Friday Quote: “This is not over by a long shot”
“Lights! Lights!”
The amber flashers of the first pilot truck in a convoy bearing a gigantic piece of processing gear destined for the oil sands of Alberta, Canada rounded a distant corner in the darkness at the edge of the Nez Perce Reservation.
The cry went up just after midnight on Monday August 5, the beginning of a protest against mega-loads through Nez Perce territory along scenic Highway 12 in North Central Idaho. By Friday August 9, 30 tribal members and their leaders had been arrested.
Foremost among them on August 5 was Tribal Chairman Silas Whitman, who joined six members of the tribe’s Executive Council, grabbing wooden barriers and striding out onto U.S. Highway 12. A rush of more than 200 tribal members and others—from grandmothers to children—followed, all determined to stop a football-field-sized mega-load from passing through their sacred lands.
This is from an excerpt that appeared on the Indian Country Today Media Network, written by Kevin Taylor. It's one of the best stories I've come across on the topic and a rare firsthand account. Read the full story HERE.
