This is the first of several installments of The Repatriation Files devoted to the efforts of Native communities to save their natural environments.
Among the many elements of repatriation that deserve our attention, perhaps none is more important than place. In order to repatriate remains or objects of cultural patrimony, there must be a place to return them. Too often, the places of repatriation are viewed simplistically—what tribes lived there, when? Who lives there now? But as many a Native community can attest, the places of their homelands are woven together in a complex weave of ecosystems, sacred spaces, and treaty rights. More importantly, they are constantly under siege.
In recent weeks, indigenous communities on the northern plains have asserted their rights to the places of repatriation by protesting the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) through treaty lands. The DAPL is going to be some 1,000 miles long, snaking its way through the Dakotas, Iowa and Illinois.
This immense project ought to be of concern to everyone in the country. But to the Standing Rock Sioux, it is particularly troubling that the proposed route (now being excavated) crosses age-old treaty boundaries. As reported by Indian Country Today on August 15th, ” the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe was stunned to learn that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had given its approval for the pipeline to run within a half-mile of the reservation without proper consultation or consent.” The pipeline “will cross Lake Oahe (formed by Oahe Dam on the Missouri) and the Missouri River as well, and disturb burial grounds and sacred sites on the tribe’s ancestral Treaty lands.” [Read more at https://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2016/08/15/dakota-access-pipeline-standoff-mni-wiconi-water-life-165470]
In addition to their concerns about sovereignty and due process, the tribes are rightly worried about the potential effects the pipeline will have on the watersheds its tunnels through. Among the Native protesters camping out near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, a Lakota/Dakota phrase has become their motto—Mni Wiconi, Water is Life. Other tribal communities from the Oceti Sakowin, the Seven Council Fires of the Sioux, have donated buses to transport protesters, and given tribal employees leaves to support their relations at Standing Rock.
And the Lakotas are not alone. In recent weeks, many Native nations have come to their side to join the protest. The Cherokee Nation, through the words of Principal Chief Bill John Baker, have announced their support: “The Cherokee Nation stands in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in its effort to halt the development of the Dakota Access Pipeline, and I applaud our Tribal Council for showing the support of the legislative body of the Cherokee Nation as well.” A similar letter was sent by the Navajo Nation, whose president, Russell Begaye, urged the people of Standing Rock to “fight the good fight and pave the path for all of our futures.” The camps along the Missouri River where the people are gathered to defend its waters include members of the Ponca tribe of Oklahoma as well as non-Native allies.
In one of the movement’s most powerful moments this week, San Carlos Apache tribal council member Wendsler Nosie Sr. met and prayed with David Archambault II, the Chairman of the Standing Rock tribe. Although the media has often focused on the potential for violence, the participants are adamant that theirs is a way of peace to honor mother earth.
Sincagu/Oglala Lakota tribal member, Iyuskin American Horse, perhaps said it best, in a recent editorial opinion published in The Guardian:
We are not protesters. We are protectors. We are peacefully defending our land and our ways of life. We are standing together in prayer, and fighting for what is right. We are making history here. We invite you to stand with us in defiance of the black snake.
