Over the past month or so, there have been numerous media reports from a variety of outlets regarding the Dakota Pipeline protest. Mixed narratives and stories documenting this historic event.
After calling several state and industry officials, most had not been to the site or spoken with the protesters. So we decided to speak with a dozen or so people who were actually there, experiencing the event first hand in order to get a better understanding of what was going on.
There was one individual who summarized and understood both sides of the issue well, and his name is Tony Bender. Bender is an author who collaborated with media personality and talk show host Ed Schultz and former U.S. Congressman Byron Dorgan on their books. He has been a featured columnist in North Dakota for over 25 years and is the owner/publisher of the Wishek Star and Ashley Tribune. Furthermore, Bender has a deeper understanding for Native American culture than the average person.
“I wrote a novel called the last Ghost Dancer. That will tell you I know a little about Lakota tradition,” Bender said.
Bender was at the protest a couple of weeks ago when the clash occurred. Plus his son was there gathering video footage too. So when Bender told us what had happened, like a good journalist he cited some context to help us better understand what was going on.
“There’s a lack of understanding. In this white society we come from a materialistic, generally shallow society here in America because we don’t have deep roots,” Bender said. “We are kind of a mixed bag of people.”
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