Grassroots holds ‘Pow Wow at the Pipeyard’

BRIDGER – Members of the Cheyenne River Grassroots Collective, 2KC Media, and other concerned citizens organized a “Pow Wow at the Pipeyard” near the gates of a Keystone XL Pipeline construction materials stockpile site on Aug. 24, “to bring awareness to the terrifying number of lives lost in direct relation to extraction industries,” they said.

“We look at our relatives on the Ft. Berthold reservation and hear how their violent crime rates have risen well over 300 percent since the big Bakken oil boom in 2010,” said Tasina Smith, co-founder of the Cheyenne River Grassroots Collective. “Such crimes range from rape, sexual assault, and murder. We have no other choice but to get as loud as we can about these crimes against humanity so that we may protect our people,” she said.

The collective invited participants to dress in red “in honor of all missing and murdered Indigenous men, woman and children. Dozens of people who attended wore masks and practiced distancing themselves from one another, since the event took place in pandemic coronavirus conditions. Organizers provided hand sanitizer in adherence with official recommendations to slow the virus spread.

TC Energy Corp. (formerly TransCanada Corp.) hired pipeyard construction here, some seven miles from the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe’s border, to facilitate its stalled KXL buildout across the nearby river from whence the tribe’s four bands take their name. Tribal governments and allied organizations have the pipeline project on hold in federal courts for violation of environmental and historic preservation laws.

What’s more, said Cheyenne River Grassroots Collective Co-founder Joseph White Eyes, ““We have an inherent right under natural law to protect the land and water. Our ancestors retreated to this region after the massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890. The land that TC Energy plans to desecrate is all stolen land under the 1851 and 1868 treaties with the United States,” he said.

The event began with a light breakfast that included egg and sausage burritos with fruit, yogurt, and drinks. A drum group was present to sing for participants who danced for those who have journeyed on. The collective offered burning sage for medicinal purposes and information about the danger that comes with pipeline infrastructure.

The collective is made up of “individuals who wish to empower, educate, train and protect indigenous people to become the next leaders of their generation,” it says. The collective was formed earlier this year “as a seed to a shared dream” in their communities.

“We are a small group of talented, outspoken artists and activists. There is no limit to what we all bring to the table when fighting for social or environmental justice,” Smith stated. “This is only the beginning to a shining future for our nation.”

Intertribal rounds were conducted from 9 a.m. until about noon. After the powwow, organizers provided participants with a lunch of turkey wraps, chips, and drinks.

“We want to show our people what exactly is happening during the pandemic and the continued building of KXL despite that pandemic,” said White Eyes. “These projects are direct threat to our tribal members. What better way to do so than to gather our community with song and dance?”

He added, “People have a right to know that an illegal operation in underway on indigenous land yet again. This time, we are more than ready to stand peacefully for what is rightfully ours.”

(Contact Talli Nauman at talli.nauman@gmail.com)

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