Carson protest calls for an end to Dakota Access Pipeline project

A group of about 25 American Indians and their supporters took to the streets in Carson City Monday in support of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.

The tribe has drawn national and world attention in their attempt to stop construction of the Dakota Access pipeline that they say comes far too close to sacred lands in the reservation.

Joan Seewalker Zamora, a member of that tribe, said they won a victory Sunday when the Army Corps of Engineers announced they would not permit the pipeline to be drilled under a dammed section of the Missouri River. But she said that’s not enough.

“We won the fight yesterday but we’ve got to continue with the battle,” said Zamora, now living in Nevada. “We’ve got to totally stop it, not only for Native Americans but for all races.”

The group began at the Bureau of Indian Affairs office at the Robinson Street entrance to the Carson federal building, marched to Carson Street and south to the Legislature where they crossed and marched back north on Carson Street.

She and other area tribal members were joined by members of the Working Families Party, an arm of the Democratic Party. Andrew List and Autumn Zemke said the partners in the pipeline development have already said they will continue drilling despite the Corps of Engineers ruling.

Experts watching the battle in Cannon Ball, North Dakota, however, questioned how long the Corps of Engineers ruling would last since Donald Trump has come out strongly in support of the pipeline project. List said to help support the protesters, there was a concert at Lake Tahoe this past weekend that raised $16,000.

Zamora said no one knows what will happen January 20 when Trump is sworn in as president.