Does it seem like you have a lot of friends traveling to Standing Rock, North Dakota? Or, at the very least, does it seem like you have a lot of friends actually taking advantage of the “check-in feature” on Facebook?
Typically, you see a public check-in at Standing Rock:
Followed by a personal Facebook post explaining the impromptu visit:
Is this Facebook tactic effective? Is this actually a practical and helpful way of supporting the Standing Rock Sioux at the Sacred Stone Camp?
Before diving into the Snopes article— and we argue about “the most effective methods”— make sure you’re educated.
How much do you know about the current Standing Rock Sioux protest against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline?
The Standing Rock Sioux tribe has opposed the pipeline since first learning about plans for the 1,2000-mile project in 2014. Since then, thousands of protesters have fought to protect the land from the Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners.
Want to learn some specifics on the protest and the land’s history? Here are five great articles to get started.
- Bracing for Winter: DAPL Water Protectors Shuck Corn, Build Shelter, Prepare for -35 Temps (Indian Country Today Media Network)
- Tribe sees Dakota Access Pipeline as just latest in long history of violations (The Seattle Times)
- The protests at Standing Rock are necessary. What happened at Malheur was nonsense (Los Angeles Times)
- Standing Rock: A New Movement For Native-American Rights (The New Yorker)
- After Two Wars, Standing Rock is the First Time I Served the American People (Common Dreams)
But not everyone is convinced that checking-in on Facebook is a helpful method.
Snopes, the popular fact checking website, researched the viral status update.
Writer Kim LaCapria spoke to The Morton County Sheriff’s Department and the Sacred Stone Camp. The article is a thorough, in-depth look and LaCapria eventually declares the claim as “unproven.”
Read LaCapria’s analysis here.
So what does that mean for everyone who has checked-in?
Was the status a lie? Is checking in completely unhelpful? I mean, hell, the media is reporting on it now? What should we do?
The Snopes claim is “unproved”— not disproven. Which is a pretty key distinction. I think it’s important to be critical of this, but it doesn’t really convince me that participating in the Facebook tactic is a bad idea.
The Morton County Sheriff’s Department says the information isn’t useful to them. Ok? I’m not necessarily convinced of that, nor do I know enough about how the police (or larger organizations also involved in this fight) would use social media to survey and fight this battle. Whether or not they publicly state that Facebook check-ins would be useless to them is pretty irrelevant to me.
Also, as said by the Sacred Stone Camp in the Snopes post, “There is no doubt that law enforcement comb social media for incriminating material and monitor communications.”
The Sacred Stone Camp said the following in a Facebook post:
Remember, as the viral Facebook post urging the community to check-in at ‘Randing Stock’ reads: “Water Protectors are calling on EVERYONE….”
The Water Protectors are not a specific group, they represent a movement of organizers. As opposed a club with members, the Protectors are comprised of a group of activists supporting water protection. Meaning, it would still be true to say that “Water Protectors are calling on…” if even only two of those people began “calling on everyone.”
The viral Facebook post does not claim that it originated from the Sacred Stone Camp Facebook page. It just claims it came from the Water Protector movement. If the paragraph above is correct, then nothing incorrect has been mentioned.
So whether or not the message originated from the Sacred Stone Camp, the Camp has expressed support for the tactic. The tactic also does not seem to be harmful, which means the action does not do a disservice. It shows solidarity. Maybe it is only provides minimal support, but what’s so bad about that?
It’s also worth remembering that an influx of check-ins puts the pressure of accountability on the policing forces combatting this protest. This movement has been largely ignored by major media, so having a huge population of people standing up, showing solidarity, support and paying attention will do something that has not yet been done: it ensures that the agencies in charge know that our country will not stand for injustice.
But hey, if you’re a skeptic, we can’t blame you.
There are still a lot of proven, effective and practical ways to help out and show solidarity.
Want to provide support?
On Saturday, October 29, Kasich sent 37 of Ohio’s highway patrol officers to “assist North Dakota officials with security in protests.”
The Ohio State Highway Patrol officers have been sent to North Dakota through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC), a state-to-state mutual aid agreement to share resources during times of disaster. Ohio recently used EMAC during the Republican National Convention.
Funding and reimbursement methods for EMAC are extremely complicated. Assisting states, and the parties responsible for deployment, are responsible for preparing formal requests for reimbursement to the state who requested aid after the mission is complete, resources and manpower has returned home.
Since EMAC is a state-to-state agreement, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) can reimburse if requested, but only through the requesting state. (source) Additionally, not all requesting states qualify for the FEMA Public Assistance funding.
Do you have questions about how EMAC works? The EMAC website’s frequently asked questions might answer a few— or open a rabbit hole of concerns. Who knows.
You tell Ohio Gov. John Kasich to recall these 37 state troopers (that we are currently paying for— until further notice) from North Dakota by signing a Change.org online petition.
Learn more about Ohio’s involvement:
- Why Police From 7 Different States Invaded a Standing Rock Camp— and Other Questions: To Clear the way for a pipeline, North Dakota invoked a measure reserved for state emergencies like natural disasters. That’s one answers. (Yes! Magazine)
- The Ohio State Highway Patrol Sent Troops to North Dakota This Weekend (Cleveland Scene)
- Ohio Troopers in North Dakota ‘to support the people’ (Cincinnati.com)
In addition, check out:
-
Camp of the Sacred Stones Needed Supplies (list here)
- 10 Ways You Can Help the Standing Rock Sioux Fight the Dakota Access Pipeline (PowWows.com)
- Five Things You Can Do To Help The Dakota Access Pipeline Protesters (Paper Magazine).
- How to Contact the People Who Sent Militarized Police To Standing Rock: Have a question about the militarization of policing near Dakota Access pipeline construction? Here’s who to call, starting with Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier. (Yes! Magazine)
Further updates:
(12:57pm on Tuesday, November 1)
The United Nations and Amnesty International sent human rights observers to investigate allegations of human rights violations at the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation on Saturday, October 29, according to an announcement on Friday, October 28. (source)
In the article UN Observers Monitoring Abuses Against Standing Rock Water Protectors: Pipeline owners warned that they are ‘complicit’ in police brutality against Indigenous demonstrators (commondreams.org), published Tuesday, November 1, Standing Rock Sioux member Phyllis Young and Grand Chief Edward John, a Native American member of the U.N. permanent forum on Indigenous issues, discuss the details of the ongoing conversation and the abuses they have suffered. Conditions include:
- “We embarked upon a peaceful and prayerful campaign,” Standing Rock Sioux member Phyllis Young told the U.N. representatives. “They were placed in cages. They had numbers written on their arms very much like concentration camps.” Young said that the police’s treatment of native people was “not only conditions of colonialism, but conditions of war.” (source)
