On November 27, opponents of the Dakota
Access Pipeline held a protest in Washington,
D.C.
It consisted of a march from the Department
of Justice building to the Washington
Monument, where several guest speakers
made statements to the crowd, including actress
Shailene Woodley as well as some politicians
supporting the movement. Among the
people protesting were WS students Natalie
Groder and Atoosa Haghani.
The pipeline was originally routed to go
under Lake Oahe. This had raised concerns
among some people about the risk of the
pipeline becoming damaged or bursting,
causing an ecological disaster. Another concern
raised was the fact that the proposed
pipeline would have cut through the lands
given to the Lakota tribe of Native Americans,
which some feared put their lands in
danger of destruction. Fortunately for them,
This mural and others like them around the school were
done by Spartan Art students. Now, these pieces of our
history may be in danger.
By Sarah Petrus
Viewpoint Editor
the Army Corps of Engineers announced on
December 4, after many such protests, that
they would reroute around the lake in order
to avoid such problems.
“I was there because I consider myself an
environmentalist, I guess. And also, [in support
of] civil rights. I feel like our nation has
been oppressing and taking land from Native
Americans for our entire history, so we really
shouldn’t do that again,” said senior Natalie
Groder.
The protest is one in a long line of protests
on this issue, including similar protest in cities
across the country and several hundreds
of people camping out at the construction site
in North Dakota, hoping to halt construction
of the pipeline.
“…We also watched this dance put on by
the Native Americans, and it was put on by
the very people who were there previously
in North Dakota fighting on the front line,
basically peacefully protesting [for] their beliefs
and everything. And they chose to fly
into D.C, just to spread awareness in a different
part of the nation.” said senior Atoosa
Haghani.
Hundreds of protestors showed up to the
event, listened to the speakers, and watched
as some representatives of the Lakota Indian
tribe performed a traditional dance for the
protestors.
“There was also this really cool [presentation],
there were these jingle dancers,
these little girls dressed in cultural dresses.
And they were really colorful [with] a bunch
of little bells on them.” said senior Natalie
Groder.
The many people who opposed the pipeline
now have cause to rejoice because their
efforts to block the pipeline resulted in a
planned rerouting around the Native American
reservation.
“I truly think that high schoolers should be
more involved with current events going on
in their nation.” said senior Atoosa Haghani.