I have inserted a lot of my own opinion in this. I am not on site, but have presented first hand accounts from those who witnessed another militarization of Indian Country at Standing Rock.

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North Dakota authorities have degenerated into behaving like a third world militia. Yesterday 21 unarmed water protectors were arrested at gunpoint during a peaceful prayer protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline. I am reporting this off-site, nearly a thousand miles away and relying on accounts from trusted sources on the ground at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, as well as Facebook and local media accounts.

More important that my own comments, here is a plea from the Red Warrior Camp. We have all let our guards down since the Department of Justice put a halt on the DAPL. The people on the ground out there will stand firm and continue to pray, but it is time the rest of us get actively involved and call our federal representatives to protect our brothers and sisters. Prayer should not be met with guns and militarized vehicles.

Today Native ceremonies conducted along the Dakota Access Pipeline route were disrupted by militarized police. We have continued to declare ourselves to be non-violent and unarmed, the police, acting as private security and protectors of the corporations and their nefarious and destructive interests, responded in full force with armored vehicles, shotguns, assault rifles, snipers, helicopters, tear gas, resulting in 21 confirmed arrests. There are also reports coming back that the police were snatching people's phones and other recording devices, deleting pictures and video without permission and in direct violation of North Dakota laws. This response, these actions on the part of the police are clear evidence of the egregious and ongoing escalation of the violations of our Indigenous and Human Rights.

We are constantly fed the narrative that the police are armed and active in the protection of the public. Are we not the public? Are the violations of our rights so easily and repeatedly acceptable? Are you paying attention? The United States of America is occupying Indigenous Land and when their occupation and ruination of our lands and waters is challenged they respond with unprecedented violence, with kidnapping our brothers and sisters protecting us and our territories. They are incarcerating our Warriors, our Women, our Youth. Today's ceremony should never have been interrupted, no arrests should have been made and certainly the military machine should not have been called in in response to our prayers.

I just watched a video click here of a Lakota grandmother telling the story. She had never had a gun pointed at her in her life until yesterday. She described being in a "state of shock" in the aftermath. Someone else wrote that the "Horse Nation held the front line," protecting the women and children. The Valley News reported click here that an officer raised his gun at the horse and rider. Morton County Sheriff, Kyle Kirchmeier, claimed that he was protecting the safety of his citizens.

This is a hollow claim, considering that the combined camps of water protectors, Red Warrior, Sacred Stones and Oceti Sakowin are the 14^th largest city in North Dakota. It is hard to imagine whom the Sheriff is "protecting," unless it is the interests of the big oil boys.

History is repeating itself before our eyes as we stand by, wringing our hands, while images of Wounded Knee and that encampment of unarmed women and children come to mind. This is why I am awake in the middle of the night, the darkest hours of the soul, to present this story to you.

There is no time to be sleeping or to say we are too far away to put a stop to this. Please, call you representatives or call Morton County. Call the Morton County Jail and voice your concerns (701-667-3330) Perhaps the North Dakota Attorney General will respond to emails. ndag(at)nd(dot)gov You should receive a reply within two business days. Or call 701 328-2210. TTY: 800 366-6888.

A phone call takes a minute at most. Although a word of caution is in order, Reports are coming in that if you leave a message on the Morton County Facebook page, you will be inundated with inappropriate "friend" requests. You have to ask yourselves who is behind that?

Imagine if you had had the power to stop the massacre of unarmed women and children at Wounded Knee? It is not a stretch to think that way. Mainstream is not covering this, while giving hundreds of hours of air time to violent rioting.

Perhaps prayerful protest is not a ratings winner.

Sad.

(Article changed on September 29, 2016 at 04:48)

(Article changed on September 29, 2016 at 08:03)

Authors Website: http://www.georgianne-nienaber.com

Authors Bio:

Georgianne Nienaber is an investigative environmental and political writer. She lives in rural northern Minnesota and South Florida. Her articles have appeared in The Society of Professional Journalists' Online Quill Magazine, the Huffington Post, The Ugandan Independent, Rwanda's New Times, India's TerraGreen, COA News, ZNET, OpEdNews, Glide Magazine, The Journal of the International Primate Protection League, Africa Front, The United Nations Publication, A Civil Society Observer, Bitch Magazine, and Zimbabwe's The Daily Mirror. Her fiction expose of insurance fraud in the horse industry, Horse Sense, was re-released in early 2006. Gorilla Dreams: The Legacy of Dian Fossey was also released in 2006. Nienaber spent much of 2007 doing research in South Africa, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. She was in DRC as a MONUC-accredited journalist, and was living in Southern Louisiana investigating hurricane reconstruction and getting to know the people there in 2007. Nienaber is continuing "to explore the magic of the Deep South." She was a member of the Memphis Chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and is a current member of Investigative Rorters and Editors.