Everyone has the right to protect their home and their families. If the future of your home and family was under threat because your land and your life were seen as less valuable by those who think money trumps all, would you sit by or would you stand up? The people of Standing Rock have risen and they have been fighting for months to defend their home and their water source. They are protecting it for others who depend on that water as well as themselves. They are protecting their sacred land that was promised to them by an ever-expanding America that ate up every inch it could during Manifest Destiny and colonialism.
The Missouri River provides water for millions and that is what the water protectors are fighting for. They are fighting for America and for their futures. The pipeline doesn’t have to go through indigenous land, but it is. It was diverted away from a primarily white community and brought through the reserve instead.
Mni Wiconi, water is life, is the mantra of the protectors. This is a peaceful quest to save millions. I don’t understand why these companies even want to endanger the water supply this way. We need 
clean water, it is becoming a scarcity in this world and this is a matter of survival. Why is money more important than life? Why are these companies trying to ruin the lives of a people who have had so much stripped away already? The treatment of the water protectors has been horrendous and lives are at stake. The violence brought against the protectors is disgusting; pepper spray, rubber bullets, water cannons at below freezing temperatures.
I know that Canada is far from blameless in its treatment of indigenous people, and I feel helpless watching from the other side of the border at what is happening at Standing Rock. I will write on additional issues within Canada in future posts, but the situation at Standing Rock is getting dire and violence is escalating. Do what you can to help, educate yourself and take a stand where you are able. It’s scary to take a stand, I know that, but the time when people can quietly sit by is coming to an end.
I Stand With Standing Rock.
If you want to help, check out these:
http://standwithstandingrock.net/donate/
https://www.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/18FR1AGDPWZLC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_ep_ws_9qRnybRQHT9F1
http://www.vogue.com/13506675/how-you-can-help-standing-rock-donations-dakota-access-pipeline/
Thanks for stopping by!
-Erin