#NoDAPL Eviction Announced: Will You Keep Fighting With Us?
Saturday, 26 November 2016 00:00 By Kelly Hayes, Transformative Spaces |
Report
Water Protectors square off with police earlier this month. (Photo: Johnny
Dangers)
As people from around the country continue to converge in Standing Rock, and
less than a week after police blasted Water Protectors with water cannons in
freezing temperatures while gassing them in a confined space, the Army Corps
of Engineers has lived up to a long-held tradition of the United States
government -- the displacement of Native peoples. In a letter addressed to
Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault II, the Army Corps
outlined its plans to remove Water Protectors from their frontline
encampment areas on December 5. In what we can expect will be a violent
spectacle, reminiscent of the violence we have already witnessed during this
struggle, Indigenous people will once again be faced with forced relocation
for the sake of white wealth. While the government has at times voiced
sympathy for the Protectors, such actions are, of course, both historically
consistent and arguably predictable, but that doesn't dull the pain.
When one is serially battered, no previous beating makes the next punch to
the gut hurt any less, and I am hurting tonight. But as we process this
news, and contemplate what it means for the safety of the Protectors,
amongst many other concerns, there are some things we must remember.
First and foremost, this is a struggle that has made the shape and function
of colonialism quite clear. The ubiquitous and socially comforting belief
that our oppression was just another tragic aspect of our country's distant
past has been blown apart with concussion grenades and other instruments of
war. Our society can no longer pretend that the atrocities against us have
ended, and with that knowledge comes a renewed accountability. If you
believe you would have actively opposed the policies and norms that killed a
hundred million of our people, you are now answerable to the realities of
the present. Everyone who has born witness to this struggle, up close and
from afar, is now faced with a choice -- a choice you will have to revisit
again and again, because for many of you, these battles are wholly optional.
As this standoff nears a climactic moment, will you fight in every way you
can to help us write a different ending than the one this government just
penned? Will you keep raising your voices for us, no matter how bleak things
may appear? Will you commit, as we have committed, to keep on fighting until
we can't fight anymore? And will you now bear witness far and wide, to the
constellation of Native movements that have always been all around you,
though rarely seen? Will you uplift those movements as well?
These events should also reinforce to everyone the realities of state
violence, in all its forms. Native people are killed at a higher rate by
police than any other group in the United States. The culture of policing,
where we are concerned, has continuously been affirmed in Standing Rock, as
Protectors have been beaten, tortured, attacked by security dogs, shot with
rubber bullets, tear gassed and blasted with water that actually froze to
razor wire as our people choked on tear gas and endured hypothermia. We must
acknowledge that the all-too-familiar images of police violence during the
Civil Rights Movement are not relics of another time. As we have witnessed
with police attacks on the movement for Black lives, structural violence is
cyclical. Today's police violence against oppressed peoples is not an
aberration in an otherwise evolved society. It is a remix of old atrocities
and abuses. It is the character of law enforcement, born of slave patrols
and Indian Constables, on full display, and we must not pretend otherwise.
In addition to seeing us, I sincerely hope you have seen the opposition, and
clearly. We must see structural violence for what it is if we wish to halt
harms and create safety. The Army Corps and Obama have repeatedly invoked
politicized language of empathy and concern. To feign such concerns, while
doing absolutely nothing to protect our people, is a mockery of those who
are once again being battered and displaced for the sake of progress. In his
letter to Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault II, Colonel John Henderson of the
Army Corps stated, "This decision is necessary to protect the general public
from the violent confrontations between protestors and law enforcement
officials that have occurred in this area." Let's be clear about what this
means. Our people have been attacked again and again by people I can attest
from experience do not look at Natives as human beings. While our people
have converged in peace, police from around the midwest have also converged,
to play their role in this moment of colonial and anti-colonial struggle.
Morton County police and the police who have travelled from afar to join
them have done everything short of killing our Water Protectors, and the
only solution to this aggression that officials can produce is to further
repress us.
The Army Corps letter also states that officials are worried about "death,
illness, or serious injury to inhabitants of encampments due to the harsh
North Dakota winter conditions." Such pretense would be laughable if this
situation weren't so tragic and enraging. The government has proven at every
turn -- including its approval of this pipeline route -- that it has no
concern for our well being or survival. Any claim to the contrary is a
spineless PR maneuver, though some will surely latch onto it, so as not to
see this shameful moment in US history as President Obama's swan song.
