UCLA students hold protest to support Standing Rock

On Tuesday November 8th 2016, a large group of UCLA students assembled at Janss Steps dressed in red and carrying signs to protest the the Dakota Access Pipeline.

During the first part of the demonstration, students shared stories of their indigenous heritage to the crowd. One person sang a song in his native language.

Another student who is a part of the Lakota tribe explained to the crowd that the pipeline is both morally wrong and legally wrong. The pipeline is, as she put it, an “extinction event for indigenous people.”

After these presentations, students gathered and marched from Janss Steps to the Bruin Plaza and then up the Bruin Walk toward Royce Hall chanting, “you can’t drink oil, leave it in the soil!” or “UCLA stands for decolonization!”

One protester named Jackie stated, “I grew up in the Bay area, so I wasn’t really exposed to indigenous goals, indigenous struggles. It was all really covered… You don’t really hear about indigenous people’s struggles unless it’s some sort of criminalization portrayed in media.”

Another student, Joel, also commented that the demonstration, “reminds us that the Dakota Access Pipeline crisis going on is not just a singular event. There are many other issues that go unnoticed.”

What this demonstration really calls attention to is the need to preserve indigenous culture. The Dakota resistance is a statement of autonomy for indigenous people. A few of the speakers, during the demonstration, asked that people from all backgrounds stand up for the Sioux in Standing Rock and all other people who go underrepresented in our society.