Modernization v.s. History For countless centuries, natives have walked on the soil that was soon to be called America. They were a culture that worshipped nature as it came, and respected creatures as equals. “In Standing Their Ground” by Mary Kate Frank, we learn that when foreigners first arrived on the East Coast, we didn’t show them the same level of respect. There’ve been hundreds of cases where the native American’s wishes were pushed aside and regarded as unimportant. Many years later, this old story is once more being repeated. Some factors of the American Government are in the process of building an oil pipeline, which cuts through ancient native american land. Because of this, descendants of natives have decided to protest …show more content…
According to Dean DePountis, “This pipeline is going through huge swaths of ancestral land. It would be like constructing a pipeline through Arlington Cemetery or under St. Patrick’s Cathedral.” People have been arrested for breaking down wire fences and trespassing into the pipeline construction sites, they were dispersed with dogs and pepper spray. It’s conflicts like this that give our government a bad name. Unfortunately, the resulting protests aren’t the only thing that makes this conflict a huge deal. Historically, pipelines have been known to burst and ruin natural lands with irreversible damage. Despite the company’s promises that the pipeline could be fixed within minutes, most native Americans aren’t prepared to take the risk. The Standing Rock Sioux sued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for failing to properly do an environmental study on the effects the pipeline could have on the environment and culture. The president of the National Congress of American Indians says “For far too long, our lands and resources were seen as disposable. All tribes have faced this in one form or another, and Standing Rock has become the symbol for