Native Americans protecting their burial places from bulldozers were attacked by vicious dogs, pepper sprayed and assaulted by Dakota Access pipeline private security.
A protest of a four-state, $3.8 billion oil pipeline turned violent Saturday after tribal officials say construction crews destroyed American Indian burial and cultural sites on private land in southern North Dakota. “In one day, our sacred land has been turned into hollow ground,” the tribal chairman said. The Standing Rock Sioux tribe is worried that the pipeline will negatively impact water quality on its reservation and imperil cultural heritage sites, reports The Dallas Morning News.
The Sioux City Journal reports the Standing Rock tribe “is fighting the installation of the pipeline on their reservation bordering North and South Dakota.” Meanwhile, proponents of the project say it will boost the economy, creating thousands of construction jobs.
Tribe spokesman Steve Sitting Bear said protesters reported that six people had been bitten by security dogs, including a young child. At least 30 people were pepper-sprayed, he said. Preskey said law enforcement authorities had no reports of protesters being injured.
The protests have turned ugly with videos and photos circulating on social media of the dogs being used against protesters on September 3.
“As demonstrators came to stop the tractors, they had encountered private security armed with pepper spray, attack dogs, and zip ties. Warriors on the front line were attacked for protecting the land and water,” wrote one man on Facebook. “Pregnant women were maced, young children and horses were attacked by dogs…the water provides life for the animals, the crops, the land, and millions of people.”
