Thousands have made the journey — some from around the world — to join the fight against the Dakota Access pipeline. But months of prayer and protest have only been met with pushback from police and politicians. And the election of Donald Trump has fanned fears over the Dakota Access pipeline and other, similar projects.
Dennis Ward brings us the story of the biggest clash at Standing Rock to date.
Long overdue and perhaps a couple of centuries too late, North America’s native Indian tribes are suddenly uniting to fight this battle in North Dakota, as are their allies. Missing so far, however, are the 20 million-plus minority Latinos (Hispanics, Chicanos, whatever you call them) who look more Native American than European because their ancestry is more Native American. And then there are the tens of millions of these folk south of the border. As the current situation in North Dakota expands and spreads, don’t be surprised if a Brown/Red leadership and/or movement quickly emerges into an exceptionally powerful force that no police or military involvement can halt — slow down, yes, but that will simply result in more anger and rage that will stampede into a powerful force that is unstoppable. Once that happens the dozens of millions of immigrants who have move to the United States — and Canada — in recent decades will pour onto ships and other methods of transportation to return home.
This is not like major seismic events that disrupt still intact societies, but a totally different movement that will reshape borders (the USA will become at least two or three or more countries, possibly at each others’ throat; rebuilding infrastructure will not salvage what exists today. And it’s not just united Native Americans but also different “racial” groups, like Black folks who concentrate in certain regions, like Georgia, and could form their own nations to protect themselves and grow. Unfortunately, this is not any kind of a solution to the most pressing an rapidly accelerating problem — Climate Change. It will do the same thing even if the Dakota protest is temporarily crushed but dissolves any semblance of what exists today — in the past referred to as the ugly America. We live in interesting times.
Long overdue and perhaps a couple of centuries too late, North America’s native Indian tribes are suddenly uniting to fight this battle in North Dakota, as are their allies. Missing so far, however, are the 20 million-plus minority Latinos (Hispanics, Chicanos, whatever you call them) who look more Native American than European because their ancestry is more Native American. And then there are the tens of millions of these folk south of the border. As the current situation in North Dakota expands and spreads, don’t be surprised if a Brown/Red leadership and/or movement quickly emerges into an exceptionally powerful force that no police or military involvement can halt — slow down, yes, but that will simply result in more anger and rage that will stampede into a powerful force that is unstoppable. Once that happens the dozens of millions of immigrants who have move to the United States — and Canada — in recent decades will pour onto ships and other methods of transportation to return home.
This is not like major seismic events that disrupt still intact societies, but a totally different movement that will reshape borders (the USA will become at least two or three or more countries, possibly at each others’ throat; rebuilding infrastructure will not salvage what exists today. And it’s not just united Native Americans but also different “racial” groups, like Black folks who concentrate in certain regions, like Georgia, and could form their own nations to protect themselves and grow. Unfortunately, this is not any kind of a solution to the most pressing an rapidly accelerating problem — Climate Change. It will do the same thing even if the Dakota protest is temporarily crushed but dissolves any semblance of what exists today — in the past referred to as the ugly America. We live in interesting times.