The Army Corps of Engineer approved a pipeline  to be placed under the Missouri river in July and it is sending shivers down the spines of North Dakota’s Native Americans – and has created violent controversy.

Energy Transfer Partners, a Dallas-based company, came head to head with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and video documentation of the event shows that the professionals were none too kind.

In a social media hailstorm, those informed about the protest compared it to a rally turned violent in 1963, in which African Americans were bitten by dogs and showered with pepper spray, an occurrence which has been branded a human rights violation for over 40 years.

Native Americans hailing from all over the country have gathered to set up camp near the construction of the pipeline to further defend the Sioux tribe, who are worried that the pipeline being built under the Missouri River will “disturb sacred sites and affect the reservation’s drinking water” according to NPR. The pipeline is set to run underneath four states and accumulate  $3.8 billion.

A video of the protest in part can be seen at https://youtu.be/kuZcx2zEo4k

The Sheriff’s Department released a statement that “protesters marched from their encampment onto private lands, where the pipeline is being constructed” and Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier said it “…was more like a riot than a protest.”

The protest “came one day after the tribe filed court papers saying it found several sites of “significant cultural and historic value” along the path of the proposed pipeline.”

Jolie Suarez, Staff Writer

Sophomore Jolie Suarez is a staff writer for the 2016-2017 Colonel. She spends her time outside of class often swimming. She also enjoys reading, writing, and singing.