Jan. 13-19, 2017
R oots •
News
Page 11
Second Bunk Bus heads
for Standing Rock
Portlanders
load bus with
supplies fo r
protesters
naniviQt
e
Dakota Access
oil Pipeline
. .
by S tephen quirke
—
STAFF w riter __________________
J
-------
arly Friday, Jan. 13, the second “Bunk Bus”
M ?S exPected to leave Portland for Standing
J — /R o ck , N.D.
Outfitted with insulated walls, a 35,000 BTU
heater, 8 beds, and a medical area, its designers
h?pe 5 Wl11 keep pe°Ple warm and healthy during
a harsh winter at the Oceti Sakowin camp, where
thousands of people remain camped in opposition
to the Dakota Access oil pipeline fe
The idea for the bus originated inOctober after
two Portlanders, Mike Horner and Harlan Shober,
traveled to Standing Rock and saw a lack of
adequate shelter for people committed to
enduring the brutal winter, and the hardly less
brutal tactics of Morton County police.
Horner and Shober needed to develop a cheap
but effective form of shelter. So when they
returned to Portland they purchased an old school
bus, replaced the seats with bunk beds, covered
the outside with artwork, and sent it back to
Standing Rock loaded with supplies. They called -
their creation the Bunk Bus, and as it traveled
across the country it became a magnet for
conversation, with many surprise visits at rest
areas, and even personal donations to support the
Standing Rock Sioux.
Retired Portland area teacher Ted Dreier rode
the first Bunk Bus to Standing Rock for his first
he’s spent weeks
m odifying th e second Bunk B us - w orking w ith
JMtweAnKnca” imagery decorates the exterior o f the Bunk Bus, which heads to Standing Rock, N.D., on Jan
The bus
SWpl>^ ^ 1 Wa2 nth Ond respltef° r the P ^P1“ there Protesting the Dakota Access oil pipeline.
were telling us about. Literally thousands of
donated hours have come in from carpenters,
mechanics, electricians, metalworkers, and
artists. And nobody here has a lot of money.
They’re donating their time.”
’
hundreds of volunteers’ feedback from the first
design.
Dreier said the lessons of Standing Rock are
relevant for all social movements.
“Standing Rock right now is like the spiritual
center of the universe,” Dreier said. “One of the
things the elders say every morning in the prayer
ceremony is ‘This is a prayer ceremony, but
everything here is a prayer. If you’re going out for
an action, you need to think of it as a ceremony
and a prayer. Conduct yourself in that way. And
it’s occurred to me that Mike and Harlan are
really acting on that same principle the elders
D reier said th e success of th e team in P ortland
is just one example of how a good idea leads to
self-organization. He points to the growth of the
encampments at Standing Rock, and the nation
wide support flowing to those camps, as their
major inspiration.
“People were drawn to the idea,” he said. “This
is just one part of that flow.”
After word spread in Bozeman, M ont, that the
bus was coming through town on its way to
Standing Rock, locals activists held a march in
support of the Standing Rock Sioux - one that
quickly turned into the a large rally. “The bus
became the star of a demonstration to support
Did you serve in the
Armed Forces
and are experiencing
or at
diversity and defend groups experiencing
oppression,” said Dreier.
“The fact that can happen is a really hopeful
thing,” Dreier said.
“It seems really clear to me that what Standing
Rock is standing up for is not just getting this
pipeline rerouted. The elders see the pipeline as
a very concrete symbol of a way of relating with
nature, a way of treating other people, and it’s
one they completely reject The pipeline is a
symbol of an economic system that’s happy to
throw out the environment and throw people out
of work if there’s a dollar to be made on it. The
other view is summarized in that phrase “water is
life,” and it has camps forming in many other
places - Iowa, Florida, Quebec.... It’s very very
powerful.”
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