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Indigenous Environmental Network No DAPL Action at UNFCCC COP 22—Marrakech, Morocco

Indigenous Environmental Network No DAPL Action at UNFCCC COP 22—Marrakech, Morocco

Jacqui Patterson

Illinois NAACP Finds Common Ground with the Standing Rock Sioux

As police in riot gear closed in on the peaceful protesters at Standing Rock, NAACP Illinois State Conference President Teresa Haley felt called to investigate. The issue felt very close to home. First, the scene was painfully familiar to anyone who lived through the civil rights movement. And second, the Dakota Access Pipeline—which the protesters were fighting against—will pass through her home state of Illinois.

Haley spoke with many of her constituents, including people who worked on the pipeline in Illinois. I might have my opinion,” said Haley, “but I can’t just step out there without representing what my constituents want. So I had to get out there and find out.” What she heard were varying views of the pipeline—as well as empathy and solidarity with the protesters.

From the workers, she heard that the work was steady and the pay was very good. Haley reported that, “In these times when work can be scarce and even the jobs that are available are often low paying, the work on the pipeline was a very welcome opportunity!”

However, from the same workers she heard reflections of compassion for the Standing Rock Sioux who were impacted by the building of the Dakota Access Pipeline. “We felt sorry for those people,” said one of the pipeline workers Haley spoke with. “It wasn’t right. They were dumping people’s stuff. Their feathers and traditional clothing that were important to them that they had for generations went missing. It was terrible. And from what we heard, their sacred burial grounds are being uprooted, though we never participated in disturbing any burial grounds.”

The Standing Rock Sioux are concerned that the pipeline will rupture or leak, contaminating their water supply. But the pipeline workers defended their work by describing the safety measures that were put in place: “The pipeline is 8 to 10 feet below the water line,” said one. “If the inspectors found anything done incorrectly, the inspectors could and would shut down the operations and have the welders and other workers re-do it.”

That being said, Haley says the workers implied that these safety measures were put in place so that the operation would be above reproach by the authorities, rather than out of concern for local people and land. Indeed, the pipeline company treated its workers in the same way it treated the communities whose land and property were being defiled.

“We were working long hours; sometimes all day and all night,” said one of the workers. “One of the guys got killed on the pipeline. When we went back to work the next day, there was a moment of silence. That’s all. Then they demanded that we get back to work and nothing else was said. The contractors were all about putting pipes in the ground and making money. They don’t value life. They don’t care.”

Haley acknowledges the complexities in this situation. “We must have ample good jobs, with good pay so that people can sustain themselves and their families.” She says. “At the same time, we can and we must do this in a way that upholds workers’ rights, land rights, water rights, and human rights.”

On behalf of the NAACP Illinois State Conference, Haley expresses unyielding solidarity with the protesters at Standing Rock. “We are opposed to what’s happening to the Standing Rock Sioux. We can connect to what’s going on in so many ways. We can relate to the struggle. We’ve had our land and our stuff taken. We have been shot with rubber bullets. We’ve been laid low by water hoses. We have been arrested time and time again for just trying to defend our rights as human beings. Our struggles may not be the same, but they are indisputably linked. We are all seeking liberation.”

In conclusion, Haley said, “The Illinois NAACP supports the Standing Rock Sioux and we uphold their right to peaceful protest and we want them to stay safe while doing it. The NAACP has a lot of experience with peaceful protest after our own decades of struggle so we should help with that at a minimum.” She adds, “Black folks have been displaced all of our lives. So we understand the struggle.”

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