Once again, the Native American population of this country has been brought under the control of the government. In July of 2016, the United States Army Corps of Engineers approved the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) which would extend from the oil fields in North Dakota to another pipeline in Illinois, facilitating the transport of oil throughout the country. But what everyone seems to have forgotten are the Native people that have lived on this sacred land and incorporated it into their rich and spiritual culture. Now the Sioux tribe of Standing Rock, North Dakota have been forced off of their land to be given to the hands of the government and greedy corporations, leaving Native Americans and other minority groups across the nation feeling defeated.

The Native American tribes have been wrongly mistreated for centuries on end since the beginning of this nation’s history. It started out with the enslavement and exploitation of millions of innocent natives by European conquistadors for no other reason than the benefit of their own pockets. As time went on, Native American discrimination became more subtle but was still very much prevalent like with reservations. Reservations are areas of land granted to Natives by the United States (US) government where local tribes can autonomously control their own land. While this seems like a great way to compensate for the centuries of genocide and colonization, these reservations are “coincidentally” placed on plots of infertile land and often leaves its people in poverty and horrible living conditions. The Standing Rock Sioux Reservation is one of the thousands of reservations across the country and now even that is being taken away from the natives of this country. Their land is being used to benefit corporate agendas by building the oil pipeline through the reservation, which passes through two major rivers that supply their drinking water. If this pipe leaks, which is highly probable based on the infamous history of pipelines, their source of water will be poisoned. This will either cause for them to move off the land and assimilate themselves into modern society, causing them to lose their sacred and rich culture, or stay on the land with no water and have the future out of their control. All the indigenous tribes of this continent have done is live life through their own methods and cultural practices, which was effective for them until European colonialism enslaved, assimilated and demolished their populations. History for the Native Americans has definitely repeated itself and won’t seem to stop, no matter how many peaceful protests activists do to bring light to these injustices.

The pipeline that is being built is not even necessary in our point of history. Climate change has become an increasingly discussed issue and is taken a lot more seriously than before. Scientists have developed technology to make renewable energy more accessible to companies and its consumers. Many of the technology developed caters to the automobile industry, such as electric, hybrid, solar powered and eventually hydro-powered cars, which will significantly decrease greenhouse gas emissions and slow down global warming. This is the future that the government and the people should look toward, not building new pipelines and continuing to deplete natural resources. While this project will create many jobs, a majority of them will only be temporary as they are mostly involved with the construction of the pipeline. But once construction is complete, the long term effects that this will inflict are going to be detrimental to the environment.

The Dakota Access Pipeline carries huge pressure with it as it formulates an American identity for citizens. It answers many questions about who Americans are as a people for decades to come, regarding both indigenous rights and environmental awareness and progression. The US government needs to lead its people in the direction of recognizing minority rights and climate change rather than completely mask centuries of oppression with a glorious American pipeline.