Winona ‘No DAPL’ demonstration takes to the streets, Mississippi bridge

By Ken Luchterhand



A crowd of about 200 people gathered in Winona on Tuesday, Nov. 15, to make their voices heard about their opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline and support for the Water Protectors.
It was just one component of the #NoDAPL movement’s National Day of Action. Similar rallies took place in 300 communities across the country, including one in front of the White House in Washington D.C.
Not too far down the Mississippi River, another rally in La Crescent, MN, drew a crowd of more than 60 people outside the local U.S. Army Corps of Engineers office, united by their opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline. Chuck Davis, Other rallies across the country included locations like federal buildings, and banks that have helped finance the project.
At the rally in Winona, people gathered at the Winona City Hall and some individuals gathered to speak about the atrocities being conducted against the Water Protectors. The rally then took to the streets to spread their message among the motorists and passersby.
More people joined the movement as it progressed down the streets and when it gathered for more messages on the new Mississippi River bridge, more than 200 people lined the walkway across the bridge.
The participants walked across the river on the bridge with signs, hoping the motorists would honk their horns to show support. Shouts of “Water is Life” and “Mni Wiconi,” which has the same meaning in Ojibwe, echoed throughout the crowd.
People from Winona and surrounding cities in Minnesota and Wisconsin were present, along with members and representatives of area environmental and Native American groups, including the Winona-Dakota Unity Alliance, Land Stewardship Project and the Winona Green Party.
Aaron Camacho is one of the primary organizers. She stood on the City Hall steps, and again on the bridge, and said the Water Protectors need the people’s support in mind and spirit. She also encourages people to contact their state and national representatives along with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to speak out against the pipeline.
“We’re here to show our community that water is life,” Camacho said. “This is not a political issue, this is a human issue.”
Camacho is president of the Winona-Dakota Unity Alliance and president of the Turtle Island Student Organization at Winona State University. She is a member of the Prairie Band of Potawatomi.
Without social media, this pipeline issue would be not heard by the American public, she said. Major news media outlets have been ignoring the issue until violence breaks out and then it is reported as precipitated by “protestors,” the derogatory term for the Water Protectors, when it is really the hired security personnel inciting the violence on the Water Protectors.
“In the United States, this should not be happening to our citizens,” Camacho said. “What are we sacrificing for profit? Is it worth it? This is a violation of our human rights.”
The treaties that were signed between the Native Americans of this country and the United States government are being completely ignored, she said.
Martin Bernard, a member of the Dakota tribe from Balaton, MN, was present for the rally, and said that he had been to Standing Rock twice since the issue arose.
“We took supplies, including school supplies out there,” Bernard said. “This movement is important because it affects tens of millions of people, not just Native Americans, because we all use water.”
Ho-Chunk member Larry Littlegeorge addressed the crowd at the center of the bridge.
“Water is more than just hydrogen and oxygen molecules,” Littlegeorge said. “In our Native American way, water is spiritual and mystical. Water is our first medicine.”
Littlegeorge said water is influenced by what it comes into contact with. For instance, when pure water freezes, it forms perfect ice crystals. But when metal is introduced to the water, the ice crystals are ill formed and randomly distorted. In the same manner, the water at Standing Rock will be corrupted by the pipeline and any oil that leaks into the water.
He said he marched in an anti-DAPL rally New York City with Camacho, which drew 400,000 people and took eight hours.
Shelly Vander Linden of the Winona Green Party also spoke before the crowd and promoted unity against the unhuman practices that are transpiring in North Dakota.
“We’re here to defend the rights of nature,” Vander Linden said. “We stand with Standing Rock.”
The pipeline in question would carry a half-million barrels of crude oil daily from western North Dakota’s oil fields through South Dakota and Iowa to an existing pipeline in Patoka, Illinois.
Water Protectors are against the pipeline since it is planned to cross the Missouri River and would threaten water supplies for millions of people. The construction also will destroy many sacred Native American sites and artifacts.
Since April, the number of people present to show their support of the Water Protectors have grown considerably at the confluence of the Cannonball and Missouri rivers.
The Standing Rock Sioux have challenged the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ decision to grant permits at more than 200 water crossings. They are against the fact that the pipeline would be placed less than a mile of the reservation. It could affect drinking water for more than 8,000 tribal members and millions of people downstream, they contend.
The Army Corps of Engineers said it wants more study and tribal input before deciding whether to give permission to construct the pipeline adjacent to and underneath Lake Oahe, which leads into the Missourui River.
However, latest reports in that the drilling pad to begin drilling has already been constructed.
On Sunday night, November 20, Water Protectors at the DAPL construction site in North Dakota were sprayed by water cannons in freezing temperatures and shot with rubber bullets. Security personnel said the water was used to douse the fires used by Water Protectors to keep warm, but videos show the water was being sprayed directly on people. Several individuals had to be treated for hypothermia. One young woman received severe injury to her arm when a concussion grenade exploded after it was throw against her.


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