It seems as if humans are naturally narrow-minded, tending to look out only for ourselves a great percentage of the time.
Big businesses such as Energy Transfer Partners, who are currently trying to finalize the Dakota Access pipeline that threatens the livelihood of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota, are an example of a group that embodies this selfish quality.
If you have not heard about the Dakota Access pipeline debacle, let me explain it to you.
In late August 2016, members of the Sioux Tribe blocked invading machinery which were there to begin construction of an oil pipeline in an area near the tribe’s reservation. The tribe’s deviance was driven by the fact that they believe the pipeline would poison the reservation’s water supply, and it was being built on ancient Native American burial grounds.
It has also recently come to light that the original plan for the pipeline directed it toward a predominantly caucasian neighborhood, but “suddenly” the plan changed and focused on the area near the reservation.
Celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio and Shailene Woodley have been giving the protest mass amounts of attention in the last two months, but tensions between authorities and protesters have recently become violent.
What was a peaceful protest now can be considered to be at a boiling point, and tensions between police, the tribe and their supporters are not getting any better.
I am simply perplexed that this is even an issue. Safety of resources and sacredness of a burial ground are not things that one should have to fight for. Yet, we have big business owners saying the tribe is simply overreacting.
The argument against the Sioux Tribe is that they should have no say in what is done with the property because it was purchased legally by Energy Transfer Partners. Should that matter? We are talking about spiking a water source for an entire reservation and desiccating a burial ground. Does legality trump ethical reasoning now?
I would like to sit here and tell you that we can change these “big bosses’” minds, because the truth of the matter is they could not care less about the people being affected by the pipeline and what tragedies this may cause them.
To think that the tribe would just stand by and let this happen was extremely narrow-minded of Energy Transfer Partners, and I am personally very glad that these people are standing up to them. They are the pebble that created a ripple, which will eventually become a wave.
#IStandWithStandingRock
Mikala Turner is a sophomore social work major from Bruce.
