Cannonball, ND – After over a year of struggling against the Dakota Access Pipeline’s construction underneath the River, water protectors are now scheduled to be evicted from their main encampment. The encampment, lies on unceded Fort Laramie Treaty land and is maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers. At this time a few hundred water protectors are still holding steady as the eviction deadline approaches. Protectors have lit Ceremonial Fires have been raging throughout the snow-filled morning.
Anon Resistance provided all-day live coverage of today's events at Standing Rock, streaming on our Facebook page. [Live stream video was broadcast removed by Facebook.]
The Eviction
Activists remaining at a Dakota Access pipeline protest campsite set wooden structures on fire Wednesday ahead of a deadline set to close the area. The activists said burning the tepees was part of the ceremony of leaving. Some said they don't expect trouble during the eviction.
"People are being very mindful, trying very hard to stay in prayer, to stay positive," said Nestor Silva, an anti-DAPL protester from California. "I am not aware of any plans for belligerence."
The Army Corps of Engineers has set a 2 p.m. deadline for the camp to be evacuated before snow melt washes tons of trash left from the campsites into the Missouri River. A massive cleanup effort has been underway for weeks.
Live Coverage of Today's Events
[ARM live stream coverage was broadcast on the Anon Resistance Movement Facebook page on February 22, 2017. Archive video available removed by Facebook.]
Water protectors have until 2 p.m. to leave. Some, however, don't have anywhere to go: LaDonna Brave Bull Allard, founder of the Sacred Stone Camp, lives on and owns part of that land. When officers with the Bureau of Indian Affairs issued her a trespass notice, she said - according to independent outlet Unicorn Riot: "I am standing on my home. I am standing on my river. I am standing where I grew up. Who has a right to take that from me?"
Pipeline opponents have taken to social media to demand more time because structures remain at the camp, and tomorrow's deadline to remove all personal items and trash seems unlikely. Many have posted the phone numbers of the Army Corps of Engineers, Governor Burgum's office, and the White House, with requests for supporters to call in hopes of the state granting them more time.
Water protectors in North Dakota are also asking #NoDAPL supporters to join and stand in solidarity with them. They allege that military presence is steadily growing with state and tribal law enforcement surrounding the Oceti Sakowin Camp. The governor's executive order doesn't say that the state will forcibly remove anyone who remains at the camp, but a press release from state Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem on February 17 said that the emergency evacuation would "become a law enforcement matter if those who have been ordered to leave refuse to do so. In that case, law enforcement will do what is necessary to protect public health and safety."
The women of the camp created this video as a "final call."
Sources & Methodology(2 sources)
- Standing Rock live streams - Real-time event coverageVideo / Audio
Live video streams from water protectors and independent media at the Standing Rock encampment documenting the February 22, 2017 eviction.
- Anonymous On-Scene
Identity protected per editorial policy
Methodology
Live on-the-ground coverage from an embedded activist correspondent at the Standing Rock encampment, supplemented by Standing Rock live streams and independent media reporting.
Filed Under
Frequently Asked Questions
- Why were water protectors being evicted from Standing Rock?
- The Army Corps of Engineers set a 2 p.m. deadline on February 22, 2017 for the main Oceti Sakowin encampment at Standing Rock to be evacuated. The official reason was that snowmelt would wash tons of trash from the campsites into the Missouri River. The encampment lies on unceded Fort Laramie Treaty land. North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum issued an executive order for the evacuation.
- What is the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) controversy?
- The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) is an oil pipeline that crosses under the Missouri River near the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's reservation. Water protectors, led by the Standing Rock Sioux and supported by Indigenous peoples and activists from over 300 nations worldwide, spent over a year opposing its construction, citing threats to the tribe's water supply and the desecration of sacred lands and burial grounds.
- What happened on the day of the eviction?
- As the eviction deadline approached on February 22, 2017, activists set ceremonial fires to wooden structures as part of the ceremony of leaving the camp. LaDonna Brave Bull Allard, founder of the Sacred Stone Camp, refused to leave her own land. Military and law enforcement presence grew around the Oceti Sakowin Camp, with state Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem warning the evacuation would 'become a law enforcement matter' if protesters refused to comply.
- What was the significance of the Standing Rock protest?
- The Standing Rock #NoDAPL movement became one of the largest Native American-led protests in U.S. history, drawing thousands of water protectors from over 300 Indigenous nations and allies worldwide. The movement temporarily succeeded when the Obama administration denied a key easement in December 2016, though the Trump administration reversed this decision in January 2017, leading to the final eviction.