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Thursday, December 8, 2016

Celebrate Standing Rock, But The Struggle Continues

The following informational and analytical piece was written as a letter to members of the American Indian Movement and allies the day after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced that it would deny the Dakota Access Pipeline's (DAPL) request for a permit to finish the pipeline on Lakota land. I am grateful to the author for his permission to print it in its entirety here.  

Any text of my own is in italics

Celebrate Standing Rock Success Today, Then Let Us Engage The Struggle Ahead

 by Glenn T. Morris


December 5th, 2016
Attached you will find the actual documents from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, not allowing the easement for Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), and the requirements for the project, moving ahead.**  It is true that DAPL has received very bad news, and that these developments represent success for all of us who have organized, strategized, mobilized and acted in defense of our sacred relatives -- the water, the earth, the sacred places, and the peoples of the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota Nations. The scope and endurance of today's success remains to be determined, but it would be a mistake to diminish the enormous example that this success provides of the power of a principled/spiritual, organized and determined indigenous peoples/allies grassroots movement to defend the most essential relationships that we have with all life. 

I encourage people to view December 5th's edition of Democracy Now!, for a wide variety of perspectives from the resistance at Standing Rock, ranging from Chairman Archambault to Tara Houska (from Honor the Earth/Red Warrior Camp) to Remy (the DinĂ© veteran and musical artist) to organizers for the divestment strategy.

The interviews indicate that people are elated, and the Chairman has invited people to leave the camps prior to the arrival of the next storm. Many people are understandably suspicious, and reluctant to believe, that DAPL/North Dakota will abide by the decision of the Corps of Engineers (USACOE). Because of that, it is unclear exactly how many people will leave the camps, and dismantle what has taken eight months to construct. Once dismantled, if the resistance must reactivate, the advantage that  the current location of the camps provide might be lost. I would like to provide the following observations -- which are mine, alone -- based on a number of conversations that I have had with folks at Standing Rock, in and out of the Standing Rock government.

*First and foremost, despite the jubilation around this development, I would like to remind everyone that we have a sister, daughter, granddaughter, and niece - Red Fawn Fallis - who remains in jail in Stutsman County Detention Center in Jamestown, ND. The state charges of attempted murder, etc. have been dismissed, but a federal charge of a felon in possession of a gun has been leveled (carrying a possible ten-year mandatory sentence). So, although she is in a county detention facility, she is under the supervision of the US Marshals. Red Fawn continues to need our support, and the knowledge that we will not abandon her. I spoke with her last night, she is concerned that with this victory, people might start drifting away, and that she will no longer be of concern to folks. Please assist her with cards, letters and financial support, if possible:
   She would also love to receive your messages of support.
Red Fawn Fallis. Stutsman County Detention Facility, 205 6th St.,SE, Jamestown, ND 58401 
*Regardless of the USACOE announcements, the activities with the thousands of veterans who have traveled to Standing Rock will continue today and tomorrow, there is a march/prayer ceremony planned at Backwater Bridge this afternoon, and an honoring powwow tomorrow in Fort Yates. The tone of these events might be different than originally expected, but the message of resolve and support remains the same. As history indicates, very little is predicable at the frontline, so, although everything planned for today is designed to be peaceful, no on can predict the response by the police and DAPL forces. If something gets set off at the bridge, things could shift again, dramatically.

*If DAPL attempts to continue to drill under the Mni Sose (Missouri River), in violation of the USACE decision, the Obama folks have made statements that federal marshals will be sent to stop the work, and that DAPL will be hauled into federal court to answer for illegal drilling. I will leave it to each of you to decide how credible these assurances from the Obama administration are. I will say that if DAPL proceeds, both the feds and the Standing Rock government have the right to request that the federal courts stop the action with an injunction. There is no guarantee that the courts will issue an injunction or restraining order. I also believe that Energy Transfer (DAPL's parent company) might start panicking - their stock took a substantial hit this morning, with 3.5 million shares having been traded so far, today. http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/etp. In panic mode, there is no telling what ET/DAPL/Sunoco might attempt to pull off.

*Meanwhile. various camps in the resistance are concerned that if the camps disband, the pressure that has achieved today's success will become ineffective, and there will be no physical counter-presence  to confront DAPL and its mercenary security forces. Although the weather is cold and snowy now, a storm front is coming in that will bring more wind and snow, and drop temperatures to -10 to -15 by Thursday/Friday. Water protectors who decide to remain, might be doing so at their own risk, with the Standing Rock government withdrawing its infrastructure support to those who decide to stay in the camps.

*Even in the best case scenario, if DAPL is stopped for the time being, the Trump administration is scheduled to take power in forty-five days. Trump has made it clear that he supports DAPL. That said, with the USACE decision, Trump cannot simply ramrod the drilling through, without risking federal court action from the Standing Rock government. This could get dragged out for several months.

*That said, very troubling rumblings are coming from the Trump transition team, that indicate that the DAPL fight is a mere preview of very dangerous times ahead for Native nations. "Trump advisors aim to privatize oil-rich Indian reservations" http://reut.rs/2h5szsJ ). If DAPL is stopped, the probability that other struggles will require strategy and action is high (at places like Oak Flat, Grand Canyon and Black Mesa, AZ; Dooda Rock/Chaco Canyon, NM; and the Kinder-Morgan pipeline that was just green-lighted in Canada). 

*So, if the USACE decision holds, and a breathing period is created for six-weeks, my hope is that we use this time to debrief about the successes and shortcomings of the Standing Rock mobilization, that we take stock of the political landscape ahead, and that we develop effective political, economic and legal strategies for what promises to be a challenging four years before us.

Glenn T. Morris (Shawnee) is a professor of political science at the University of Colorado--Denver, Executive Director of the Fourth World Center for the Study of Indigenous Law and Politics, and a longtime member of the Governing Council of the American Indian Movement (AIM) of Colorado. He has been actively defending indigenous peoples' rights, and those of oppressed peoples worldwide, for more than thirty years.  He can be reached at Glenn.Morris@ucdenver.edu.

** if you are interested in seeing the documents, contact me through the comments and I'll send them; I'm having tech difficulties including them here

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