But if either Obama or his friends believe he will not be tainted by the
memory of their behavior in this matter, they are sorely mistaken. The pages
of history are already being written, and everything that has happened, and
everything that has yet to unfold, will be told and retold. We are not
simply Protectors and warriors. We are storytellers, and we will not allow
the indulgence of forgetting.
Lastly, I want to reinforce to everyone that this is not over. As Chairman
Archambault stated in response to the Army Corps letter, in a statement that
was released Friday night, "Our tribe is deeply disappointed in this
decision by the United States, but our resolve to protect our water is
stronger than ever."
Our people have not backed down, and I do not anticipate any such action.
Elders, children and other vulnerable individuals will likely be evacuated
when an eviction attempt seems imminent. These evacuations have happened
effectively in the past, and I trust the best efforts of our people on the
ground will safeguard many. But we, as resistors, do not believe in done
deals. Our people will continue to resist in and beyond this moment, as this
is but one front in the wars being waged against us. The question at hand
is: Will you fight with us?
This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license. It may not
be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.
KELLY HAYES
Kelly Hayes is a direct action trainer and a cofounder of The Chicago Light
Brigade and the direct action collective Lifted Voices. She is community
relations associate and a contributing writer at Truthout and her
photography is featured in the "Freedom and Resistance" exhibit of the
DuSable Museum of African American History. Kelly's contribution to the
anthology Who Do You Serve, Who Do You Protect? stems from her work as an
organizer against state violence and her ongoing analysis of movements in
the United States, as featured in Truthout and the blog Transformative
Spaces.
RELATED STORIES
Standing Rock Sioux Chairman: Dakota Access Pipeline "Is Threatening the
Lives of My Tribe"
By Amy Goodman, Democracy Now! | Video Report
Standing Firm at Standing Rock: Why the Struggle Is Bigger Than One Pipeline
By Sarah Jaffe, Moyers & Company | Report
From the Sioux to the Sault: Standing Rock Spirit Spreads to Michigan's
Upper Peninsula
By Brian Bienkowski, Environmental Health News | Report
________________________________________
Show Comments
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#NoDAPL Eviction Announced: Will You Keep Fighting With Us?
Saturday, 26 November 2016 00:00 By Kelly Hayes, Transformative Spaces |
Report
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. Water Protectors square off with police earlier this month. (Photo:
Johnny Dangers)
. As people from around the country continue to converge in Standing
Rock, and less than a week after police blasted Water Protectors with water
cannons in freezing temperatures while gassing them in a confined space, the
Army Corps of Engineers has lived up to a long-held tradition of the United
States government -- the displacement of Native peoples. In a letter
addressed to Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault II, the
Army Corps outlined its plans to remove Water Protectors from their
frontline encampment areas on December 5. In what we can expect will be a
violent spectacle, reminiscent of the violence we have already witnessed
during this struggle, Indigenous people will once again be faced with forced
relocation for the sake of white wealth. While the government has at times
voiced sympathy for the Protectors, such actions are, of course, both
historically consistent and arguably predictable, but that doesn't dull the
pain.
When one is serially battered, no previous beating makes the next punch to
the gut hurt any less, and I am hurting tonight. But as we process this
news, and contemplate what it means for the safety of the Protectors,
amongst many other concerns, there are some things we must remember.
First and foremost, this is a struggle that has made the shape and function
of colonialism quite clear. The ubiquitous and socially comforting belief
that our oppression was just another tragic aspect of our country's distant
past has been blown apart with concussion grenades and other instruments of
war. Our society can no longer pretend that the atrocities against us have
ended, and with that knowledge comes a renewed accountability. If you
believe you would have actively opposed the policies and norms that killed a
hundred million of our people, you are now answerable to the realities of
the present. Everyone who has born witness to this struggle, up close and
from afar, is now faced with a choice -- a choice you will have to revisit
again and again, because for many of you, these battles are wholly optional.
As this standoff nears a climactic moment, will you fight in every way you
can to help us write a different ending than the one this government just
penned? Will you keep raising your voices for us, no matter how bleak things
may appear? Will you commit, as we have committed, to keep on fighting until
we can't fight anymore? And will you now bear witness far and wide, to the
constellation of Native movements that have always been all around you,
though rarely seen? Will you uplift those movements as well?
