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Old Glory and the "shroud-like" image in the flag, activists marching out of the Oceti camps - photo by C.S. Hagen

The Final Standing Rock

Former Oceti Sakowin Camp cleared, 47 arrested, some flee across river to Sacred Stone Camp

By C.S. Hagen
CANNON BALL – Twenty hours before the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ deadline to evacuate the Oceti camps, the thunder beings arrived.

And geese returned home a month or more early.

Signs, activists say, like the the herded buffalo that charged near law enforcement in November 2016, or the golden eagle who perched for hours on a nearby fence, that nature is listening.

On the final day for the Standing Rock camps’ fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline, native songs and flames filled the air. No tears, many smiles, for their cause – to protect water and indigenous rights – had just begun, activists said.

First structures set ablaze at the Oceti camps February 22 – photo by C.S. Hagen

“People on the ground are doing the right thing,” long time activist and attorney Chase Iron Eyes said. Lightning streaked in the horizon as he spoke.

“They are surrounding us on all sides, not only by the United States military the Army Corps, but by the National Guard, by Morton County Law Enforcement, by every small town and county in North Dakota, and by private DAPL mercenaries. But add to that there are federal Indian police that answer to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which answers to the Department of the Interior, and used to answer to the Department of War, and now those federal Indian police answer to President Trump.”

Shiyé Bidzííl, a Standing Rock Sioux activist, has spent many of the winter months at the Oceti camps. He experienced difficulty live feeding one hour before the Army Corps deadline of 2 p.m. Wednesday, and climbed out of the floodplain onto Highway 1806 – where law enforcement kept journalists and legal observers at bay – to get better reception.

“All this stuff we’re doing to Mother Earth here is very wrong,” Bidzííl said. “And in the end, it’s not DAPL, it’s not Morton County, it’s not the water protectors who will have the last say so. All these beings are signs, we’re talking about the thunder beings, the eagles, it’s here. It’s right before our eyes.”

Shiyé Bidzííl, a Standing Rock Sioux, prepares to leave an hour before deadline – photo by C.S. Hagen

Behind Bidzííl, another tipi burst into flames. In all, more than 20 structures including tipis, tents, and makeshift homes were burned to ash. Each flame burst was preceded by an explosion. Two people, a seven-year-old boy and a 17-year-old girl were burned, and had to be transported by the Standing Rock ambulances to local hospitals, according to the North Dakota Joint Information Center.

“This camp might be burning down, but this is just the beginning of it,” Bidzííl said.

Camp structures were burned not for vengeance, Bidzííl said, but for cleansing.

“It’s a way of leaving a place that we’ve held so long here, and burning down a structure is a part of that ceremony of leaving things. Burning. Burning all the prayers, all the traditions, all our fights, courage, bravery, strength, all going up in flames. Everything we do here means something.”

Burning their tents activists have called home for months, is also their way of giving back to nature.

“Burning your camp, burning your tipi, burning a place you’ve called home, because the enemy is coming in to attack you, and we don’t want them touching anything. We don’t want them coming into our tipi and our home. So what do we do? We burnt it. And for us we’re burning it back, let it go back to its natural state of being.”

Guardhouse of the Oceti camps ablaze – photo by C.S. Hagen

South on Highway 1806, across the Cannon Ball Bridge, busses and state-sponsored travel-assistance packages worth $300 were waiting for anyone who wanted to leave.

Activists at Oceti entrance while fires rage behind them – photo by C.S. Hagen

No one volunteered, Highway Patrol Lt. Tom Iverson said. The services, which included a hot shower, food, taxi money, and a bus ticket home, were going to be available until 5 p.m. Thursday, according to the North Dakota Joint Information Center.

Jennifer Cook, a legal observer from the North Dakota ACLU was worried about being stuck behind cement barricades, hundreds of meters away from the camps.

“We are only here to observe actions, we’re not here to protest, we’re only here to record what we see and what we hear,” Cook said. She has seen an improvement in police responses since Governor Doug Burgum took office.

“Our hope is our access will continue, and that we will be able to ensure that this is a peaceful and safe removal of any water protectors that choose to stay in the camp past the two o’clock deadline.”

Shortly before 2 p.m. deadline, a group of at least 60 activists paraded from Oceti’s front entrance to where a United Nations College bus waited to escort them away. Many were covered in mud, their possessions were meager. Some wore plastic bags to protect themselves from stinging snowflakes. Burning sage and hugs accompanied drumbeats as water protectors – now friends – said their farewells.

