By Alden Hinden-Stevenson, Copy Editor
On Sunday, Dec. 3, the U.S. Army denied permission for a pipeline to cross under Lake Oahe. This marked a monumental victory for those involved in the protest.
But the fight isn’t over.
For months leading up to the decision, thousands of Native Americans had gathered in defiance of the 1,170 mile Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) that would cut through their sacred land. The protest gained national attention, including support from many individuals and organizations on Vashon Island.
Backbone Campaign is one of them. One of the Pacific Northwest’s leading activist groups, Backbone Campaign has been involved in many different protests and organized gatherings across the nation.
During the Standing Rock protests, Backbone Campaign sent many people from Vashon, and other nearby areas, to North Dakota to help provide supplies and other resources.
According to Bill Moyer, executive director of Backbone Campaign, they had already sent three so-called “solidarity trips” to Standing Rock by December.
“We brought a 425-gallon potable water tank, tactical tools for doing blockades, and other supplies,” said Moyer. “The second trip … we brought out a modern version of a tipi and some cookstoves made by a project in Seattle.”
Participants traveled with Backbone to the Standing Rock Reservation. Moyer, who also made the trek over to North Dakota, shared his experiences.
“There is a strong sense of community at Standing Rock,” said Moyer. “I wouldn’t want to idealize it … but there is a sense that everyone is trying to live their values and take care of each other … which is very important, because as they come into very escalated situations, they have to be able to protect each other and at the same time maintain the discipline of non-violent action in the face of very brutal repression.”
According to Moyer, this type of non-violent resistance was a key component of the struggle in Standing Rock and provided a blueprint for similar anti-corporate resistances across the nation.
“Standing Rock … is the navel of our social movement right now,” said Moyer back in December. “There is no better example than Standing Rock of a non-violent struggle that is spiritual and is fought from a sense of love.”
Protesters practice non-violence in order to deprive law enforcement of any potential justification for the use of force against their resistance. Non-violent protesting provides a platform that exposes physical violence often used in opposition to these types of organized protests. According to Moyer, this is an important theme that can – and should – be used in the future.
“What’s happened in Standing Rock is not just for the Standing Rock Sioux,” said Moyer. “[It] is a confrontation of… value systems, and we have an opportunity to [stand] in solidarity and learn from the folks in Standing Rock, and that should bring us courage in order to do the work that needs to be done here.”
As Moyer indicated, the Army’s denial of the construction permit does not mean that protesters will pack up and go home.
“My opinion about the denial of the pipeline permit is that it won’t actually stop the company from completing their project,” Ted Packard said. “Reports are that construction has not ceased as a result.”
Packard is a participating member of the Vashon community and is also highly involved in environmental activism. He visited Standing Rock for a period of time in the fall of 2016.
According to Packard, the fight isn’t over, an assertion that runs contrary to popular belief.
“In the U.S., corporations are fined instead of prosecuted or being physically stopped from doing so many terrible things,” said Packard. “They receive the legal benefits of personhood without the moral responsibility or consequences.
“Although, I am hopeful that all delays and financial repercussions — however they affect the eventual outcome of the pipeline — will have a longer term effect of heading off environmentally and culturally destructive activities before they even start,” Packard said.
“If the cost of such projects can become high enough, then less of them will be proposed by bottom line-driven companies. That makes this denial of permit a success worth celebrating.”
The resistance in Standing Rock demonstrated the power of nonviolent protest and paved the way for future peaceful resistances. This was exemplified in the recent Women’s Marches that happened across the U.S. on Jan. 21. According to Packard, the continuation of nonviolent protest provides a hopeful look into the future in the fight to protect natural resources from larger corporations and other perceived threats.
The Dakota Access Pipeline was not the only suggested oil pipeline; in fact, there is a planned pipeline in the Pacific Northwest called the Pacific Connector. It’s a proposed 232-mile gas pipeline that will stretch through Oregon in order to be reach international markets.
Like DAPL, the Pacific Connector could offer many environmental concerns, making it, like Standing Rock, an issue worth thinking about.
“[Standing Rock] is part of a larger conflict that will continue,” said Moyer. “It’s going to be a free-for-all [in the upcoming years], and it will require us to learn from Standing Rock and to then apply that moral power in any number of other places under the threat of fossil fuel companies.”