6
S moke S ignals
DECEMBER 15, 2016
Tribal member 'shields' Standing Rock
By Brent Merrill
Smoke Signals staff writer
When Grand Ronde Tribal mem-
ber Monty Herron saw images of
water protectors being assaulted
on the ground by law enforcement
officers at the site of a months-long
conflict over water in Cannon Ball,
N.D., he felt a call to action.
In particular it was the graphic
image of water protector Sophia
Wilansky’s arm being shredded by
a Morton County Sheriff’s concus-
sion grenade while a water cannon
was being fired at water protectors
that raised Herron’s ire.
The grenades, rubber bullets and
water cannon had been aimed at
water protectors at ground zero of
the latest national Native Ameri-
can cause to draw worldwide atten-
tion on Sunday, Nov. 20.
Wilansky was carrying water
bottles to fellow water protectors
across Backwater Bridge at the
Oceti Sakowin Camp where as
many as 10,000 protestors were
staying. Backwater Bridge has
become the border between law
enforcement personnel and water
protectors.
Herron, who is preparing to make
a return trip to Standing Rock in
mid-December, said he felt he need-
ed to go again when he saw news
reports of what was happening.
Herron has already made one trip
to North Dakota to the area of the
$3.8 billion Dakota Access Pipeline
project and is now planning a sec-
ond trip to the contested site.
Dallas, Texas-based Energy
Transfer Partners owns the pipe-
line project that, if completed,
would transport up to 570,000 bar-
rels of oil 1,172 miles daily through
four states from the Bakken Oil
Fields in North Dakota to a crude
oil terminal in Patoka, Ill., via
South Dakota and Iowa.
At issue is the Standing Rock
Sioux Tribe’s view that allowing
Energy Transfer Partners to keep
digging a pipeline under Lake
Oahe, which is a reservoir of the
nearby Missouri River, would not
only contaminate the Tribe’s water
supply, but desecrate important
cultural sites that were thought to
be protected by treaty rights.
A modern-day battle zone was
created over the summer months
and occupation of the area by water
protectors and their supporters has
stretched on into the brutally cold
North Dakota winter.
“For me, the first trip was about
taking medicines and blankets
and needed building supplies to
support them,” said Herron while
seated in Tribal Council chambers
holding a 4-foot tall, see-through
Lexan shield he made for the water
protectors. “When the campaign
was over, I felt Creator’s call to go
and do that. To do this, the building
of the shields, was because I felt
called again. When I saw the foot-
age and saw the visceral pictures
of that poor woman’s arm being
obliterated by a concussion grenade
that was when I knew I had to do
something.”
Lexan is a polycarbonate, which
is used to make rigid, transparent
materials.
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
Monty Herron displays one of several shields he made for the water
protectors protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota.
Herron, who worked as a cor-
rections officer at Oregon State
Penitentiary, said he felt he needed
to use his training to help protect
water protectors from the law en-
forcement abuses he says he saw
while at Standing Rock.
Herron said he experienced the
abuses in person when he was de-
tained at what he called “illegal”
roadblocks on the highways lead-
ing to Cannon Ball and the Oceti
Sakowin Camp site.
“I had to take the knowledge that
I was given in law enforcement
training and turn that right back
around to shield our protectors,”
said Herron. “These shields will
protect the water protectors. When
they join arms and link these up
it will form a wall 4 feet tall by 24
feet wide as a first line of defense. It
will bounce those tear gas canisters
right back at them.”
Reports from the area indicate
that pipeline security personnel
and Morton County Sheriff’s of-
ficers have laid razor wire along
the banks of Cantapeta Creek to
restrict access to the construction
site.
On Wednesday, Nov. 30, Herron
reported to Tribal Council about his
first trip to Standing Rock. He said
that he was able to gather much
needed contributions of medicine,
bandaging materials, toothpaste
and toothbrushes, and a pallet of
wool blankets to take as well as
that he delivered the $2,500 con-
tribution the Grand Ronde Tribe
made to the Standing Rock Sioux.
“Everything was really, really ap-
preciated and received very well,”
said Herron. “I’m really excited to
be going back. If anyone wants to
help they can contact me and I have
a PayPal set up for this current
campaign. I feel really blessed to
be able to do this work and I picked
up my Tribal flag this week so we’ll
have that with us when we go.”
