOUT CLIMATE POLICY, NO DISCUSSION... what the…? lookit.
President Obama himself has stated that the greatest single threat to our society and to this planet is climate change. And yet the current, top running Democrat, the candidate for the Democratic Party has not, has refused to actually address that issue. That's crazy and I [cellphone starts buzzing] I should reject that call... It's ridiculous! So if you...I'm just gonna explain it there. I'm gonna be all angry Indian now. [typical Dallas chuckle]
It's absolutely essential for us to talk about climate change and talk about the greater picture here. It's much bigger than one pipeline. This about the future of all of us. So, not to be all dramatic, but it is.
I'll talk to you guys later, I just wanted to give an update.
And look forward to the ongoing resistance, it's not just the resistance that happened today, there's much more beautiful movements that's happening tomorrow and the day after.
So, hope you guys have a good day, much love to you. I've not read any of the comments, I just wanna give this update about what happened today.
We still have Water Protectors in jail. We have our legal teams on the ground helping support, you know, continue to fund the movement, fund the pipeline fights, you know.
And also, the biggest way you can help is look at home, research what resistance is happening in your homelands. Whether you're, you know, fighting against the, the, freeway to go through your sacred mountain, uh, south mountain, the south of Phoenix, or whether you're on the East Coast, West Coast for wherever it be, you best believe there's a resistance there, and plug into it.
Support your local fights as well. Talk to you guys later.
