Because I was on summer vacation every day I'd go to the Oceti Sakowin camp to take part in the peaceful protest It was a happy place People from around the country traveled to join us and we shared stories and learned from each other There were thousands of us It was powerful to see so many people coming together Many of those who gathered in the camps participated in peaceful protests but as thousands of people poured into the camps a number of the protests became violent People burned cars and stacked logs across the road and set the wood on fire A reporter heard another protester pleading with one of the violent groups Stop lighting these barricades on OCETI SAKOWIN Oceti Sakowin means Seven Council Fires Originally the Sioux were made up of seven large related groups of people each with its own council fire around which the group would gather as a community The fire also symbolizes continuity because as the people moved their camps from place to place they would take a coal from the old fire and use it to light a new fire in the new location fire brothers I'm a member of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe he said After this I have to live here Images in the media showed police in riot gear driving up in armored personnel carriers in a scene that looked more like a Water protectors display signs from dugout canoes near the Oceti Sakowin camp
military campaign than law enforcement On September 3 a private security company turned dogs loose on the protesters On November 20 when protesters refused to clear the highway the authorities brought in hoses on fire trucks and soaked people with water despite the freezing weather The irony said Tokata reacting to the fact that the DOG ATTACKS On September 3 2016 a group of unarmed chanting protesters positioned themselves between the machinery needed to finish laying the pipeline and the pipeline itself and refused to move The security company hired to disperse them approached with pepper spray and dogs unleashing the animals and setting them on the protesters Following the attacks a woman pulled aside her shirt and showed the injury she received to a reporter I stood there unarmed yelling at them and they smugly looked at us and they smiled every time the dog lunged at us she told reporters Activists transmitted photos of these attacks around social media making comparisons to the use of dogs against civil rights protesters in Selma Alabama in the 1960s protesters were trying to protect water and water was being used against them TAKING SIDES On December 4 2016 the USACE announced that it was denying the final permit ETP needed to complete the segment of the pipeline near Standing Rock Reservation based upon the need for further information and analysis of alternatives As stated by Jo Ellen Darcy the army's
assistant secretary for civil works The best way to complete that work responsibly and expeditiously is to explore alternate routes for the pipeline crossing Tokata and other water protectors celebrated the victory that this halt represented but they also realized the fight wasn't over This movement isn't just about our reservation it's about speaking up when you feel that something is wrong said Tokata This was a fight that Located on the banks of the Cannon Ball River the Oceti Sakowin camp filled with tents tepees and campers
