My freshman year of college I took an environmental justice course where we learned about the Standing Rock Sioux and the Dakota Access Pipeline. In 2016, construction on the Dakota Access Pipeline began. This pipeline violated Article II of the Fort Laramie Treaty, which guaranteed the “undisturbed use and occupation” of the native lands surrounding the pipeline. The pipeline was set to run under a Missouri River reservoir which would jeopardize the primary water source for the reservation. In 2015, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe made a statement saying that the pipeline posed a serious risk to the land and to their own survival, and that it would destroy valuable cultural resources. The tribe went to great lengths to protect their land by doing things such as organized runs, horseback rides, and marches. Many outsiders supported the cause as well, including other Native Nations, non-Native allies, politicians, and celebrities. The conditions in the area became very tense when the tribe and its supporters peacefully protested the pipeline. Law enforcement became physically aggressive with the protesters and made hundreds of arrests, and it got to the point that the Natives and their supporters had no choice but to fight back.
After I had finished the course about two years ago, I still frequently look up the situation to see any kind of updates. The Dakota Access Pipeline was completed in April of 2017, but legal disputes continue to go on regarding the environmental impact of the pipeline. There are issues regarding oil being shipped through the pipeline without environmental studies being completed, the pipeline having poor monitoring systems, and more. I believe this is an excellent example of systemic injustice as the pipeline jeopardized an entire Native tribe as a whole. When trying to protect themselves and their own land, law enforcement became aggressive and it got to the point where they could not stop the problem at hand. I provided a link below that shows the protests turning violent, as security officers threaten protesters with dogs.
I believe that this example of systemic injustice relates back to when we learned about systems of power, like in Persepolis. In this book we saw how the regime of Iran used their power to take control of even the smallest aspects of women’s live. In my writing about the Dakota Access Pipeline we see how the Trump administration used their power to cut through native land. In Marjane’s story we were able to see how she and her family fought for their rights. The protests against the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe show the same amount of courage.
The picture I included shows the land belonging to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe where the Dakota Access Pipeline clearly cuts through a small portion of their land, but most importantly their source of water.
Standing Rock Sioux and Dakota Access Pipeline: Teacher resource. Standing Rock Sioux and Dakota Access Pipeline | Teacher Resource. (n.d.). Retrieved November 5, 2021, from https://americanindian.si.edu/nk360/plains-treaties/dapl.