Students hosted a donation drive to collect materials for the Standing Rock Native American Reservation on Nov. 4, according to the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate LGBTQ+ Community Representative Parker Breza. Breza said the drive was part of a series of teach-ins, rallies and donation drives in support of halting construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL).
Sophomore Elizabeth Dossett said she helped organize the drive to collect goods to transport to Standing Rock water protectors, which is the term that those resisting the DAPL use to refer to themselves.
The Standing Rock camp is located in North Dakota, on land belonging to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, in the path of the planned DAPL.
Breza, a sophomore, organized the initial donation drive. He noted that donations were needed to prepare the Standing Rock camp for winter, and that Tufts students who are planning to go there over winter break, including himself and Dossett, will bring the community donations and other supplies.
“The first goal is to bring supplies and any native folks who are trying to get to Standing Rock,” Breza said, referring to native people from his hometown in Minnesota who want to travel to Standing Rock and assist in the actions.
Dossett said that it would be important for those going to the camp at Standing Rock to actively participate.
“People who come should have a really good work ethic while there, and respect the culture of indigenous people,” Dossett said. “I know I probably won’t sleep a lot because I’ll be maximizing the hours of work I can provide for the camp."
Breza noted that students who want to go to the campsite can contribute through means other than direct action and civil disobedience.
“While it’s important to have bodies there, to show presence, it is also really important that people are physically doing things, like winterizing the camp or cooking,” Breza said.
TCU Senate Diversity and Community Affairs Officer Benya Kraus said that a number of Tufts students were planning on going the week after the drive, but they had to reschedule, giving them time to organize additional solidarity efforts.
“We’re hoping to supplement the supply drive with fundraising efforts too,” Kraus, a junior, said.
According to Kraus, student support is not limited to donation drives or traveling to the camp. One of TCU Senate’s goals for this semester is to support indigenous students and communities on and off campus, as a continuation of the work started by the movement for Indigenous People’s Day. For example, TCU Senate passed a resolution calling on Tufts to support the anti-DAPL efforts and to divest from companies involved in the finance and construction of the DAPL on Nov. 13.
Kraus also noted that a cause dinner hosted by Tufts United for Immigrant Justice on Nov. 15 donated funds to the North American Indian Center of Boston, which directed some of the proceeds toward those resisting the DAPL at Standing Rock.
“For the rest of the semester, we are working collectively to make the supply drive stronger,” Kraus said.
She said that the water protectors were in need of items like tents and generators that students likely would not be able to donate, but TCU Senate will sell shirts with supportive designs as a way of raising money for Standing Rock.
“All that money will be going to the water protectors,” Kraus said.
Dossett said that indigenous narratives are traditionally silenced as part of the process of settler colonialism.
“We are destroying these people’s land and livelihood,” Dossett said. “The knowledge base that people go to when you say Native Americans is Pocahontas. You can’t really say that sort of stuff about other disciplines of study."
The Standing Rock movement, as well as Indigenous People's Day, has raised the profile of indigenous struggles, Kraus said.
Breza agreed with this conclusion.
“I know that the fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline was a wake-up call for white environmental organizations that had completely forgotten indigenous people,” he said.
Breza said that the DAPL fight is part of a broader movement for indigenous rights, citing the No DAPL rally on the Boston Common on Nov. 9 and the push for Tufts to create an indigenous studies minor.
“Over a thousand people showed up for that rally," Breza said. "I hope that the energy is channeled in the right ways. Supporting the water protectors is one of the most important things we can do."
CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS: An earlier version of this article stated that the LGBT Center is recruiting more students to help transport goods to Standing Rock. Rather, a group of students have organized efforts for the donation drive which was held at the LGBT Center. The Daily regrets this error. Additionally, as those currently at Standing Rock do not refer to themselves as protestors, the Daily has adjusted language in the article to better reflect the actions of those opposing the construction of the DAPL.
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