Chas Jewett, from the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, and Standing Rock Water protector, spoke in the Teacher’s Club on Monday evening at an event supported by Afri, Comhlamh, Feasta and Friends of the Earth. This public meeting was part of a tour around Ireland visiting Cork, Galway, Cloughjordan, Leitrim and Dublin. Chas is a tribal organiser who lives in Rapid City, South Dakota, and aims to encourage people to engage and mobilise.
Since 2016 the Standing Rock Reservation has been the scene of a protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline which aims to bring oil from Canada into the US through Native American lands over fears of contamination of drinking water supplies. The existing Keystone 1 pipeline has leaked 26 times.
Chas spoke about the legacy issues of the 19th century treaties between the U.S. government and the First Nations people. In 1873 General Custer found gold in the Black Hills which led to people being moved – without compensation – and separated into various different reservations, one of which is the Standing rock reservation. Continue reading “The Water Protectors”