Corps denies easement
for pipeline
On Sunday, Dec. 4, the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers announced that
it would not grant an easement
to Energy Transfer Partners that
would allow the pipeline to be
constructed under Lake Oahe. In
the statement, the Corps said al-
ternative routes would need to be
explored further.
Within just a few hours of the an-
nouncement that work would cease,
Energy Transfer Partners and
co-owner Sunoco Logistics issued
an announcement that they were
still “fully committed to ensuring
that this vital project is brought to
completion and fully expect to com-
plete construction of the pipeline
without any additional rerouting
in and around Lake Oahe.”
The statement went on to say
the announcement by the Corps
changed “nothing.”
According to a report on the CBS
Evening News on Dec, 5, Energy
Transfer Partners called the de-
cision “purely political” and said
the company is counting on the
incoming Trump administration to
reverse the Corps’ decision.
Morton County Sheriff’s Office
spokesperson Rob Keller said their
force does not use concussion gre-
nades or rubber bullets, but that
they have used tear gas, sponge
rounds and that they have sprayed
water on protectors from one of
their fire trucks.
“Our folks have been very re-
strained in that there have been no
deaths,” said Keller. “But what we
use is less than lethal rounds and
all have been approved. They are
not rubber bullets; that is a misno-
mer. A rubber bullet comes out of a
cartridge and can inflict quite a bit
of damage. We use sponge rounds.
It’s meant to stun, to stop a person.
“We don’t have concussion gre-
nades. We have tear gas and pepper
spray to disperse a crowd. A lot of
times we didn’t use those because
it was being thrown back at us or it
came back in our eyes too.”
Keller said he was aware of
the situation that occurred when
Wilansky nearly lost her arm at
Backwater Bridge.
“What you are referring to was
observed by our officers that night
at Backwater Bridge,” said Keller of
the incident. “That particular night
we tried to disperse the crowd, but
we realized that there was the
sound of an explosion. We do not
have any rounds that create an ex-
plosion. It is still part of an ongoing
investigation, but the investigation
has shown that it was a propane
canister that exploded. We have
them here in our evidence – they
were being made into improvised
explosive devices.
“Our officers observed one of the
devices being rolled under a piece of
equipment. That propane canister
exploded and after it exploded we
observed a female being carried off
by a couple of people on the bridge.
It was a homemade IED that went
off.”
On Monday, Dec. 12, the National
Lawyers Guild filed a class action
suit against Sheriff Kyle Kirchmei-
er and Morton County through the
U.S. District Court in Bismarck,
N.D., for “using excessive force”
against water protectors in Cannon
Ball.
The suit seeks an immediate
injunction that would keep the
Morton County Sheriff’s Office from
using rubber bullets, lead-filled
bean bags, tear gas, concussion
grenades and water cannons on
people at the sites.
Herron said he understands why
people want to celebrate the Army
Corps of Engineers announcement
as a victory, but he said he worries
about the situation and still plans
to travel to North Dakota despite
the blizzard-like conditions there.
Keller said the situation on the
ground currently is that construc-
tion on the pipeline has stopped.
“Our severe weather has us con-
cerned for public safety,” said
Keller. “The pipeline up to the bore
hole is in the ground. Nothing is
going on except maybe a little bit
of reclamation work.”
Keller stressed that his depart-
ment does not work for the oil
company or their interests.
“We don’t work for DAPL,” said
Keller. “We were responding to a
call for assistance. What it comes
down to is it is illegal for DAPL to
bore because the courts have ruled
that they cannot. They cannot
bore under there until they get the
easement. So if they were to start
boring under there now they would
be breaking the law so we in law
enforcement need to enforce that.
“Could it easily come to the other
side where we then have to make
arrests or stop the boring? That
could very well possibly be.”
Keller said it’s a waiting game.
“We are all waiting for the new
administration and whatever
Trump wants to do,” said Keller.
“We’ve got to get back to building
relationships.”
‘Cautious optimism’
“Where I’m at is cautious opti-
mism,” said Herron. “We need to
gather ourselves and enjoy this
victory. We need to take a deep
breath because we’re going to need
to move forward again. We have to
do this again. We’re going to have
to do this more often. These shields
See STANDING ROCK
continued on page 7