Again, and Again

Again I saw all the oppressions that are practiced under the sun.

Look, the tears of the oppressed - 

With no one to comfort them!

On the side of their oppressors there was power -

With no one to comfort them.

-Ecclesiastes 4: 1 (NRSV)

It started when I read Black Elk Speaks, in High School.  Then I read a biography of Crazy Horse, which was probably a little bit advanced for a high school book report.  I learned about the Ghost Dance, Little Bighorn from the other side, Wounded Knee, the Trail of Tears, the unending stream of broken treaties and promises made by the white man.  It was the first time that I was actually ashamed of what my ancestors were. It was the first inkling I had of the reality that my place in the world was stolen from others.  It would not be the last time I had that feeling, in fact, I would go so far as to say that, over the years that feeling has actually stuck around long enough to mature a bit.

I have learned quite a bit about Native American History.  I have actually had the blessing of experiencing life among the Tglingit people in southeast Alaska for a few weeks. It was a mission trip with Presbyterian kids from all over Pennsylvania.  I spent two weeks in a town called Kake, which is not a regular stop on the cruise line itinerary.  I made friends with some "Indians," we were instructed ahead of time, not to use that word, but they laughed at us every time we used the phrase "Native Americans." I learned that they actually preferred it when people referred to them by their tribal designation: Tglingit, and if you took the time to even ask what clan they were, mostly Ravens in Kake, but a few Eagles, it was really a sign that you maybe understood something about them.

I also learned that alcoholism started early and suicide was a very real problem among their people.  I learned that subsistence hunting and fishing was not as glamorous as sometimes portrayed.  I learned that they were not any more or less in "harmony with nature" than your average person.  It was a great learning experience.  It was one of many ways that I learned not to lean too heavily on stereotypes (even if they are romantic glosses on reality rather than negative prejudice).

The thing that I did find to be true though, is that Native peoples are pretty regularly screwed over by the government, working in concert with private corporations out to pillage the last thing that most Native people have left: natural resources and land. In southeast Alaska the corporations come, take the timber and the fish and leave.  The economy of little towns like Kake booms and busts, and most of the young people who live in a place of stunning beauty and charm just really want and need to leave. This pattern is repeated again and again.

Historical patterns are important here, because what is going on in the Dakotas right now, is the latest in a long line of offenses of this nature.  The government has granted a right of way for an oil company to build a pipeline.  It's not on tribal land, but it is near tribal land and threatens the water supply.  It also has a spiritual significance because of how the people who still hold on to their tribal heritage view the land.  The land is tied to who they are, and they lose a great deal when it is violated and degraded.

To the government, this is simply a job that needs the proper permits and easements.  To the oil company this is simply a matter of dollars and cents. To the people who call the land sacred it is much more than either one of those things.  They have put themselves in the way of both legal process and corporate profits, and they have done so peacefully.

At least until this weekend, there was a confrontation between pipeline security staff (not police mind you, private contractors).  The security people claim they were attacked by demonstrators, and they retaliated with tear gas and attack dogs.  Technically they have a legal right to defend their job site against "trespassers," but as is so often the case, legal does not equal righteous.  Once again, our government finds itself in a place where it has to decide whether to side with the dollars or with the sense. A sense of history tells me that this is repeating a very old pattern that has gone on too long and cost too many lives.  A sense of justice tells me that ignoring the protest of these people is immoral right here and now.

It is in the hands of a judge right now.  This has happened before, there is nothing new under the sun.  I'm praying that maybe, unlikely as it may be, it will end differently this time around.  Maybe we can finally take a step towards justice, instead of repeating the same old pattern.  If we follow the protocols of profit and lean too much on what is merely legal we will simply show that none of the tragedies of the past have really sunk in. It is really not just about this one thing, this one pipeline, if we simplify it to that we will probably underestimate the injustice.  Which seems to be something we do, again, and again, and again.