Dustin White
Editor

Receiving a call on Aug. 28, Tim Mentz, a former tribal historic preservation officer, was given a chance Standing Rock had been waiting for; the opportunity to conduct their own survey along the pipeline corridor.

Invited by the man who owns the land, Mentz would be surprised by what he located; 82 features, including “at least 27 burials, 16 stone rings, 19 effigies and other features in or adjacent to the pipeline corridor just north of the Standing Rock reservation.”



While cultural sites were known to be in the area, what Mentz located added to the significance of the area.

“This concentration of stone features is very unusual and reveals that this was a culturally very important place for the tribe’s ancestors,” Mentz wrote in court documents filed on Friday, Sept. 2.

Earlier attempts
In 2014, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe learned of the Dakota Access Pipe Lines proposed route that ran just a few miles north of their reservation. Expecting meaningful nation to nation consultation, which is required by federal law, none was to happen.

Standing Rock would begin a fight to have the pipeline stopped. However, on Feb. 17, 2015, the United States Army Corps of Engineers sent a letter to the Tribal Historian Preservation Office.

“The USACE permitting process is the only Federal action associated with the project and therefore USACE is solely responsible for conducting consultation with interested Tribes in accordance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. The purpose of this letter is to initiate Section 106 consultation and review, determine your interest in consulting on this undertaking, and to gather information that will assist the Corps in identifying historic properties.”

Responding, the THPO voiced their interest in consultation, and requested a full archeological investigation. They were met with silence.

It would be nearly half a year before the USACE responded. On Sept. 15, the tribe received a form letter inquiring if they would want to participate in the National Historic Preservation Act process. A month was given to respond, but it was more time than was needed.

Emphasizing that the tribe’s desire to participate, the THPO also reminded the USACE that up to that point, they had not been allowed to do such. Several more months would pass, and when the USACE did respond, it was in a shocking manner.

Publishing a draft Environmental Assessment in mid-December, the USACE “falsely claimed that THPO had indicated no impact to the tribe,” according to a docket filed in Federal Court.



Finally, a year after the initial letter from the USACE, on Feb. 29, 2016, the Omaha Commander for the corps toured the borehole site. A week later, a follow up tour was conducted, on March 7, accompanied by archeologist from the USACE and the tribe.

Observing the area, they witnessed dirt that had been pushed to the surface by moles, which contained prehistoric pottery shards, pieces of bone, as well as tools. Discovered were sites the the tribes had been unaware of.

Yet, such discoveries did not find there way into the USACE assessment on April 22, which declared no historic properties would be affected.

Water protectors
As Standing Rock continued their legal battles, another movement was being formed. Starting with a single camp, the Sacred Stones Camp on April 1, additional camps would be set up as the gathering grew to two to three thousand individuals, representing around 200 Tribal Nations.

For the first time since the Battle of the Little Bighorn, the Seven Council Fires, or also known as the Great Sioux Nation, gathered together. It would also be a time in which old enemies, nations who had once fought, put those past transgressions behind them, and joined as one behind a common idea: water is life.

Established to stop the pipeline through prayer and non-violent direct action, they set off to work. While some would see them as protestors, they preferred the term protector, as they were protecting the water.

On Aug. 10, the protectors faced their first major challenge. Construction of the pipeline had set to begin on the west bank of the Missouri River. While there would be challenges to the police protection of the pipeline construction, they would primarily show their opposition through prayer, singing, and playing drums.

Over the course of the next month, more than a dozen arrests would be made, as protectors interfered with construction. With many being planned arrests, with the intent of bringing additional attention to the ongoing situation, the eyes of the nation began to take notice.



Yet, even as the arrests continued, including those of a number of elders, the protest remained peaceful.

Rumors spread
It wouldn’t take long until rumors began to spread. Helping perpetuate such claims had been the Morton County Sheriff, Kyle Kirchmeier.

During a press conference on Aug. 17, Kirchmeier announced that rumors had been reported that pipe bombs and guns were present in the protector’s camps. Fueled largely by claims made on social media, no evidence was given by Kirchmeier. While he would later confirm that there was no evidence for the rumors, the idea continued nevertheless.

Using the rumors as a partial justification, a roadblock would be set up south of Fort Abraham State Park, around 30 miles north of where the protest was held.

As tensions grew, the water protectors continued forward with their non-violent protest.

In early September, they would face a second major challenge.

Arrests and an attack
With protectors having halted construction on the west bank of the Missouri on Aug. 15, a bit of a calm settled in. However, construction would not stop completely. Along the east bank, construction moved forward more quickly than ever.

That would all change on Aug. 31. At 7:22 a.m., the N.D. State Radio received a call in regards to individuals crawling on construction equipment, near the DAPL site, four miles south of St. Anthony on Highway 6.

Two protectors, Jeremiah IronRoad, of Cannonball, and Dale “Happy” American Horse Jr. of Sioux Falls, had chained themselves to construction equipment. While IronRoad would be removed safely within an hour, Happy, as he became known to many, remained for nearly six hours.



