Hupa spear-fisherman. Photo by Edward Curtis, 1923, via wikimedia
“There’s power in peace, and I will serve that” says wounded US Marine, Catcher-Cuts-the-Rope, who is standing with those at Standing Rock to protect the water supply for the reservation, and those living downstream. He was wounded at the battle of Falujah, Iraq, and is now standing up non-violently to invite vets from across the land to confront the Police State which would enforce actions violating a treaty made by our nation in 1851, as detailed in this video. This can’t be happening!
Catcher’ is calling for vets to arrive at Standing Rock before December 4. Here is a brave man, calling upon other brave folks to do the right thing. (If the video is being blocked, try searching for it in Canada, or on youtube.) Those who might be frustrated that they can’t protest in person could consider calling President Obama, urging him to send in the National Guard to protect the peaceful water-keepers, and the peacekeepers in blue. (Some people will do anything to generate excitement; others have a conscience and just need a job and a paycheck, but mostly do what they are told.) Contact the White House at 202-456-1414, or by email. Obama can defuse this standoff, if he so chooses.
“The decision to run the so-called Dakota Access Pipeline through Sioux sacred lands, some of it formerly awarded to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe by US treaty, but later stolen from them, stands in stark contrast to an earlier decision to reroute it from a planned Missouri River crossing point near North Dakota’s capital city of Bismarck. There, protests by the local (white, middle-class) public forced a rethink by the companies behind the pipeline, and the US Army Corps of Engineers. They decided to alter the planned route to run it through Indian territory instead.” ~Counterpunch, 11/25
The Huffington Post article containing the video may still be visible under this title: Iraq War Veteran’s New Battle Is Fighting Dakota Access Pipeline.
(The author of this blog served honorably, and was awarded the Navy Achievement medal — individually, not as a member of a unit.)