April, 09 2021, 12:00am EDT
Before Army Corp Meeting Standing Rock Youth Rally Outside of MHA Nation's Council Meeting
Cheyenne River, MHA and Standing Rock Youth Ask MHA Chairman Fox to Stand with Their Demands Biden #ShutDownDAPL
NEW TOWN, North Dakota
Yesterday, Standing Rock Youth ran to the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation's Council Meeting asking Tribal Chairman Mark Fox to uphold his campaign promise and fight to #ShutdownDAPL and consult with them directly. Joining Standing Rock Youth the day before the Biden Administration is court-ordered to announce whether it will #ShutDownDAPL or allow it to continue to flow was Fort Berthold Descendants Alliance, Fort Berthold P.O.W.E.R., Cheyenne River Grassroots Collective, and Indigenous Environmental Network
"You need to understand that you are destroying our water. What are you going to do when that oil is in our water. How will you feed your youth? How will you give a drink of water to your children or your grandchildren" asked 10-year-old Love Hopkins who is Arikara and Lakota. "The government and its pliers the Army Corp has been playing with First Nations people and we are tired of it."
In 2016 the MHA tribal council went to Standing Rock to show their support against the Dakota Access pipeline. On March 23, 2021, Tribal Chairman Mark Fox sent a letter to the Army Corp requesting a one on one consultation in regards to the Dakota Access Pipeline hoping to continue the operation of DAPL because it moves Bakken oil and gas from MHA to the market. The Standing Rock tribal nation has been vocal in its opposition to the pipeline sparking a global movement in which thousands of people descended to Standing Rock in support.
Last week the same youth who went to Fort Berthold today took over the streets of Washington D.C. with a 318- foot-long snake representing the pipelines that have been forced on Indigenous communities by the U.S. government delivering 400,000 petition signatures and sparking over 900 calls to the White House in support.
"It's ok to speak up, it's your right to speak up," said Kandi White. "As an MHA citizen, I have a right to listen to the youth when they come to me and ask me to help put a rally together for them. It's hard because it's controversial but so is the pollution of water and the killing of the planet and our future generations."
Established in 1990 within the United States, IEN was formed by grassroots Indigenous peoples and individuals to address environmental and economic justice issues (EJ). IEN's activities include building the capacity of Indigenous communities and tribal governments to develop mechanisms to protect our sacred sites, land, water, air, natural resources, health of both our people and all living things, and to build economically sustainable communities.
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