“We’ve been here. We know how to take care of the land. Just listen to us.”
Part 1 - Report from the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ, or Seven Council Fires Community, at#StandingRock in Cannonball, North Dakota. Representatives from over 200 nations have travelled to#StandingRock to defend their right to clean water, and more, to preserve their sovereignty against a state that has illegally decided to take this land. They are protectors, not protesters. Their historic effort is bringing attention to a long struggle against environmental racism, indiscriminate raids, and genocidal erasure.
We follow the story and the story of how these communities, Standing Rock Camp and Red Warrior Camp, have come to be egalitarian and holistic actions.
Part 2 - There's a revolution happening in Standing Rock, at the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ camp, and across the country. Over 200 indigenous American nations and 6,000 people have travelled to the community in an unprecedented act of solidarity. Catalyzed by the fight against Dakota Access Pipeline, Native American tribes are protecting their water, but even more, protecting their sovereignty in the face of a colonialist State. In a time when we still celebrate Christopher Columbus, violent colonizer, the indigenous rights movement is more important than ever.
On Indigenous People's Day 2016, we're #StandingWithStandingRock. Journalist Jonathan Klett connects what's happening in North Dakota to what's happening in D.C. Chase Iron Eyes, US Representative Candidate for North Dakota and Judith LeBlanc, director of the Native organizers Alliance, speak to what's at stake in this fight.
With music by Bethany Yarrow and Rufus Cappadocia
For more information, go to www.nativeorganizing.org, or ienearth.org. Support this coverage at www.lauraflanders.com/join.