Long live Standing Rock!

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On his fifth day in office, President Donald Trump or­ dered the U.S. Army Core of engineers to restart dig­ ging the $3.8 billion Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) on sacred Sioux land, in violation of the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851. The camp, known as Standing Rock, was officially closed on Feb. 22 on order of North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum.

Chase Iron Eyes, a Standing Rock Sioux, described the militarized police and National Guard that descended on the camp as “a violence enforcer of the will of capital. The corporate state is here: an oil war in the heartland.” The army of occupation arrived in Humvees and ar­ mored personnel carriers, pointing automatic rifles at peaceful water protectors, insuring capitalist profits with the installation of the hazard-prone fossil-fuel pipelines. Said another camp resident, “This is Treaty land. This is our life. This is how we live as Native people and noth­ ing has changed. It’s just gotten worse. They have big­ ger weapons to kill us with. And here we are, unarmed, facing an army in our own land.” Forty-one percent of Native Americans live in poverty; 24% are unemployed. The governor blamed oncoming spring floods for the evacuation. However, Joye Braun of the Indigenous En­ vironmental Network claims the flood warnings were a “false flag” since flood predictions were officially down­ graded. Outraged, Braun insisted that the 1851 U.S. Treaty guarantees “free, prior, informed consent” as a constitutional right—a right violated at Standing Rock. Many who were expelled from the camp sought refuge in nearby Native American camps. Teepees and struc­ tures at Standing Rock were set ablaze by water pro­ tectors who refused to allow the desecration of sacred objects and to deprive the enemy of a perceived victory. Some 50 water protectors that remained were arrested. Standing Rock became the flashpoint for unprecedent­ ed mass mobilization of Native Americans, thousands of solidarity activists and a worldwide outcry against corporate greed, racism, and the bitter U.S. legacy of genocide. Many activists came from the struggle against the XL Keystone Pipeline, stretching from Canada to the Gulf Coast, halted in 2015 but set to restart under Trump. Since last August, some 700 “water protectors” have been arrested, shot with beanbags, tear-gassed, clubbed, sprayed with ice-cold water in freezing temperatures, and attacked by dogs unleashed by private security goons. Trump is invested in DAPL funder Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) for up to $1 million, although he has claimed to have dis-invested. Trump received campaign contributions from ETP head Kelsey Warren, including $100,000 to the Trump victory fund.

Going forward, the ETP says oil will be flowing at Standing Rock sometime in March if legal challenges by Native Americans fail to halt this, the final link in the 1170-mile-long pipeline. The groundwork for DAPL and other pipelines was facilitated by the Obama administration. When asked about Standing Rock in 2015, Obama said he would let the situation “play out,” despite ongoing brutality. Only after a mass mobilization of Native Americans and an early December solidarity mobilization of 3000 U.S. veterans at Standing Rock did Obama respond. Fearing an election year blowback if veterans were seen being beaten by cops on TV, Obama issued a Dec. 4 executive order to delay, not cancel, digging under Oahe Lake, a source of water for the Sioux and 18 million others. On March 10, the Standing Rock and Native Nations will lead a march of activists in Washington, D.C. The protest is organized by the Native Nations Rise Planning Committee and will march from the Mall to the White House beginning at 10 a.m. n IAM’s Debacle In N. Charleston—The