Dakota Access Pipeline prompts local journey to North Dakota

It was a Lakota prophecy that prompted Sidney's Rebecca Faustino to travel to the Sacred Stone Camp and stand with the people who have gathered against the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) in North Dakota.

"For Lakota people there is a prophecy that the seventh generation, which is my generation, will rise up and fight the black snake that envelops the country," Faustino said. "The black snake will bring an end to the human race."

There is more than prophecy, however, that has thousands of people standing together against the pipeline.The people that have gathered to stand with the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, argue that DAPL threatens not only the water to the tribe but anyone downstream from the pipeline. The group also argues that DAPL violates Native American Treaties that have been in place since 1889.

The DAPL, also known as the Bakken Pipeline, is proposed to transport 450,000 barrels of crude oil per day from the Bakken fields of North Dakota to Patoka, Illinois.

The EPA, the Department of the Interior and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation have voiced concerns on the environmental assessment. Citing risks to water supplies, inadequate emergency preparedness, potential impacts to the Standing Rock Reservation and insufficient environmental justice analysis, the agencies urged the Army Corps of Engineers, to issue a revised draft of their environmental assessment.

If completed, the DAPL will pump crude oil beneath thousands of acres of farmland and run underneath the Missouri River. The current projected route for the pipeline is 10 miles upstream of Fort Yates, the tribal headquarters of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe. Standing Rock Sioux lesders said they rely on the Missouri River for drinking water, irrigation, and fish.

"Mniwiconi," said Faustino, who's family is Oglala Lakota Sioux, "it means 'water is life' without water we lose trees, vegetation, and wildlife, what other choice do we have but to fight for our water."

Faustino and her husband Luis will be camping at a "Spirit Camp" called Inyan Wakhánagapi Othí, translated as Sacred Rock, the original name of the Cannonball area in North Dakota.

According to the Standing Rock Website, tribal citizens of the Standing Rock Lakota Nation and ally Lakota, Nakota, & Dakota citizens, under the group name "Chante tin'sa kinanzi Po," founded the Spirit Camp along the proposed route of the bakken oil pipeline, on April 1.

Donations of organic vegetables, water, clothes and hygienic items were among the boxes and bags that filled the cars of Faustino and her mother and father, Jim and Jennifer Fischer. The Fischers followed Faustino to Martin, South Dakota to aid in the transport of supplies.

The organic vegetables were donated by Ricky and Lucy's Greenhouse in Sidney and Betty Ganser along with her bible study group helped with many of the donations as well said Faustino.

"This trip took a lot of good input and prayer," said Faustino.

Faustino said she plans on taking a journal and a sketchbook to document her journey. While there, she will be lending her talents to cooking for the people of the camp and singing "Wicaglata," a Lakota word that denotes women singing with drums or in echo of the men.

"The Lakota believe that women are powerful and sacred, thats one reason why I want to go, to lend to that power," Faustino said.

Faustino said she shares the idea that many people that have gathered at the Scared Stone Camp, from all walks of life share, that this is not a political movement, or about an ethnic group. She believes the group that has gathered are "protectors not protesters" and their stand against DAPL, and despite speculation, is a peaceful one.

"This was the most non-selfish revolution I could participate in," Faustino said. "This isn't just for me, it's for everyone. There are dangers out there, and I could be hurt or get myself arrested, but its worth it," said Faustino.

The DAPL issue is being reviewed in the Washington D.C. court system, one of citied violations include, the Fort Larmie Treaty of 1868 which guarantees the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe shall enjoy the "undisturbed use and occupation of our permanent homeland, the Standing Rock Indian Reservation." The U.S. Constitution states that treaties are the supreme law of the land.

Judge James E. Boasberg from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia says he'll make a final decision on pipeline on or before September 9.

For more information on the Sacred Stone Camp and the issues surrounding DAPL visit sacredstonecamp.org.