Dakota Access Pipeline protests continue
Protesters are gearing up for the harsh North Dakota winter as demonstrations continue. The government has ordered protesters to leave the federal land by Monday while demonstrators insist they will stay as long as it takes to divert the pipeline.
Meanwhile, Veterans Stand for Standing Rock, a group of more than 2,000 U.S. military veterans, intend to reach North Dakota this weekend to provide relief for protesters.
The pipeline is mostly complete except for a short segment that would pass beneath a Missouri River reservoir, a river that provides drinking water for millions. Dakota Access claims that the pipeline is a safer alternative to other modes of crude oil transportation such as rail or trucks.
- In this Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016 photo, a canoe carrying members of the Colville Native American tribe are pulled into shore upon arriving at the Oceti Sakowin camp where people have gathered to protest the Dakota Access oil pipeline in Cannon Ball, N.D. They traveled from Montana with fellow tribal members on canoe for 10 days down the Missouri river to reach the camp. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
- People wait to have their propane tanks filled at the Oceti Sakowin camp where people have gathered to protest the Dakota Access oil pipeline in Cannon Ball, N.D., Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
- In this Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2016 photo, a person walks through a snow storm at the Oceti Sakowin camp where people have gathered to protest the Dakota Access oil pipeline in Cannon Ball, N.D. Those in the camp have shrugged off the heavy snow, icy winds and frigid temperatures. But if they defy next week’s government deadline to abandon the camp, demonstrators know the real deep freeze lies ahead. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
- In this Thursday Dec. 1, 2016 photo, the Oceti Sakowin camp where people have gathered to protest the Dakota Access oil pipeline stands in the background as a children sled down a hill in Cannon Ball, N.D. The government has ordered protesters to leave federal land by Monday, but they insist they will stay for as long it takes to divert the $3.8 billion pipeline. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
- In this Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016 photo, Patty Sam Porter of Colville, Wash., right, cries after reaching shore by canoe with fellow members of the Colville Native American tribe, J.P. Pacodas, left, and Virginia Redstar, rear, at the Oceti Sakowin camp where people have gathered to protest the Dakota Access oil pipeline in Cannon Ball, N.D. The women traveled from Montana with fellow tribal members on canoe for 10 days down the Missouri river to reach the camp. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
- Bill Rack, of Wauwatosa, Wis., releases tobacco at the edge of the Cannonball river during a Native American water ceremony at the Oceti Sakowin camp where people have gathered to protest the Dakota Access oil pipeline in Cannon Ball, N.D., Friday, Dec. 2, 2016. According to Native American beliefs, tobacco is used to open a barrier between the physical and the spiritual worlds. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
- Jameson Dargen (L) of Fargo, North Dakota and Peter Anderson of Fairfax, California build a tipi at Oceti Sakowin Camp on the edge of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation on December 2, 2016 outside Cannon Ball, North Dakota. Native Americans and activists from around the country have been gathering at the camp for several months trying to halt the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. The proposed 1,172-mile-long pipeline would transport oil from the North Dakota Bakken region through South Dakota, Iowa and into Illinois. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
- In this Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2016 photo, Grandma Redfeather of the Sioux Native American tribe sits by the wood stove in her yurt at the Oceti Sakowin camp where people have gathered to protest the Dakota Access oil pipeline in Cannon Ball, N.D. “I’m sitting here in my prayer” said Redfeather of living at the camp since July. “I’ll stand on my treaty and fight.” (AP Photo/David Goldman)
- Military veterans stand on a closed bridge to protest across from police protecting the Dakota Access oil pipeline site in Cannon Ball, N.D., Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016. Some military veterans in North Dakota disagree with the 2,000 veterans planning to join a protest opposing the four-state, $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
- In this Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2016 photo, Damin Radford, of New Zealand, looks out over the Oceti Sakowin camp where people have gathered to protest the Dakota Access pipeline in Cannon Ball, N.D. “It’s the right thing to do isn’t it?” said Radford of coming to the camp. “It’s symbolic of alot of things in the planet and this is the unification of people standing up for it.” (AP Photo/David Goldman)
- Jon Moll, Sheriff’s Deputy with the Morton County Police Department, looks out at a completed portion of the Dakota Access oil pipeline. For months, Moll has been responding to the Standing Rock protests against the pipeline. (Zoeann Murphy, The Washington Post)
- In this Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2016 photo, people form a circle for the morning prayer at the Oceti Sakowin camp where many have gathered to protest the Dakota Access pipeline near Cannon Ball, N.D. President-elect Donald Trump supports completion of the disputed Dakota Access oil pipeline in the Midwest, a view based on policy and not the billionaire businessman’s investments in a partnership building the $3.8 billion pipeline. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
- Snow covers the ground at Oceti Sakowin Camp on the edge of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation on December 1, 2016 outside Cannon Ball, North Dakota. Native Americans and activists from around the country have been gathering at the camp for several months trying to halt the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. The proposed 1,172-mile-long pipeline would transport oil from the North Dakota Bakken region through South Dakota, Iowa and into Illinois. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)