Cannon
Ball, N.D. - October 16 – North Dakota Stockmen’s Association
(NDSA) suggested that livestock near Standing Rock Water Protectors
are going missing in an article posted by Morton County Sheriff’s
Office. The article on Inforum.com asserts that 30 cows are missing,
and four cows, three bison and a saddle horse were killed.
NDSA Chief Brand
Inspector Stan Misek asserted, "They're missing from right
beside the camps, right there. We don't know. We don't know for sure.
We're just putting it out there and hopefully somebody will come
forward."
However,
the reality on the ground for the Standing Rock Water Protectors
makes an assertion of cattle rustling of this scale preposterous. The
camps are under surveillance by air and car nearly 24 hours a day. On
an average day, two helicopters, a drone, and an airplane monitor the
camps throughout the day. Stingray electronic surveillance devices
have been detected in the area. Police are stationed along the road.
Federal law enforcement agencies have a nearby outpost station on the
same road as the camps. Police regularly patrol the roads around the
camp.
Most
of the camps are in a bowl with rivers on two sides and can be seen
in full by observers passing on the road or in a ditch on the side of
the road.
Sacred
Stone Camp is a small encampment entirely housed on the Standing Rock
Sioux Reservation. It is a small, highly developed and populated camp
with rugged topography and narrow access points. It has cow catchers
on the ground on the way into the camp. In many parts of the camp it
is difficult to turn a car around because it is highly populated.
In
order to move a herd of cattle from the Sacred Stone Camp to any
other camp, the Water Protectors would have sneak out of camp, slip
30 cattle past two helicopters, a plane, several dozen police
officers and federal agents, past a police outpost, and hide them in
plain sight of all the law enforcement agencies. In full view of
thousands of phone cameras, law enforcement and media, Protectors
would have to slaughter the cows in camp and afterward eat, preserve,
or store all of the meat.
To
move one cow at a time or a couple of bison, the Water Protectors
would have to slip past the massive security thirty times.
The
Inforum.com article also implies Water Protectors may have killed a
horse. Lakota culture prizes relationships with horses and consider
them important members of their society. Killing a horse is
considered an extremely serious offense.
When
asked for details about locations and affected parties, Julie
Ellingson, NDSA Executive Vice President, stated,
“This
is an active investigation and those details cannot be disclosed at
this time as law enforcement work the case.”
It
is not even clear when the livestock began to go missing. When asked
how long it took for thirty cows to go missing, Ellingston said,
“Sorry, but I do not know the answer, as that is something that the
investigators gather in their case files.”
Many
Water Protectors are reminded of the story of Conquering Bear, a
Lakota chief who was killed while trying to make peace over the death
of a white man’s cow in his territory in 1854. Conquering Bear
attempted to negotiate a reconciliation with the United States Army
and cow’s owner. Talks broke down, and he was shot in the back and
killed by the Army. His death lead to the First Great Sioux War.
Water
Protectors are working to stop the completion of the Bakken Dakota
Access Pipeline, which is slated to pass under the Missouri and
Mississippi Rivers and over the Ogallala Aquifer. Water Protectors
have taken up camp inside and outside of the Standing Rock Sioux
Reservation near Cannon Ball, N.D. The Missouri River is the
reservation’s primary source of drinking water.
Article
Posted by Morton County:
http://www.inforum.com/news/4137798-butchered-and-missing-livestock-reported-near-dakota-access-pipeline-protest-camp
Press
Release:
http://ndstockmen.org/newsroom/authorities-investigating-butchered-and-missing-livestock-in-sioux-county/
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