Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Leads #NoDAPL March on Washington

Editor’s note: Truthdig correspondent Clara Romeo was on the ground in Washington, D.C., on Friday, providing updates from the #NoDAPL march and demonstrations. See live multimedia updates in the story captured on Evrybit, which is embedded at the bottom of this page.

The fight against the Dakota Access pipeline isn’t over yet.

The Standing Rock Sioux tribe set up tepees beside the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., earlier this week as part of a multiday protest against the Dakota Access pipeline. Early Friday, tribe members and their supporters—self-described “water protectors”—began to march from the Army Corps of Engineers headquarters to the White House.

The Standing Rock Sioux are doing more than just taking to the streets of Washington—the tribe is also bringing the #NoDAPL fight to television. The Lakota People’s Law Project has begun production on a series of commercials, the first of which was released Thursday. Chase Iron Eyes, the lead counsel for the project and a longtime pipeline opponent, commented on the commercial in a press release Wednesday:

Our fight against the Dakota Access pipeline isn’t over. Oil has not yet begun to flow, new information has emerged, and it’s not too late to stop the pipeline’s trajectory through our sacred lands. As our fight shifts to the courts of law and public opinion, we have rededicated our resources to the legal arena and a strictly targeted, no-holds-barred media campaign. …

Our spot made its debut on television during this morning’s news shows in Washington, D.C., and our march on Friday will put the exclamation point on its message. Please join us in keeping the eyes of the world on Standing Rock. This struggle remains the true, timely intersection of environmental justice and the preservation of our inherent human rights. We plan to prevail.

Watch the commercial below:

Truthdig correspondent Clara Romeo was on the ground in Washington on Friday and provided live updates from the march and subsequent demonstrations. According to Romeo:

Hundreds of demonstrators were eager to march from the Government Accountability Office to the Trump International Hotel and the park outside the White House—even as snow, rain and wind hit the marchers. The highly energized crowd fervently clung to the hope that their voices would be heard by government officials and the Trump administration.

During the rally held after the march, Native American leaders met with support from the crowd, except for tribal Chairman David Archambault II. He was cheered by many Native Americans but booed by other marchers and water protectors. The rally emphasized the connection between the earth and native culture and the importance of protecting sacred land for native youth.

See more multimedia from the day’s action in the Evrybit presentation below:

—Posted by Emma Niles