The Clackamas print., November 30, 2016, Page 8, Image 8

Standing Rock protestors come together to fight for furture generations and protest b'lg oil companies near Cannon Bail, North Dakota, on Nov. 13.
Student leaves for Standing Rock
photos contributed by Desiree Kane
BY COLLIN BEREND
r
'
V anessa Castle is o f the Lower Elw ha
Klallam Tribe in Port Angeles, W ash, and
•is a form er student at Clackam as w ho
recently withdrew to protest the pipeline
w ith many others in North Dakota.
“ I am here as a w ater protector to
help stand with the Standing Rock Sioux
Tribe in their figh t against the Dakota
Access Pipeline that will be crossing the
Missouri River with potential to destroy
the drinking water for 18 m illion people
d o w n s tre a m / ’ said C astle . “ I am also
here to bring awareness to tlie violation
of treaty rights of indigenous peoples and
now the atrocious violations of hum an
and civil rights by the local, state and
federal law enforcem ent and N ational
G uard.”
The North Dakota protest has raged on
since spring o f 2016. Fears o f its sweet
“ I a m here as a water
protector to help stand
w ith the Standing Rock
Sio u x Tribe in their fig h t
:
against the Dakota
Access Pipeline.”
-
Vanessa Castle
8 Clackamas Print NOVEMBER 30,2016 thedackamæprintcofn
crude oil traveling and its potential effects
on th e w ater system and the violation
o f Native Am ericans’ rights have driven
m any p rotesters, w ho are b o th n o n -
Native Am erican and Native Am erican
people fro m all over the n atio n . The
Dakota Access Pipeline will travel all the
way to Illinois.
“ I came here in prayer,” said Castle,
“ and to stand alongside my brothers and
sisters to perform ceremony in attem pts
to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline, and to
stop the desecration o f sacred sites and
burial sites.”
There have been other Native Americans
in Oregon who have responded or who
oppose the pipeline. Christian Chapm an,
a m em ber o f the O glala Lakota tribe,
expressed stark support for the Standing
Rock Sioux tribe.
“ The Standing Rock needs everyone to
Stand with them because.. .their problem
o f preserving water quality is also our
o w n ,” said C h a p m a n . “ From F lin t,
M ichigan to [the] m ajority o f Portland
Public Schools, we share the same water.
“ W ater is life and w ith o u t [it], we
cou ld n ’ t su rvive,” said C hap m an . “ It
doesn’ t take an Einstein to know this.
We are going to really have to invest in
w hat m atters. But we can ’ t break the
backs o f people trying to truly care or
chase businesses away, either.”
The protesters have taken to social
media and to the reporters to tell their
story of police brutality. The use o f dogs,
Amy E. Emery-Brown, foreground, protests alongside former CCC student Vanessa
Castle, to the center left, in a bandana.
spraying w ater on p rotesters, rubber
b ullets and concussion grenades have
been a part of the police’ s arsenal against
the anfi-p ip eline protesters.
In a new s s ta te m e n t released by
the O ffice o f the U nited N ations H igh
Com m issioner for H um an R igh ts, one
hum an rights expert called the actions
by U .S . security fo rces, police o fficers
and the N atio n al Guard as “ excessive
force.” Com m ents went so far as to call
the actions “ in h u m an and degrading
conditions in detention.”
C astle shared Facebook user Curtis
Ray Y a z ’ s very graphic post o f one o f
the protesters near Cannon Ball, North
Dakota. The female protester in the photo
had to have her arm amputated due to a
concussion grenade tearing away the flesh
and revealing the bone.
“ Today, a fem ale water protector had
to have her arm amputated after Morton
County Sheriffs landed a direct hit with a
concussion grenade last n igh t,” said Yaz
in h is Facebook post.
As it stands, anti-pipeline protesters
con tin ue th e fig h t in N o rth D ako ta,
risking more than a holiday m eal. It is
not clear if accusations against officials’
actions toward protesters, such as the use
o f cold water on protesters at night, will
go any further than just that: accusations.