Old Glory and the “shroud-like” image in the flag, activists marching out of the Oceti camps – photo by C.S. Hagen

Across the Cannon Ball River, however, a handful of up to 100 activists refused to leave. Morton County Sheriff’s Department reported 10 people were arrested on Wednesday. Law enforcement did not infiltrate the camps as sundown approached. International journalists from the New York Times, Fox New, CBS, ABC, and local reporters from the Bismarck Tribune, and the Grand Forks Herald lined up like Civil War gentry awaiting a spectacle behind a serpentine wall as the clock struck 2 o’clock.

More than 100 police officers from counties and cities – Fargo to Kenmare – including the Wisconsin Sheriff’s Department, planned to “ceremoniously arrest” activists, Iverson said. A ceremonious arrest is a staged event meant to show law enforcement’s restraint, but the arrests accompanied real trespassing charges, Iverson said.

“It’s not going to end today,” Iverson said. “There are multiple camps.”

Law enforcement also wanted to inspect every dwelling in search of possible crime scenes including missing persons or drugs, Iverson said. Setting fire to structures was hindering police investigations.

“It’s hypocritical to say it’s about clean water when things are on fire and things are exploding,” Iverson said.

Early morning Backwater Bridge and snow – photo by C.S. Hagen

Earlier on Wednesday, Burgum’s policy advisor, Levi Bachmeier, asked camp wellness director Johnny Aseron for permission to allow armed police with cleanup crews into the camps before the deadline.

“Armed or unarmed?” Aseron said. “While we are in a cleanup day we’re going to have armed officers in the camp?”

The offer was refused. The cleanup crews were turned away, according to Iverson. Early Thursday morning the North Dakota Joint Information Center reported no major movements from either law enforcement or the activists remaining in the camps. Law enforcement plans to raid all camps on Army Corps lands, but not the private land at the Sacred Stone Camp.

Camp leaders also requested a “Geneva space” at the southern end of the Oceti camp for those who wanted to peacefully resist. Their offer was accepted by the governor’s office until 2 p.m. Wednesday.

Activists said law enforcement were fearful, they, however, were not.

“Fear,” Bidzííl said. “A wonderful, beautiful, chaotic way of explaining everything. We can use fear to fight fear. I allowed myself to be put into that situation in order to rid the fear in me.

“We got people heading out, we got people with prior felony warrants who are making that choice today to stay here or get out of camp and protect the knowledge and keep it going.”

Bidzííl planned to leave by the 2 p.m. deadline, and head to Iowa to continue the fight against pipelines. Last December, he recalled being threatened by locals in Bismarck while trying to check into a hotel.

Tipis and structures burned for a reason – photo by C.S. Hagen

“They terrorized me a lot, but little did they know… all my fear came out of me. I’m not scared to go and do anything or say anything, because it is my right.” He was threatened by locals in Bismarck last December while trying to check into a hotel.

Since President Trump’s executive orders to expedite the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the Army Corps’ sudden issuance of the final easement under the Missouri River under Lake Oahe, less than one mile from the Standing Rock Reservation’s border, Bidzííl has frequently heard the DAPL equipment digging.

“There’ more power in ourselves when we show we can stand up to the fear, the racism, and the terrorizing.” His experience at the camps, which have stood in resistance to big oil interests since April 2016, have united hundreds or tribes across the world, and was at one time North Dakota’s tenth largest community, has changed him, he said.

Activists salute at the front entrance of Oceti camps – photo by C.S. Hagen

“There’s so much militarized force here, but that’s how much fear they have in them,” Bidzííl said. “They have to show their superior force to make them feel okay with themselves.”

He knows all about the indigenous struggles, and how Native Americans have been given more than a “bad shake” since the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie.

“You know what’s different about it this time? They created something that creates fear in their eyes so much, and that’s called water protectors. We’re here to protect water, but at the same time we’re here to protect what’s right in this world.”

Law enforcement cleared the former Oceti Sakowin Camp by 2:09 p.m Thursday, arresting 46 activists who refused to leave the main camp area, according to the North Dakota Joint Information Center.

“The past two days have gone very smoothly in a challenging environment and complex effort to clear the camp,” Burgum said in a press release. “Dozens of local, state, and federal agencies showed tremendous coordination to ensure the prices was conducted safely and securely.”

