Part 1 of our field reports 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.
Featured in this documentary are a group of indigenous leaders working with the community: Kandi Mossett of the Indigenous Environmental Network (Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara – North Dakota); Phyllis Young – former councilwoman for Očhéthi Šakówin (Lakotah, Woman Who Stands By The Water), Cody Hall, media spokesperson for Red Warrior Camp (Sioux), Michelle Cook – Legal Counsel for Očhéthi Šakówiŋ camp (Diné – The One Who Walks Around You Clan), and Terrell Iron Shell of Thunder Valley Organizing and the International Indigenous Youth Council (Oglala Lakotah, Eastern Band Cherokee).
“We’ve been here. We know how to take care of the land. Just listen to us.”
For more information, go to www.nativeorganizing.org, or ienearth.org. Support this coverage at www.lauraflanders.com/join.
