I have been thinking about this and watching this issue grow way out of proportion, this all-about-garbage fiasco, and many stories have been over-exaggerated by North Dakota’s Incompetent law enforcement and political leaders, then carried out further by a yellow journalism-driven, sold-out news media and other racist community leaders telling lies and mistruths to the public.
Some of this fraud and spin doctoring has even shown photos of local landfills, just to make things look worse than they were — and then these horrid ink mongers, TV news-team hacks, and political prostitutes tried to make it look like the pictures weren’t taken at landfills, but at our encampments on the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe reservation. Yes, sure, they harped on and on about racism and the sold-out mentalities of our haters. But for once, we truly have the “fake news” that You-Know-Who in Washington, D.C. has been harping on, and tweeting about, for all too long now.
First off, if DAPL had listened to the tribal Leaders a couple years back when this pipeline was first mentioned, we would not be here today dealing with this. It is a documented fact that when this first meeting was held the tribal leaders of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe said NO! Not negotiable! We do not approve and will never approve of this pipeline! This is the reason you have not seen many tribal members from Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Sioux tribes at meetings afterwards. There was no reason to go! WE SAID NO! Simple as that! It should have been over at that point!
So Dakota Access did what we should have anticipated White Corporate American would do! And that’s what they intended to do anyway! Buy the right people off, start the project in other places first, then deal with the Indians later! By then they would have already started and spent millions. This mentality would win over those who have already sold out! This is how they work! We call them Wasi'chu for a reason (to us, this word means "takes the fat," or "greedy person." In this case people, corporations and governments).
This wide expanse of land is protected by the 1851 Fort Laramie Treaty. Has the state government of South Dakota or the federal government ever respected this as Native American land? Hell no!
So, we started the Sacred Stone Camp in April of 2016 to make our stand against the pipeline and those with “no ears”. Then we started Oceti Sakowin Camp in August 2016, and shortly afterwards, the Rosebud camp. Our Rosebud camp and Sacred Stone camp were located on the Standing Rock Sioux reservation.
Oceti Sakowin Camp was on “Unceded” Treaty land that was taken over by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers when they created Lake Oahe Dam in 1948. As per the 1851 and 1868 Fort Laramie treaties, these lands still belong to the Sioux and these treaties are protected by Article VI, Clause 2, of the US Constitution. These lands are protected under the Supremacy clause of the United States Constitution that establishes that the according to the U.S. Constitution, federal laws made pursuant to it, and treaties made under its authority, constitute the supreme law of the land. It provides that state courts are bound by this supreme law, which is treaty law; and in the case of a conflict between federal and state law, the federal law must be applied.
However, the Corps of Engineers allowed the tribe to use this land for the camp until after Obama left office and the Corps of Engineers received new leadership under Trump. This mess was also bought and paid for by corporate America. Anyway, the camp had permission to stay until Its March deadline — which was imposed by the new, sold-out leadership of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. So, the argument that it wasn’t Indian land is legally a non-issue and is avoided by law.
On July 23, 1980, in United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the Black Hills were illegally taken by the federal government and that remuneration of the initial offering price plus interest — nearly $106 million — had to be paid. The Lakota refused the settlement as they wanted the Black Hills returned to them. The money remains in an interest-bearing account, which as of 2015 amounts to over $1.2 billion, but the Lakota still refuse to take the money. They believe that accepting the settlement would allow the U.S. government to justify taking ownership of the Black Hills.
The Black Hills and the unceded territory are all one and the same. Don’t be fooled. Do your own research on the 1851 Treaty that establishes the boundaries for the Great Sioux nation and the lands that legally belong to us.
So now let’s go back a few months - back to the time when the Corps of Engineers asked DAPL to halt the pipeline - as per recommendations by the Obama administration. This is when everything started to escalate by bought and paid for law enforcement and corrupt political leaders of North Dakota, including its sold-out governor (both the governor and Morton County Sheriff have interest in DAPL. Dig around the Internet or talk to some of our tribal leaders, they’ll give you the lowdown on this sell-out).
Most of what came next is documented and historic. And it’s been covered in two ways: Local if any was one sided and fabricated. Both newspapers from Rapid City and Bismarck are owned by the same company and have interest and connections to DAPL. And nationally that started slow, then it gained speed as the summer and events grew.
Now we get to Oceti Sakowin Camp along with all the focus is on this camp. It came to a point where we set up a road block to protect the camp. It was removed by us. It was the police who built the huge roadblock and then they had another one about three miles north. Most people don’t even know about that one. And the news only reported the road block we initially set up. Always one-sided news reporting at best! Hey Donald Trump, do you want to see real “fake news”? Come up here — to the Dakotas — we’ll cue you in on all sorts of the junk!
So now the Morton County Sheriff’s department and other sold-out North Dakota leaders, well they start working on alternative ways to keep the heat on the camp. They started with their many lies, deceptions, false reporting and false arrest of water defenders (most of the charges were dropped after the fact) They closed the small camp that was in the path of the pipeline, and when they did this they didn’t allow anyone to grab their gear or other belongings. Then they came in with a loader, scooped it all up into a large truck and dumped it in a pile at Oceti Sakowin camp. Including sacred items like pipes, drums and eagle feathers. (most of it damaged and or destroyed.