No less than lethal force was used during the overtaking of the former Oceti Sakowin, the North Dakota Joint Information Center reported. A group of veterans occupying a tent refused to leave voluntarily, but would exercise passive resistance resulting in law enforcement carrying them out.

One activist waited for police on a rooftop. Approximately 60 activists fled to the frozen Cannon Ball River, and many others escaped to Sacred Stone Camp, which is on private land and was not to be cleared, according to government spokespeople.

As of February 21, the North Dakota National Guard accounted for 35,412 man hours spent guarding road blocks and assisting police, and 1,421 guard members were called for duty throughout the controversy, according to the North Dakota National Guard. The North Dakota National Guard spent a total of $8,752,232 during the months after former Governor Jack Dalrymple called a state of emergency in August 2016.

Veteran who spoke to police on behalf of an elderly woman in the camp being arrested – photo provided by North Dakota Joint Information Center

Activist being arrested – photo provided by North Dakota Joint Information Center

Well armed police prepare to clear an area – photo provided by North Dakota Joint Information Center

Law enforcement entering former Oceti Sakowin Camp – photo provided by North Dakota Joint Information Center

VeteransRespond picture on the group's Facebook page

The State’s Siege of Standing Rock

February 16, 2017 / CSHagen / 0 Comments

The state’s stranglehold on the anti-DAPL movement squeezes shut, veterans speak out

By C.S. Hagen
CANNON BALL – Standing Rock’s fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline has all the ingredients of legend, with only the ending remaining be be told. Centuries past, bards would be tuning their lutes, preparing lyrics, in fact, modern singers such as Neil Young, Dave Matthews, the Black Eyed Peas, Trevor Hall, and many Native American talents have already immortalized Standing Rock’s resistance.

“If you are a rock, stand up like a mountain,” Hall sang about Standing Rock.

Two months ago, the story promised a happy ending for activists: the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers halted the pipeline, ordered an environmental impact statement, and thousands of veterans converged into the camps. The caravan stretched for miles, cars – bumper to bumper – for a full day and a night.

Activists offering thanks of sage, fir nettles, and tobacco to the former Oceti Sakowin sacred fire – photo by C.S. Hagen

Proponents of the pipeline however, bided their time, waited on a savior. Bending to pressure from President Trump’s Administration, the Army Corps has issued the easement needed for Dakota Access, LLC to complete the pipeline, and have said nothing about the continuation of its promised environmental impact statement. The Peace Garden State’s tactics against the Standing Rock camps – pitted for an ongoing 190 days against the 1,172-mile pipeline – were nothing more than a slowly-squeezing siege, activists and veterans say, calculated and methodical. Like a medieval siege.

Activist at Highway 1806 barricade – photo by C.S. Hagen

“It started with the roadblock, which brought economic sanctions against Standing Rock,” attorney and long time activist Chase Iron Eyes said. “It was a genius move, but now the walls are definitely closing in.”

Once North Dakota’s tenth largest community with more than 10,000 people living in the floodplain along the Cannonball River, the remaining activists now number only 400, Iron Eyes said. Calls have gone out to return; some, including veterans, are heeding the cry for help.

“Numerous law enforcement and federal agencies have severely limited access to the camps at Standing Rock,” Mark Sanderson, executive director for VeteransRespond said. “They run propaganda and psy-ops against any group going to help. You can’t make it to camp without going through roadblocks or checkpoints. The situation on camp is that many necessities are very limited. Clean drinking water for one is hard to get, fuel for generators, food.”

Siege (n.) early 13th century, from Vulgar Latin ‘sedicum’ meaning ‘seat’

Militarized law enforcement began its siege by closing down Highway 1806, and then erecting a blockade on Backwater Bridge to rival Korea’s Demilitarized Zone. One of the first rules of a siege is to isolate the target, like the Arabs did against Constantinople in 717 CE, or Nazis 872-day siege against St. Petersburg in 1941, or the 1,425-day siege of Bosnian Serb’s against Sarajevo in 1992.

Law enforcement and the North Dakota National Guard toyed with closing the road down for nearly three months before making the blockade official in late October 2016.

Former Governor Jack Dalrymple set the stage. In August 2016, he declared a state of emergency. Two months later he issued an emergency evacuation order, further declaring anyone caught supplying Standing Rock with goods or equipment could face a fine of up to $1,000.

