About 100 people gathered Tuesday in Hilo to stand in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux tribe in North Dakota and its opposition to the building of the Dakota Access pipeline. ADVERTISING About 100 people gathered Tuesday in Hilo to
About 100 people gathered Tuesday in Hilo to stand in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux tribe in North Dakota and its opposition to the building of the Dakota Access pipeline.
The protest started by the statue of Kamehameha the Great on Bishop Street. Protesters marched downtown, then returned and waved at passing motorists on Kamehameha Avenue, holding signs with slogans such as “Water is Life” and “Hawaii Stands with Standing Rock.”
The ongoing showdown in North Dakota between Native Americans and the federal government highlights fears that the 1,170-mile, $3.7 billion pipeline designed to transport 470,000 barrels of oil a day from North Dakota to Illinois will leak, polluting land and water. Other issues include historic tribal claims on the privately owned lands where the pipeline is being built.
A federal district court judge in September ruled against the tribe, which sought an injunction to stop the pipeline’s construction.
Felicity Cross, a member of the Yurok nation and Pahoa resident, is one of the local protest organizers. She said it’s “very important that people know what’s going on in the world, especially what’s going on in Standing Rock.”
“It’s a violation against human rights, a violation against sacred places,” Cross said. “People are still suppressing indigenous people. … And if I can’t be in North Dakota right now, I’ll do it right here.”
Jack-Richard Harold Viri, a Mayan and University of Hawaii at Hilo student, said he is “proud to stand” with Cross and called it “a native thing.”
Marika Ripke of Kalapana said she came “to protect the aina.”
“We all should have access to clean water,” Ripke said. “I’m here to support alternative energy so we don’t have to have pipelines being built, destroying the Earth and polluting it.”
Rudy Webster of the Oneida nation said he is thinking about “the generation of my grandson and their children’s children’s children.”
“I think this is the first time so many tribes and so many nations came together,” Webster said. “It’s all over Facebook, in Guatemala, Brazil, all over. People from Tonga, Fijians, they’re doing the haka. And they’re in support of other native peoples, what their struggles are and what their fights are.”
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