Three days later, just 24 hours after Mentz filed court documents in regards to the cultural sites along the DAPL corridor, on Sept. 3, bulldozers cleared a path nearly two miles long, and 150 feet wide.

“Portions, and possibly complete sites, have been taken out entirely,” Mentz said.

On the 153rd anniversary of the massacre of Whitestone Hill, where between three to four hundred Dakota men, women and children were killed, a part of the Lakota and Dakota history was destroyed.

Occurring on a holiday weekend, those at the protector’s camps had not expected construction to be ongoing. It would only be by coincidence that they would become aware of the construction being conducted.

During a procession of men, women and children, engaged in prayer as they walked to the original protest site, they would be horrified at what they encountered. A mile up the road, bulldozers were busy scraping away soil; creating a path for pipe to be laid, and destroying graves and cultural sites in the way.

While the procession had intended to pray and sing at the initial protest site, where their flags still stood, they would quickly make their way to where the construction was ongoing.

Approaching the fence, the protectors would yell for the workers to stop. Ignoring their shouts, the construction continued.

It was at that point that the decision was made to engage in non-violent direct action, and halt the construction. Crossing the fence, a protector would be tackled by a security guard hired by Dakota Access. The situation would escalate quickly.

Returning to their vehicles, workers began driving erratically through the crowd, while additional trucks showed up. Around eight dog handlers would enter into the fold, and approach the frontline of the protectors.

Joining arms, the women began chanting “Water is Life,” as the dogs approached, biting at least one individual, and a man pepper sprayed the whole front line.

As the confrontation continued, one dog became unleashed, running loose into the crowd. In response, the protectors began protecting themselves against the dog. Removing flags from their poles, those being attacked attempted to protect themselves, as well as the others present.

Progressing, one female handler began lunging aggressively toward the crowd with her dog, drawing blood, which could be seen on the dogs nose, from those it attacked.



Additional attacks with pepper spray and dogs would continue until the protectors were able to push them back, and the security guards left. The moment had grown so intense that the dogs would even turn against their own handlers, before they left the scene.

As the dust cleared, at least six individuals would report injuries from dog bits, and approximately 30 others from pepper spray. A horse would also suffer from a bite wound inflicted by a dog.

Among those injured from dog bites was a pregnant woman, and a young girl.

Aftermath
That evening, Standing Rock Tribal Chairman, Dave Archambault II, and Mentz held a press conference. What many had feared had occurred; treasured sacred sites had been destroyed.

For many, it would feel as if the earlier occurrence had been a set up. With Dakota Access having been aware of the documented sites, as an amendment to the injunction filed in U.S. district, a map of the burials and sacred sites had been provided, there actions seemed to suggest they had intentionally desecrated those sites.

Out of Morton County, a different story was being told though. Issuing a press release, the Morton County Sheriff’s Department described the event as “more like a riot than a protest,” and accused the protectors of assaulting the security officers.

Seemingly taking reports from just the security officers, the Sheriff’s Department claimed that the protectors had knives, which were pulled on a security officers and his dog, and that others were assaulted with fence posts and flag poles.

Stating they had not been on the scene, it would once again be rumors, and unsubstantiated claims, that the Sheriff’s Department would help perpetuate, while ignoring the reports of the protectors.

The Sheriff’s Department would later refer to the incident as an “ambush” and attack, while also claiming that no protectors had reported injuries. Statements that do not reflect what occurred during the incident.

Working to protect additional damage from being done, Standing Rock filed an emergency motion, on Sunday, to block further construction of the DAPL. The temporary restraining order is meant to prevent further destruction.

“On Saturday, Dakota Access Pipeline and Energy Transfer Partners brazenly used bulldozers to destroy our burial sites, prayer sites and culturally significant artifacts,” Archambault said. “They did this on a holiday weekend, one day after we filed court papers identifying these sacred sites. The desecration of these ancient places has already caused the Standing Rock Sioux irreparable harm. We’re asking the court to halt this path of destruction.”

In addition to attempting to have the construction halted, Archambault has also been busy with trying to clear up the story. Dismissing the idea that there was a mob, or knives during the incident, he spoke of the women who locked arms in an attempt to stop Dakota Access from destroying any more sacred sites. Archambault said that all they have been trying to do is protect both the land and the water.



However, the destruction of the sites has come as a major blow. With Mentz describing the sites as one of the “most significant archaeological finds in North Dakota in many years,” the loss is irreplaceable. And it comes at a time when a resolution regarding the DAPL could end the situation.

“We’re days away from getting a resolution on the legal issues, and they came in on a holiday weekend and destroyed the site,” Jan Hasselman, attorney for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, said. “What they have done is absolutely outrageous.”

Update: After the writing of this story, news broke that an emergency hearing has been scheduled for Tuesday, at 3 p.m., in Courtroom 19 of the federal courthouse in Washington D.C. Despite it being Labor Day, a federal holiday, Judge James E. Boasberg took action to schedule the hearing.