DAPL Front lines in January 2016 – photo provided by Johnny Dangers

Besieging forces are not allowed to target civilians, according to the U.S. Army field manual’s Additional Protocols of 1977, and relief agencies are authorized to provide aid to people in need. A day after the threat was issued by Dalrymple, he backtracked, saying police would not target people or close down additional roads.

Backwater Bridge is the site where Morton County Sheriff’s Department hosed activists in below freezing weather; the site where Sophia Wilanksy nearly lost her arm; the site where trucks were burned, where disguised infiltrators attempted to gain access to the main camp, and the site where dozens were maced, injured, and arrested. Instead of using trebuchets and crossbows, law enforcement used its “non-lethal” arsenal of pepper spray, water cannons, and percussion grenades.

It was also the site of prayers, burning sage, traditional dances, and colorful banners.

Surrounded on all sides

The state’s next move was to encircle the Standing Rock camps. A second rule for laying siege is to completely surround the target, preventing food, water, and supplies from assisting the besieged. Activists at Standing Rock soon found themselves trapped behind razor wire, mace, rubber bullets, and concussion grenades. The only route in or out was to take Highway 6, which easily added 40 minutes driving time.

When activists attempted to reach the DAPL drill pad in November, hundreds of police waited along Cantapeta Creek, showering activists in frigid water with pepper spray. When they marched on Backwater Bridge, they were hit with water cannons, percussion grenades, mace, and pepper spray. When activists plowed through snow and across a frozen Cannon Ball River in January, they were met, once again, with razor wire and more mace.

Activists nearing DAPL drill pad – photo provided by Johnny Dangers

Many of the actions taken by activists occurred on reserved lands the Sioux Nation agreed to during the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie, and have never relinquished, according to Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chairman Dave Archambault II. Lands north of the Cannon Ball River were taken from the Standing Rock Tribe after massive devastation from damning the Missouri River during the Pick-Sloan legislation.

Police sprayed mace and pepper spray intermittently at activists in Cantapeta Creek – photo by C.S. Hagen

“They’ve also encouraged the local economies to participate in the siege by denying support to those trying to secure goods for camp,” Sanderson said. Sanderson retired from the US Army in 2015 as a Sergeant First Class. He was a designated marksmen and was awarded the Purple Heart after being wounded in Baghdad, Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Riot police spray activists at Backwater Bridge – photo by Rob Wilson Photography

“They make it seem like we’re all coming with intentions of building bombs and getting into confrontations, they’ve successfully turned a large group of Americans against veterans.”

Psychological warfare

Next came psychological and according to some, biological warfare. Although Morton County denied the use of chemicals against activists near Standing Rock, more than 40,000 pounds of Rozol Prairie Dog Bait, an anticoagulant rodenticide, were purchased by a nearby rancher, David Meyer, of Flasher, according to the United State Environmental Protection Agency. A portion was spread across more than 5,408 acres of nearby pasturelands in the spring of 2016, the same time activists began gathering at Sacred Stone Camp. Investigators said the chances any of the more the 20,000 people who traveled through Standing Rock being poisoned were remote, nearly impossible, but many activists retain their doubts. Questions have arisen as to whether humans now suffering what is known as the “DAPL cough” might not have been affected.

Frozen water at Backwater Bridge – photo by Rob Wilson Photography

“There have been no substantiated clinical cases of Rozol poisoning traced back to camp exposure,” NDResponse.gov, a state information delivery platform said. “Wood-burning stoves, kerosene heaters, and other temporary forms of heat have been known to cause lung, nose, and eye irritation. An ongoing cough is not consistent with Rozol exposure.”

Sound cannons, attack dogs, and tactics causing hyperthermia, were also used against activists admittedly trespassing during their repeated marches on the pipeline.

Airplanes and helicopters surveyed the camps daily. Cyber warfare ensued, including reports of mass data seizures, electronic bugs, stolen files, according to the Lawyer’s Guild Mass Defense Committee and nonprofit Geeks Without Bounds.

Coldness of river, evident by discoloration on activist’s back – photo by C.S. Hagen

Medics battle hypothermia and hurry to warm activist – photo by C.S. Hagen

And then came Standing Rock’s victory on December 4, celebrated as joyous news to many activists. Standing Rock Tribal Council asked everyone to return home, winter was coming, and the camps’ numbers dwindled.

Some, including Iron Eyes, stayed. The December victory was an ingenious stall of time, he said. A besieging army would never dare attack a force with far superior numbers.

