Be a Man and Be a Leader

Debra White Plume's arrest at the White House, August 2011

This is my friend of fifteen years, Alex White Plume. I have known him to be wise, fair, kind, generous, and always, peaceful. He is the proud tunkasila of his ever-expanding tiospaye, and  his wife, Debra White Plume, is a politically active matriarch.

Debra has been opposing uranium mining, tar sands oil mining, and specifically, the Keystone XL pipeline, for many years. She has traveled nationwide to attend protests and was arrested in 2011 at a peaceful sit-in held in front of the White House. She has been steadfast in voicing her concerns about the environment and our water resources. She and Alex created Owe Aku (Bring Back the Way), an organization for the protection of treaty rights.

Debra White Plume, right

More recently, they have also been instrumental in Moccasins on the Ground, a grass roots NVDA (non-violent direct action) organization for directing social change. Both organizations oppose the destruction of land and water resources and encourage the Lakota people to return to traditional ways as a sustainable people, living in harmony with Unci Maka (grandmother earth) and to explore options for survival outside of relying on the Federal Government for their existence.

On May 24, 2013, I read an article in the Rapid City Journal that shocked me. It detailed a mock emergency drill held  in the Hot Springs School District. The exercise, which involved 800 students, the school district, Fall River County officials, and a bomb squad, was held based on a scenario in which the school district received a letter from a group that wrote "things dear to everyone will be destroyed unless continuation of the Keystone pipeline and uranium mining is stopped immediately." The scenario blatantly portrayed the tar sands and uranium activists as terrorists.

This is so wrong on so many levels. When, and why, did activists become labeled as terrorists? When did it become okay to instill fear of activism in our children? Why is it wrong to oppose the rape of our land? For administrators and educators to willingly, and knowingly, encourage children to believe that concerned citizens are evil members of society is outrageous propaganda and a terrible injustice to all environmental coalitions.

We should be encouraging our children to become environmental activists and stand up to corporate greed on behalf of grandmother earth. Activists are some of the most courageous people I know. They have strong moral and political convictions and will defend their beliefs at all costs. They are rarely paid for their long hours and often mistreated by the media and law enforcement. They are guardian angels for our planet and for human rights and to suggest that they are someone to be feared, greatly angers me.

The Keystone XL Pipeline would eventually destroy the already rapidly draining Ogallala Aquifer and other waters along its way, the oil will not benefit the American people, the money will go directly into the bloated bellies of oil and gas corporations, and it violates First Nations rights. Facts.

The Keystone XL Pipeline will be good for the economy and will not harm the environment. Lies.


I applaud all the people who have not, and will not, give up on their opposition of the Keystone XL pipeline. Thank you for your diligence.

Fall River County, South Dakota, you need to apologize. Obama, you need to listen.