As many as 200 people are reported injured at Standing Rock, North Dakota following an incident with law enforcement at the site of the Dakota Access Pipeline construction overnight.
Following an interfaith solidarity gathering of more than 500 clergy and lay people at the Oceti Sakowin camp on the northern border of the Standing Rock Sioux Nation near Cannon Ball, North Dakota last Thursday, a group of approximately 70 faith leaders and “water protector” activists traveled to Bismarck to stage a sit in at the Capitol building’s judicial wing.
The Cannon Ball (North Dakota) Gym was filled to capacity tonight with nearly 500 clergy representing 20 faith traditions in anticipation of their show of solidarity for self-described “water protectors” opposing the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) north of Standing Rock Sioux reservation lands.
More than 4,000 people have gathered at Camp of the Sacred Stones, three separate prayer camps north of Cannon Ball, North Dakota, near the northern border of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe’s reservation.
The Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), in conjunction with the Rev. Irvin Porter, associate in the Office of Native American Intercultural Congregational Support, issued a statement today in support of the Standing Rock Sioux protest of a crude oil pipeline set to skirt the northern border of the tribe’s reservation lands. A breach, they say, is a threat to the Missouri River, the source of the tribe’s drinking water.