“December 4 was no victory at all,” Iron Eyes said. “We didn’t win. They told us to go home because ‘we won,’ ‘our prayers were answered.’”

State tactics were seemingly pulled straight from a page of Sun Tzu’s ‘Art of War.’

“It turned the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, under economic duress, against the same people they were supposed to protect.” He is currently in Canada, but plans to return to Standing Rock later this week. He faces a Class C felony charge of inciting a riot, and he’s also planning lawsuits against Morton County.

“Morton County is trying to throw me back in prison,” Iron Eyes said. In addition to being the founder of media outlet Last Real Indians, Iron Eyes ran for a congressional seat in 2016. “It seems ludicrous to me.”

Iron Eyes is worried that the Army Corps’ deadline for all camps to be evacuated by February 22 will be the government’s final assault.

“I’m afraid it will look like the Siege on Fallujah,” Iron Eyes said.

Activists hugging each other as law enforcement issue final warning to move – photo by C.S. Hagen

VeteransRespond

When pipeline proponents’ savior, President Donald Trump, ascended to the White House in January, political attacks intensified. In addition to Morton County Sheriff’s Department propaganda program entitled “Know the Truth,” which includes short videos from the law enforcement side of the controversy, the state kickstarted a website called NDResponse.gov, a “a single source of accurate and timely information.”

Veterans for Standing Rock before the former Oceti Sakowin Camp sacred fire on December 4 at – photo by C.S. Hagen

Politicians, including Representative Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier, and Morton County Commissioner Cody Schulz called activists paid protesters, and blamed missing livestock in the area on activists while the case is still ongoing by the North Dakota Stockmen’s Association.

“As many as 14 dead or missing animals have been reported in the vicinity of the encampments,” NDResponse.gov reported. “Whether any of those animals were consumed illegally is part of an ongoing investigation.”

The state is further attempting to sway public opinion by depicting activists as careless by disseminating video of trash being compiled at the former Oceti Sakowin Camp. The state’s official stance is that activists are trucking garbage to one camp location and dumping it for a consolidated pick up, but at the same time report officers are digging through the trash looking for dead bodies.

“The veteran community is being targeted as they would a minority,” Sanderson said. “We feel like the supporters of the civil rights movement.”

Although more than 700 people have been arrested, Morton County Sheriff’s Department broadcasted a case on Monday saying “Leader of VeteransRespond Cited for Drug Possession.” Matthew Crane, VeteransRespond chief operations officer, who uses medical cannabis to treat PTSD, and three others were cited after they traveled beyond the road closure sign on Highway 1806 near Fort Rice.

Matthew Crane – Facebook page picture

“One of the occupants turned over a smoking device identified as a pipe used to ingest marijuana,” the North Dakota Joint Information Center reported. “At that point, all occupants and their luggage were removed from the vehicle and searched by the K-9. A bag of marijuana was located with Crane’s name on it.”

Medical Marijuana was legalized by every state district in North Dakota last November. The bill, known as the North Dakota Medical Marijuana Initiative, is currently under review after being postponed and rewritten by state legislature.

Posted on the VeteransRespond’s Facebook page, volunteers have begun to arrive at the Standing Rock camps. They’ve been chopping wood, setting up kitchens, and helping with the trash situation.

Fueled by a national wave led by “alternative facts” and President Trump’s big oil agenda, Pro DAPL supporters have stepped up their attacks – verbal and physical – against anti DAPL supporters lately, Sanderson said. Verbal attacks are hitting online, and law enforcement is hunting veterans on the roads. Some media outlets have reported that the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s terrorism task force is aggressively monitoring people affiliated with the No DAPL movement.

“Much of this negative energy is a result of two encounters with law enforcement, one in North Dakota and another in South Dakota,” Sanderson said. “Our Chief Operations Officer, Matthew Crane, was cited for having less than a gram of medicinal cannabis on him, he took ownership that it was his and received a ticket. He was not arrested. The Morton County Sheriff’s department felt necessary to issue a press release about this citation calling our organization out by name and inaccurately attributing an arrest in South Dakota to our organization.”

Travis Biolette was traveling through Sough Dakota and was arrested for possession of hash oil, Sanderson said. Biolette is not a member of VeteransRespond, but the group picked him up when he was released from jail.

“While we respect state and federal laws we also respect the right to a veteran’s safe access to his or her medicine,” Sanderson said. “Many of our core members suffered from opioid and amphetamine addiction upon leaving the service and have found a better way forward with the help of medicinal cannabis.”

