3horse
© Unknown
If you've been reading much of the alternative media outlets out there - including us - you might be under the impression that the Dakota Access Pipeline is officially on hold. We were surprised to discover, when our reporters arrived at Standing Rock, that nothing of the sort has happened.

Some have urged that we've won the battle, but they ask can we win the war?

The fact that people are believing that this battle has been won shows how effective the government and media disinformation machine is.

Media coverage of the Dakota Access Pipeline was sparse and dismissive when this direct action protest started a year ago. Now our Facebook feeds are blowing up with news about this truly epic struggle for the land we all call home. That is if you have friends who post political issues on their walls.

For those of us who have been fighting the good fight for some time now, successfully organizing against the pipeline and halting construction at least, for now, seems like the greatest grassroots victory this country has seen in a long time. For the mainstream, it's just another protest that will eventually lead to nowhere. For the government, it's just another group of Indians making demands the state doesn't want to hear. And for Big Business, it's nothing more than an annoying hassle, a minor roadblock that will be bulldozed over by simply writing a check to the right people.

...That was until photos were leaked to the press of private security guards using non-police issue attack dogs against peaceful protestors. Among those bitten by the dogs were a child and a pregnant woman. If protesting in front of convicted rapist Brock Turner's house is called 'vigilante behavior' these private security guards are guilty of far worse.

That's right, the corporations that are pushing for the pipeline are hiring private security guards to combat peaceful protestors. Why is that exactly? Because local government can't spare more than a few cops to monitor a peaceful protest. Since the police would not force the protestors to disperse, Big Business took matters into their own hands, with private security guards and privately trained attack dogs.

Sounds like "vigilante behavior," if you ask me.

So why was the mainstream media shy to broadcast issues relating to the pipeline, when the protest has actually been going on for a year? Truth is, the 6+ major financial institutions backing the pipeline are hoping everyone will forget about this issue and go back to their day-to-day work week.

What the powers that be don't want you to know is that this issue isn't going away. The corporations behind this environmentally tenuous project don't want you to know that the native peoples of this country have been fighting for their rights for hundreds of years, and they aren't just going to roll over and play dead like some for-hire attack dog.

The Dakota Access Pipeline corporations, and local and federal governments all know that if people really learnabout this act of civil disobedience, and the history behind Native people's, it's one more step towards radicalizing the nation into free thinkers and law breakers. After all, the pipeline was being built "legally", and it was up to the protestors to halt construction and demand that their voices be heard. What would happen if everyone in America fought so passionately about the issues they care about, while simultaneously maintaining a code of nonviolence? ...Well, things might actually change if that happened.

When it gets down to brass tax, what these corporations really, really don't want you to know, is that Native Americans have a long history of peaceful direct action protests. Most of the people who read this article in their Facebook feed were probably not even born when a group of Native peoples occupied the island of Alcatraz and demanded that it be returned to them in accordance with federal law. At its height this occupation was upheld by 400 people, and it lasted 19 months. The year was 1969.

Fast forward to the present and many political analysts will tell you that we've done everything we can to solve the problems faced by Natives. How could their problems not be solved? We've given them so many laws to protect them, how could that not be enough?

Well, it doesn't matter how many laws you pass, or how much assistance is given to a community so that it can become self-sufficient.

What has to change in order for it to 'be enough' is the attitudes of Big Business towards humanity and the environment as a whole. If the leaders of our country don't respect human beings, they will always find a way to evade the law. If the leaders of Big Business don't respect the planet, they will always find a way to get what they want, no matter the cost, no matter what sacred land they have to destroy.

Native peoples in this country have the right to self determination, they have a right to educate their children as they see fit, they have a right to health care, and they have a right to protect the graves of their ancestors. They have a right to live on their land. But if these rights can be taken away when it serves the interest of Big Business, what's the point of having rights?

Many people think that Native people's struggles are a thing of the past, but they're not. These struggles for freedom and justice are alive and well, and the struggles are fueled by knowledge of the past. Native people of every corner of the globe have rich histories of resistance and perseverance, in the face of Big Business and government agendas. The protestors at the Dakota Pipeline have every intention of adding to that rich history.

It's up to us, the world, to keep our eyes on the prize, and make sure this deal is sealed and upheld in good faith. America's forefathers left a trail of broken treaties with the American Indians.

The struggle against the Dakota Access Pipeline is our generation's chance to make right the wrongs of the old world view. But don't get it twisted! The government is backing the corporations! Obama has only "suggested" that they "voluntarily halt" pipeline construction for a tiny stretch of the proposed pipeline - according to Standing Rock camp leaders we spoke with.

So why would the government exaggerate - if not outright lie about what happened with Friday's White House"intervention"? Many of the Standing Rock camp protesters believe that the reason was to get people to leave. "We're not leaving," one "water protector" told us. Meanwhile, the National Guard has been called out to set up checkpoints to the East and West of the reservation. If you want to join the protest, use the Southern Route, through South Dakota, through the Standing Rock reservation.

Keep the pressure on. This battle is not even close to over. In fact, it hasn't even slowed down, the government is just trying to make you think something has been done. It hasn't been - the STRUGGLE CONTINUES!