Waccamaw Chief talks Standing Rock at Coker College event
Harold D. Hatcher, Chief of the Waccamaw Indian People, spoke about the Dakota Access Pipe Line and Native American issues recently at Coker College. The event was sponsored by a local cititzen group. Photos by Samantha Lyles
By Samantha Lyles, Staff Writer, slyles@newsandpress.net
Harold D. Hatcher, Chief of the Waccamaw Indian People, was the featured speaker at a January 24 program staged by Standing Rock Hartsville, a local citizen group opposed to the construction of an underground oil pipeline that could affect Native American tribal land in North Dakota.
The event, hosted at the Coker College Recital Hall, featured updates on the Standing Rock situation from group members and a keynote address from Hatcher, who discussed his tribe’s involvement with Standing Rock and shared stories of Native American culture and history.
“When Standing Rock came about in 2016, it started to unite a lot of the Indians across the country. I had four people out there trying to stand against the Corps of Engineers trying to dig holes under the Missouri River and under the lakes because the materials these folks use…it’s some of the cheapest stuff they can buy,” said Hatcher. “It’s all about making a dollar and not so much about keeping the environment protected.”
An audience member speaks during the Standing Rock Hartsville event.
Hatcher said many protesters fear that if the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) is built according to current plans, a rupture or leak could pollute water supplies for not only tribal lands, but for millions of people who get their water from linked sources. He worried the impact could rival the lead contamination of the water supply in Flint, Michigan.
Hatcher discussed the problematic words sometimes used to describe Indigenous people, recounting the origination of terms like “redskin” (referring to the color of tanned Native American scalps traded for cash as proof of Indians killed) and “sioux” (a Dutch corruption of the French word for ‘snake’ adopted by white settlers to describe the native people’s evasive fighting style). He also talked about the difficulty of tracing Indigenous heritage through spotty official records, and the struggle to get federal recognition for the Waccamaw Tribe.
Chief Hatcher’s wife, Susan, showcased a number of Waccamaw and Native American cultural items, such as medicine bags to carry meaningful items, necklaces made from deer skulls and buffalo teeth, and a purse crafted from a turtle shell.
Casey Copeland of Standing Rock Hartsville said the group formed in 2016 after learning about the thousands of people – Native Americans, allies, and citizens from all walks of life – actively protesting construction of the DAPL, which would transport oil underneath reservoirs and sources of drinking water for tribal lands. Activists say the pipeline could endanger water supplies for 17 million Americans who live downstream of the DAPL’s Missouri River crossing.
“Standing Rock Hartsville’s purpose is to support indigenous people and their values as it pertains to the Earth that we all share,” said Copeland. “We believe the Earth is a finite resource that should be respected and considered when people make decisions.”
Copeland said that the group initially began gathering supplies to send to protesters, but found the situation on the ground in North Dakota was “fluid” and there was no surefire way to ensure local donations reached the protest camps.
Group member Mal Hyman then connected Standing Rock Hartsville with Chief Harold Hatcher, who had direct communication with main Oceti Sakowin protest camp. Hatcher said those four members of the Waccamaw Tribe who went to Standing Rock last year became so committed to the cause that they were reluctant to return home.
Although former President Barack Obama halted construction of the Keystone Pipeline and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers rejected DAPL’s request for an easement, citing a failure to consider the environmental impact on the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, their actions were circumvented by a January 24 executive order from newly inaugurated President Donald Trump.
Melanie Jackson of Standing Rock Hartsville explained that efforts to stop the DAPL took a major hit earlier that day when President Trump signed an executive memorandum allowing the project to immediately resume construction. Jackson said the Standing Rock Sioux response called Trump’s action illegal and a violation of tribal treaties, and they vowed to continue fighting “head-on” to preserve clean water.
Jackson quoted a letter to President Trump from Standing Rock Sioux tribal chairman David Archambault, II which reads, in part: “we are not opposed to energy independence, national security, job creation, or economic development. The problem with the Dakota Access Pipeline is not that it involves development, but rather that it was deliberately and precariously placed without proper consultation with tribal governments.”
To learn more, visit www.standwithstandingrock.net or www.standingrock.org, and keep up with Standing Rock Hartsville announcements through Facebook.