Biolette is in good spirits, and currently at the camps, he said on his Facebook page.

“As soon as the police found out I was going to Sacred Stone Camp I was placed in the police car and searched,” Biolette said. “I am currently free and have to go to court on February 27th. I am looking at five years in a state penitentiary of South Dakota for medical marijuana that the state of Michigan has determined I need. I am currently looking for legal representation to prevent that prison time.”

“It’s hard to imagine a time in America when police officers would target a veterans group for trying to help a community and support our fellow vets,” Sanderson said. “They certainly do all they can to deny support to the camp and use disinformation and propaganda against anyone who tries to help, even those like us that come in peace.”

Sanderson previously joined the December veterans at Standing Rock, and said at that time 300 cots provided by the American Red Cross were denied entry to Standing Rock by Morton County Sheriff’s Department.

In total, 705 people have been arrested since August 2016, with 92 percent of those arrested from out of state, 212 people arrested had prior criminal records, 33 arrested had a history of violence, 40 with a history of theft, robbery, or burglary, and 41 previously cited or arrested for drug possession, according to the North Dakota Joint Information Center.

The total cost to taxpayers in North Dakota so far is $32.9 million, with $25 million going to salaries, $3.6 million going toward personnel support, including travel and lodging, and $4.3 million going toward equipment and supplies to survive the winter, according to the North Dakota Joint Information Center.

The North Dakota Department of Transportation announced on Monday that Highway 1806 closure point was changed from south of Mandan to County Road 135, north of Fort Rice, allowing eight more miles of open highway.

North Dakota Legislature

The Peace Garden State’s political siege against those who openly differ in opinion has taken the frontline in the forms of proposed bills to strike fear into activists and future protesters. One of the bills hit activists in the pocketbooks, another tried to legalize the “unintentional” killing of protesters.

North Dakota Legislative ‘scoreboard’ on HB 1203 – photo provided by North Dakota Human Rights Coalition

House Bill 1203, the proposal that attempted to legalize the unintentional running down of protesters blocking public roadways died in the house on Monday. Other bills created as direct responses to the DAPL controversy have passed the house and will soon be voted on in the senate: House Bill 1304, the law that would outlaw wearing ski masks and face coverings in public, House Bill 1293, the bill that would essentially legalize shooting to death trespassers even if there was space to retreat, House Bill 1426, which stiffens laws against protesters, and House Bill 1193, which prohibits “economic harm” due to disorderly conduct.

Senate Bill 2337, a bipartisan bill that would have enacted cultural competency training for legislators was killed 26 to 20 on Tuesday.

“A ‘disease of the mind’ has set in world leaders and many members of our global community,” Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe Arvol Looking Horse said. “With their belief that a solution of retaliation and destruction of peoples will bring peace. We need to understand how all these decisions affect the global nation; we will not be immune to its repercussions.”

Activist prepares to be hit with water - photo by Rob Wilson Photography

Standing Rock Given Deadline: Move or Else

November 26, 2016 / CSHagen / 0 Comments

Standing Rock’s resolve is “stronger than ever,” more arrests in Bismarck, and a North Dakota sheriff is suspended

By C.S. Hagen
BISMARCK – Standing Rock and supporters have 10 days to move camps, or face possible mass arrests, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reported Friday.

“This decision is necessary to protect the general public from the violent confrontations between protestors and enforcement officials that have occurred in this area, and to prevent death, illness, or serious injury to inhabitants of encampments due to the harsh North Dakota winter conditions,” U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Omaha District Commander John W. Henderson stated.

“Any person found to be on the Corps lands north of the Cannonball River after December 5, 2016, will be considered trespassing and may be subject to prosecution under federal, state, and local laws… any person who chooses to stay on these Corps’ lands… does so at their own risk.”

A “free speech zone” south of Cannonball River on Army Corps lands will be authorized.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers map of the area surrounding Oceti Sakowin

“Our tribe is deeply disappointed in this decision by the United States, but our resolve to protect our water is stronger than ever,” Standing Rock reported in a statement. “The best way to protect people during the winter, and reduce the risk of conflict between water protectors and militarized police, is to deny the easement for the Oahe crossing, and deny it now.”

Standing Rock further reported that the tribe’s stance on the Dakota Access Pipeline crossing the Missouri River at Lake Oahe less than a mile from the reservation was stated clearly in a meeting with DAPL representatives and the North Dakota Public Service Commission on September 30, 2014, more than two years ago.

