This weekend, Alaskans held protests and events in several communities across the state to support the No Dakota Access Pipeline movement, also known as NoDAPL. In Homer, organizers put on a concert along with a silent auction at Kbay Café to raise money to send shelter to the camp for demonstrators in North Dakota.
From the stage at K-Bay Café in downtown Homer, Fritz Creek resident John Sheipe rallies the crowd to support the demonstrators who call themselves water protectors.
Sheipe helped organize the NoDAPL event in Homer that took place Saturday Nov. 5. He said that after seeing photos and videos about what’s going on in Cannon Ball, North Dakota he knew he had to do something to help.
“So I just decided y’know heck let’s just try something. And Lucas just popped back in our world. He showed up and had all these teepees at access so we’re trying to make that happen because shelter is the big need down there we’ve been told," said Sheipe.
The Dakota Access Pipeline is a $3.7 billion, nearly 1,200-mile long pipeline that is being built by a Texas-based corporation called Energy Transfer Partners. The pipeline would ship crude oil across four states.
Clashes between police and the water protectors have resulted in more than 400 arrests, and violence has escalated in recent weeks. Officers have used mace, pepper spray, tear gas and rubber bullets on the water protectors.
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s ongoing lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers claims that the agency didn’t properly consult the tribe before granting permits for the project.
The federal government requested a temporary halt to construction of the project in September. The construction continued against the request.
Lucas Wilcox, with Shining Light Kitchen, a disaster relief organization, also helped organize the event to raise awareness about the movement.
“They’re opposing native nations that have come together to protect their water. It’s kind of a further demonstration of a unification of people realizing the importance of the ecosystem over the access to oil," said Wilcox.
They’re raising funds to bring shelters to the camp in Cannon Ball before the frigid North Dakota winter sets in. Wilcox already visited the camp in October where he fed water protectors though his non-profit kitchen. He wants to go back – this time to deliver seven large teepees.
“I just really appreciate such a conscious community working together to help such remote regions and it’s a great demonstration that the awareness of human beings is growing faster than the mechanisms of civilization," said Wilcox.
Wilcox estimates that around 200 people attended the event in Homer. The event raised two thirds of the money needed to be raised to ship the teepees to North Dakota. Donations are accepted online.
Sheipe says he hopes the event raised awareness about the NoDAPL movement and that the situation will get better.
“I hope they can find their way to make it peaceful. I think it’s all going to start with forgiving and healing," said Sheipe.
Demonstrators held a forgiving ceremony in front of the Morton County Police Department in Mandan, North Dakota on Sunday.
On Saturday here in Homer, locals jammed out to John Sheipe’s reggae band, Uplift to show their support for the water protectors.
