Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) Action at Standing Rock, 2016-2017
At Broadsided, we believe that art and literature belong in our daily lives. They inspire and demonstrate the vitality and depth of our connection with the world. We had to speak out—we had to make a space for you to speak out—on this issue.
We asked Tiffany Midge to serve as guest editor for this important feature, which brings together voices from activists and allies. She selected from a rich range of submissions poems by Lois Red Elk/Reed, Jenny Davis, Bryce Emley, Claire Hermann, Peg Duthie, Gabrielle Williams, and CMarie Fuhrman. Photographer Theodore C. Van Alst, Jr., who spent time at Standing Rock, offered images in reponse to each of the selected poems. We are grateful for their work, and we hope you will print, post, and share these wherever you think they need to be heard and seen.
The broadsides are below (click each to get the pdf). Read on to hear responses from editor Tiffany Midge and from the artists and writers themselves.
Editor’s Note
As of this writing, the water protector encampments at Standing Rock are in the process of dismantling, and the areas are being cleaned. A statement from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe on February 4th, 2017 is as follows:
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and our movement as a whole are in a phase of transition and growth. The encampments brought global attention to our struggle, and now we face the task of carrying that momentum forward as we work to defeat this pipeline and other projects that deny the rights of indigenous people.
The fight is not over. There is still work to be done at Standing Rock, and in other places. To stay informed, check the Stand With Standing Rock webpage. And the Indigenous Environmental Network website, or its page on Facebook.
I would like to thank the good people at Broadsided Press for inviting me to edit this “Responses” feature—gratitude also to those who submitted; your responses have provided necessary clarity, vision, and strength in the midst of so much struggle. I believe art will continue to lift and carry humanity forward. It has been an honor to participate in this project, may the words and images help to lift and carry us into the future, and for the future of our children. Pilámaya. Thank you.
—Tiffany
February 7, 2017
Guest editor Tiffany Midge’s poetry collection The Woman Who Married a Bear (University of New Mexico Press) won the Kenyon Review’s Earthworks Prize for Indigenous Poetry. She is a humor columnist for Indian Country Today and an assistant poetry editor for The Rumpus. Her work is featured in McSweeney’s, The Rumpus, Waxwing, Okey-Pankey, and Moss. She is an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux (Hunkpapa Lakota). Follow her on Twitter @TiffanyMidge
