Nearly 250 MN Water Protectors In Custody. Seem Familiar ND?

Around 85 miles east of Fargo, arrests are escalating and no doubt anger and aggression are also about really show their nasty little heads.

We've seen it...

It was 2016's #NODAPL protest, and it tore communities and cultures apart. The divide became so wide, we may have to wait for the death of an entire generation to get past it.

Too much?

I would argue the Dakota Access Pipeline protests were bigger locally than the upheaval following the death of George Floyd. Bigger locally than the schism created following President Biden's Presidential Inauguration.  I'd say the anger and flat out hatred surpassed even the conflict over wearing masks and shuttering businesses.

WOW, that's a lot of heavy topics for our society to digest in just 5 years time.  Exhausting really.

So Minnesota, I feel for you.

Last weekend, hundreds of activists(?) began moving into the area outside of Park Rapids, MN.  Reports have them now in the thousands.  Which isn't out of line thinking how fast out of state interests and supporters came into the Dakota Access Protest camps. It would also appear Winona LaDuke may be the current voice for the movement

“This is just the beginning,” said Winona LaDuke, an Anishinaabe woman and longtime Indigenous activist who has been fighting the project since it was first proposed in 2014, according to the Star Tribune.

“We’d like the courts to work,” she said, shaking her head, “but until then Enbridge has unfurled holy hell up here.” 

And just like the #NODAPL days, not everyone's gonna be on the same page and individuals or groups will seek to make a play of their own...

Other protesters, however, weren’t interested in obeying the law or waiting for the courts to rule. They blocked access to the pipeline construction site with a fishing boat and bamboo poles, climbed on top of equipment and chained themselves to machinery. By Tuesday morning, more than 200 people had been arrested.  

Here's a great visual from the scene- take a peek it's a quick 23 second YouTube video

Remember?

It's an on going story that hopefully doesn't escalate into hatred for a generation.

But it looks like it might...here's one more story of how it may divide the Native American communities in the area.

I find myself now reminiscing...is it wrong to wish for quieter times?