to oversee the actions of local law enforcement to, first and foremost, ensure
everyone's safety. The Department of Justice must send overseers immediately to
ensure the protection of First Amendment rights and the safety of thousands here at Standing Rock. DOJ can no longer ignore our requests...We have repeatedly seen
a disproportionate response from law enforcement to water protectors' nonviolent exercise of their constitutional rights. Today we have witnessed people praying
in peace, yet attacked with pepper spray, rubber bullets, sound and concussion cannons...We need our state and federal governments to bring justice and peace
to our lands, not the force of armored vehicles.
We also call on the thousands of water protectors who stand in solidarity with us
against DAPL to remain in peace and prayer. Any act of violence hurts our cause
and is not welcome here. We invite all supporters to join us in prayer that, ultimately,
the right decision--the moral decision--is made to protect our people, our sacred
places, our land and our resources. We won't step down from this fight. As peoples
of this earth, we all need water. This is about our water, our rights, and our dignity as human beings." (http://www.kgw.com/news/armed-police-begin-operation-to-clear-pipeline-protest-camp/343201762 )
A few days after the gathering in Redwood Valley, Sherrie was at UC Berkeley's Phoebe Hearst Museum, part of its Native American Advisory Council. One of her friends who was also on the Council, a California Indian artist and long-time activist, had recently returned from Standing Rock and planned to go back the next day. She would be taking supplies and the materials to erect a bathhouse, a way to help people, particularly the mothers and children among the protestors, get warm and clean. She told Sherrie, "What you're hearing about the way police have treated protesters is pretty much true, so is the depiction of protesters as peaceful. The front lines of the protest are mostly young people. When the word came to them that the elders were calling on them to step back, not to engage violently, that's what they did." Sherrie asked her what people need. "They need basic things first aid supplies for those providing medical care, particularly for protestors suffering from encounters with the police. And warm clothes, and believe it or not, things like ear plugs because the police are using sound as a weapon, and also the wind never stops and it's so loud. I thought of all those depressed women in the Willa Cather novels..."
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