How to Talk About #NoDAPL: A Native Perspective

progressivefriends:

So when you talk about Standing Rock, please begin by acknowledging
that this pipeline was redirected from an area where it was most likely
to impact the residents of Bismarck, North Dakota. When Bismarck’s
population – which is over 90 percent white – objected to the risks
the pipeline posed to their drinking water, their concerns were
accommodated, and the pipeline route was shifted into treaty lands.
Please inform people of these facts, and remind them that our people are
still struggling to survive the violence of colonization on many
fronts. People should not simply engage with stories related to our
struggles when they see a concrete connection to their own issues – or a
jumping off point to discuss their own issues. Our friends, allies and
accomplices should be fighting alongside us because they value our
humanity and right to live, in addition to whatever else they believe
in.

Every Native at Standing Rock – every Native on this continent –
has survived the genocide of 100 million of our people. That means that
every Indigenous child born is a victory against colonialism, but we are
all also born into a fight for our very existence. We need that to be
named and centered.

This message is not a condemnation. It’s a fundamentally reasonable ask.

How to Talk About #NoDAPL: A Native Perspective