Back at camp we were gaining the support of the whole world and many relatives, friends and supporters showing up to camp. It was an awesome site to see so many tribes and people coming together against a corporate beast that’s always hungry and never stops eating more. We have been back and forth to camp many of times during the summer. If you look at the many videos and or photos of camp on YouTube and other video platforms on the Internet, you will see that all the camps were clean, functional, and organized. We had portable showers, porta-potties and large dumpsters with regular service just like any other small community.
The garbage and sanitation issues did not exist until they were cut off by those selling us out, on both sides. Then everything escalated again when we got the first snow storm. The majority of the camp left, leaving behind most of their gear and belongings to freeze into the ground — including sacred items like eagle feathers, pipes and drums. The Morton county Sheriff’s department was sure they would find bodies, firearms or other weapons in the ruble they created. They never found anything because they were never there in the first place.
Look at all the photos of the trash, including the cover shot posted with this story. A picture is worth a thousand words, as the old adage goes. And look at the items — most of them aren’t really trash at all but rather, equipment, camping gear, clothing, blankets and tents. Notice this skid steer digging into the tent, notice the generator to the right, and their equipment being piled up. It’s not all trash, like they claimed it to be. And they also claimed it would take months to clean up this encampment land. This morning the news reported that Oceti Sakowin camp was cleaned up and they would be done with Rosebud Camp this weekend.
So, the local media is making a mountain out of this garbage/cleanup issue to discredit the water defenders. It really should be a ‘media molehill', since that is exactly what it is, if not outright "fake news". They keep focusing on the alleged garbage with claims it is worse then what an oil leak would cause, and it is quite sad of a thing knowing that most non-Native racist haters believe every word and attack at every opportunity in social media! It’s so typical of a genocidal, oppressive government to attack us and/or our support — this negative mentality against indigenous peoples! They are doing this same thing across the nation and around the world to other tribal and indigenous nations.
These young water protectors are standing arm in arm in unity and brotherhood in protest of the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Let’s compare something here: Some people will get hurt I don’t care. Look at all the uranium waste and the areas where they were mined. These areas are not even inhabitable because of the waste and destruction by Corporate America. In the 2010 census, Native Americans made up only 0.9% of the US population, and we’re represented by only 5.4% in North Dakota and 8.8% in South Dakota. Every year, the United States generates approximately 230 million tons of "trash"--about 4.6 pounds per person per day. Less than one-quarter of it is recycled; the rest is incinerated or buried in landfills. With a little forethought, we could reuse or recycle more than 70 percent of the landfill waste, which includes valuable materials such as glass, metal, and paper. This would reduce the demand on virgin sources of these materials and eliminate potentially severe environmental, economic, and public health problems. How much garbage can there be in Cannonball, N.D., that was created by water protectors compared to the rest of the United States or even North Dakota? Don't make me laugh!
At its largest, the Oceti Sakowin Camp near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation sprawled across about 80 acres and was home to some 5,000 water defenders and started as a prayer camp.
Let’s take a look at some of these Rainbow Warrior Camps, (Mostly white) they are allowed to set up a camp every summer wherever they want and they are not stopped or surrounded by police and the national guard. They have upwards to 20,000 people in one camp. They are known to have drugs, alcohol, and nudity just for starters, yet they still can stay un molested by County and State Government. So, what’s the difference? You tell me! But I know already! And its racial!
I do not condone the garbage that was left and it should have been sorted out and cleaned up. But it wasn’t all our fault! I see a lot of wasted equipment and gear. But I know for a fact that the week leading up to the invasion of Indian country by a colonist corporate military. Many were not allowed back in once they left, they didn’t allow trailers or trucks back in to pick up items. The people of all these camps were ran out and not allowed to come back! This is proven by comments made by Morton County Law enforcement when they said “Sacred and spiritual items” would be gathered respectfully and returned. Our people would have never left these items behind if they knew they couldn’t come back. Think about it!
My final thoughts are maybe we should have listened to our elders (Like we are supposed too) when they put out the sacred fire and said we should leave! And continue to fight another day! Maybe we shouldn’t have allowed self-serving egos to take control of the camp after our elders left and the sacred fire extinguished, maybe we should not have allowed any drugs and alcohol in our sacred camps. Maybe we didn’t listen! Maybe we allowed outsiders to influence us in a wrong way! Maybe we should not have misused our sacred songs and pipes where they didn’t need to be! And or by allowing outsiders to participate and play Indian in our camps especially in sacred ceremonies! Do you think our spirits condoned the way it ended? When did, the tide turn on us? When the first Sacred fire was put out! That’s when! We didn’t have ears! We didn’t listen.
#NODAPLE
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James Magaska Swan is a prolific writer, an activist, and one of the top leaders who avidly and indefatigably fights for the rights of American Indians.
About the Guest Author: James Magaska Swan, an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, is the founder and leader of the United Urban Warrior Society, based in South Dakota. The UUWS has more than 30 chapters throughout the USA and Canada. Swan served in the U.S. Navy where he traveled throughout the world and got a good look at how people in other lands live. He works a full-time job in the automobile servicing trade. Mr. Swan is one of the leading activists fighting for the rights of Native Americans and is himself a prolific writer.