North Dakota government agencies have reported frequently the tribe did not involve itself in hearings and discussions pertaining to the Dakota Access Pipeline.

“It is both unfortunate and disrespectful that this announcement comes the day after this country celebrates Thanksgiving – a historic exchange of goodwill between Native Americans and the first immigrants from Europe,” Standing Rock reported. “Although the news is saddening, it is not at all surprising given the last 500 years of mistreatment of our people.

“Although we have suffered much, we still have hope that the President will act on his commitment to close this chapter of broken promises to our people and especially our children.”

Standing Rock is currently planning if and how an exodus from Oceti Sakowin, or the Seven Council Fires camp will occur, Standing Rock spokesperson Sue Evans said.

“The timing of this latest action by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers is demoralizing and disrespectful for Native Americans and the millions of peaceful water protectors and supporters in America and across the globe who are standing with Standing Rock to protect the water and 17 million Americans downstream on the river,” Evans said.

Standing Rock is ready, however. Other camps exist in the area, and leadership is planning the tribe’s next steps.

The deadline brings back a similar deadline issued a century ago for attorney Chase Iron Eyes. On December 3, 1875, the US government issued a deadline for all Native Americans not on reservations to return to their areas of confinement, or else they would be considered hostile.

Turtle Hill, Cantapeta Creek, law enforcement has now stretched razor wire across the bank opposite Oceti Sakowin – photo provided by Digital Smoke Signals

“We are tired of the protests too,” Iron Eyes, who ran for congress this year, said. “DAPL is backing us into a corner. This is about standing up to Trump fascism, and we’re going to be considered trespassers on Army Corps land. We’ve seen what Morton County is capable of… they tell lies, but by the time we disprove them they’ve already been able to manipulate the public narrative and push that out to the world as truth.”

For instance, Morton County reported its use of water cannons to put out fires on November 20, but turned the same high-powered hoses onto activists in sub freezing temperatures because they feared activists might push through multiple rows of razor wire, cement blocks, hidden hedgehogs, and fully-armed police.

Morton County also reported Sophia Wilansky, who nearly had her left arm blown off the same night, was not harmed by law enforcement’s less-than-lethal armaments, but by an explosion from the activists’ side, even after many eyewitnesses came forward saying that Wilansky was first struck with a rubber bullet, and then targeted by a compression grenade while she was on the ground.

Iron Eyes calls for those involved to keep prayer and peaceful civil disobedience at the center of all direct actions, but he refuses to be intimidated

“If it’s too risky for Bismarck, it’s too risky for us,” Iron Eyes said. “We have to stand up. If a law allows for water to be poisoned or put our children’s future at stake, then that law has no moral or spiritual authority, and we should be within rights to stand up to that law. We have to be very, very clear about this; these are risks that we choose to assume.

“It’s easy to be neutral when it’s not your family at risk,” Iron Eyes said. “We must always fight for the democracy we want.”

Additionally on Friday, Governor Jack Dalrymple granted McKenzie County Commissioners’ request to remove Sheriff Gary Schwartzenberger from office after the state attorney general’s office investigated him, according to state news outlets.

“We are now witnessing the first action against local law enforcement tonight for their abuses to peaceful water protectors,” Evans said.

Pig head authorities report anti DAPL activists carried into Bismarck on Thanksgiving Day – photo provided by Morton County Sheriff’s Department

In October, the McKenzie County Commissioners asked the governor to remove the sheriff from office, citing an alleged workplace culture of bullying and retaliation, according to press reports. Schwartzenberger will be allowed a hearing before the governor makes a decision to make the suspension permanent.

In 2015, two other deputies from McKenzie County Sheriff’s Department were allegedly involved in criminal activities, according to the Bismarck Tribune. Corporal Travis Batemen faces a felony charge of reckless endangerment, and Detective Michael Schmitz was charged with two counts of giving false information to law enforcement.

The day after Thanksgiving, 33 more arrests were made by Bismarck police at Bismarck’s Kirkwood Mall outside the Target entrance, according to Morton County Sheriff’s Department. The total number of activists arrested since early August is 561.

The McKenzie County Sheriff’s Department is one of the agencies involved against activists at Standing Rock. Nearly 1,300 people have assisted from 25 North Dakota counties, 20 cities, and nine states, according to Morton County Sheriff’s Department.