ICYMI:
Members of the Red Lake Nation sent out to perform a ceremony on their treaty lands, but were assaulted & arrested. They chose treaty lands at the mouth of a pipeline Enbridge is has been trying to lay (With pushback and even sabotage from water protectors). Treaty rights surpass all federal and state laws, but Enbridge and their badge wearing guard dogs don't care.
This is Alex Golden Wolf explaining (they've since been arrested, their venmo & the bailout account are below).
Update from Red Lake Treaty Camp now:
Alex Golden Wolf, Two spirit Indigenous leader of the white Earth Nation was violently arrested out of ceremony before the completion of the ceremony. Alex is a staff carrier, and a care taker of Indigenous Children, she helps with language and art skills at Camp Migizi.
Today at Red Lake Treaty Camp indigenous leaders gathered at sunrise to do ceremony in front of the gates of the construction site where Enbridge is drilling under the Red Lake River in order to lay an oil pipeline on land protected by treaty rights. This sacred ceremony was interrupted by police with no regard for indigenous traditions. Along with Alex Golden Wolf, around 20 indigenous leaders and allies who formed a peaceful blockade around those in ceremony where arrested.
Red Lake Treaty Camp is currently under blockade by the police, with no one allowed in or out. A water protector who locked down to the drill this morning was extracted and work has begun again.
Water protectors are being threatened. Treaty rights are being trampled on. Indigenous two spirit folks are being assaulted. Stop Line 3.
Venmo: @Alex-golden-wolf
Red Lake Treaty Camp Bail Fund: @Stars_On_Stone
Photo: Chris Trinh [ig @christhaotrinh]
They need you!!! We all need you!! The best way you could help right now is to SHOW UP. I can't stress that enough! PLEASE GO IF YOU CAN. Short of that PLEASE spread awareness, share this post, follow The Lakota People's Law Project, Red Lake Treaty Camp, donate to the bail funds and call, email the people below!
Demand Biden Stop Line 3
This is current up to July 26, 2021, as far as I can tell. If future updates are added to this post, please include dates, so readers are aware of what information is current, and what information may be out of date.
As of July 31, 2021 —
Red Lake Treaty Camp was maced and tear gassed on Friday, July 30.
14 people were arrested Friday, and more were injured (other water protectors were arrested Thursday — at this point just assume daily arrests as people try to stop the drill at Red Lake).
As of midday Saturday, there were verified reports from Pennington County Jail that those water protectors arrested on Friday were being kept in the clothes that had chemical irritants on them and were not being allowed to change.
This is the first time chemical weapons and nonlethals have been used against water protectors in Minnesota. This is a big deal. No one in camp was prepared for it, and no one in camp had proper protective or safety gear. Most camps have to haul water in because they’re remote. Cleaning tear gas off is incredibly difficult when you don’t have access to water, are in a drought, are pinned in, and are trying to keep chemicals off the land and out of the water.
The point of these protests is two-fold and intersecting: 1) Indigenous land rights and 2) protection of the environment. These intersect into protection of indigenous culture, indigenous religion, and indigenous sovereignty.
Introduction of chemical weapons is bad. Really, really bad. This is not an urban setting. Every single one of the water protector camps is on a lake, river crossing, or watershed. Every single camp is at, on, or protecting a critical habitat. That’s the point — to protect the land, to protect the water.
Stealing from the Native Americans again!