Tony Bender sees this protest as more than oil and sacred sites, rather having complex layers to it. Layers that are not easily understood in this instant oatmeal society.
“We totally do not understand the reverence, spirituality and importance of the land of every tribe,” Bender said. “It is easy to look on the outside and say they are being manipulated by the ecologists, like the Earth First Now crowd, but look, I am tell you these people know what they are going, they are organized, they are smart and they are motivated.”
He added that the whole drunken Indian stereotype doesn’t hold true with this group. In fact the group does not allow drugs or alcohol anywhere near the protest site.
One example Bender gave about how a simple misunderstanding lead into a culture clash was when the horses came trotting out.
“Native Americans certainly understand white society, but we do not understand them,” Bender said. “So we had a situation where the law enforcement officers came by with horses and it’s Native tradition to counting coup, but when you see it on video you don’t understand it.”
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