These events should also reinforce to everyone the realities of state
violence, in all its forms. Native people are killed at a higher rate by
police than any other group in the United States. The culture of policing,
where we are concerned, has continuously been affirmed in Standing Rock, as
Protectors have been beaten, tortured, attacked by security dogs, shot with
rubber bullets, tear gassed and blasted with water that actually froze to
razor wire as our people choked on tear gas and endured hypothermia. We must
acknowledge that the all-too-familiar images of police violence during the
Civil Rights Movement are not relics of another time. As we have witnessed
with police attacks on the movement for Black lives, structural violence is
cyclical. Today's police violence against oppressed peoples is not an
aberration in an otherwise evolved society. It is a remix of old atrocities
and abuses. It is the character of law enforcement, born of slave patrols
and Indian Constables, on full display, and we must not pretend otherwise.
In addition to seeing us, I sincerely hope you have seen the opposition, and
clearly. We must see structural violence for what it is if we wish to halt
harms and create safety. The Army Corps and Obama have repeatedly invoked
politicized language of empathy and concern. To feign such concerns, while
doing absolutely nothing to protect our people, is a mockery of those who
are once again being battered and displaced for the sake of progress. In his
letter to Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault II, Colonel John Henderson of the
Army Corps stated, "This decision is necessary to protect the general public
from the violent confrontations between protestors and law enforcement
officials that have occurred in this area." Let's be clear about what this
means. Our people have been attacked again and again by people I can attest
from experience do not look at Natives as human beings. While our people
have converged in peace, police from around the midwest have also converged,
to play their role in this moment of colonial and anti-colonial struggle.
Morton County police and the police who have travelled from afar to join
them have done everything short of killing our Water Protectors, and the
only solution to this aggression that officials can produce is to further
repress us.
The Army Corps letter also states that officials are worried about "death,
illness, or serious injury to inhabitants of encampments due to the harsh
North Dakota winter conditions." Such pretense would be laughable if this
situation weren't so tragic and enraging. The government has proven at every
turn -- including its approval of this pipeline route -- that it has no
concern for our well being or survival. Any claim to the contrary is a
spineless PR maneuver, though some will surely latch onto it, so as not to
see this shameful moment in US history as President Obama's swan song.
But if either Obama or his friends believe he will not be tainted by the
memory of their behavior in this matter, they are sorely mistaken. The pages
of history are already being written, and everything that has happened, and
everything that has yet to unfold, will be told and retold. We are not
simply Protectors and warriors. We are storytellers, and we will not allow
the indulgence of forgetting.
Lastly, I want to reinforce to everyone that this is not over. As Chairman
Archambault stated in response to the Army Corps letter, in a statement that
was released Friday night, "Our tribe is deeply disappointed in this
decision by the United States, but our resolve to protect our water is
stronger than ever."
Our people have not backed down, and I do not anticipate any such action.
Elders, children and other vulnerable individuals will likely be evacuated
when an eviction attempt seems imminent. These evacuations have happened
effectively in the past, and I trust the best efforts of our people on the
ground will safeguard many. But we, as resistors, do not believe in done
deals. Our people will continue to resist in and beyond this moment, as this
is but one front in the wars being waged against us. The question at hand
is: Will you fight with us?
This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license. It may not
be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.
Kelly Hayes
Kelly Hayes is a direct action trainer and a cofounder of The Chicago Light
Brigade and the direct action collective Lifted Voices. She is community
relations associate and a contributing writer at Truthout and her
photography is featured in the "Freedom and Resistance" exhibit of the
DuSable Museum of African American History. Kelly's contribution to the
anthology Who Do You Serve, Who Do You Protect? stems from her work as an
organizer against state violence and her ongoing analysis of movements in
the United States, as featured in Truthout and the blog Transformative
Spaces.
Related Stories
Standing Rock Sioux Chairman: Dakota Access Pipeline "Is Threatening the
Lives of My Tribe"
By Amy Goodman, Democracy Now! | Video ReportStanding Firm at Standing Rock:
Why the Struggle Is Bigger Than One Pipeline
By Sarah Jaffe, Moyers & Company | ReportFrom the Sioux to the Sault:
Standing Rock Spirit Spreads to Michigan's Upper Peninsula
By Brian Bienkowski, Environmental Health News | Report
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