We are Water Protectors who fought against the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL).
We are also engaged in struggles and movements on behalf of First Nations against fossil fuel projects that poison our land, water and damage the climate.
We are traveling throughout Europe to ask European banks to divest from all fossil fuel projects that do not respect our treaty rights, our human rights, and that contribute to the genocide of our people and environment.
We are not surprised with your decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate.
We have seen already your determination to put your interest and the interest of big corporations before the well being of the people. We have seen it while struggling against the Dakota Access Pipeline.
We have seen it when you decided to send militarized police and the National Guard to evacuate our peaceful, prayerful camp we inhabited to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline.
We, as Native People, are subjected to constant oppression by the state and government. The repression we faced during the NoDAPL struggle is another trauma we have to carry.
Today is not only the day that you decided to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, it is also the day that the Dakota Access Pipeline is to become fully operational.
You may have thought you won.
We are sending you this letter today to tell you that you haven’t. We are building the Resistance throughout Turtle Island and all over the world. We have united with many social movements, as well as the climate justice movement, the feminist movement, and the movements against racism.
No longer will we dream or simply imagine a better world for our children. We are rising and standing against the neoliberal authoritarian world where big corporations matter more than people. We will go on fighting, for the water, for environmental justice, for Indigenous and Human Rights, and for Mother Earth. We will never stop.