WASHINGTON, D.C. — Seven members of the Yakama Nation will stand with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in Washington, D.C., during the Native Nations March Friday.
In continued protest of the Dakota Access Pipeline, the Standing Rock tribe is calling on all indigenous nations across the country to participate in the march on the National Mall from 8 to 10 a.m. Friday.
Yakama Nation Housing Authority Chairwoman Elena Bassett has been in Washington, D.C., for several days lobbying on behalf of the tribe’s housing authority, and is staying to participate in the march.
She was part of her tribe’s delegation that traveled to North Dakota last summer to support the Standing Rock tribe’s effort to block the pipeline. The Standing Rock fear such a pipeline has the potential to poison the underground water supply.
Bassett said she was impressed by the Standing Rock tribal efforts and how civil they conducted their protest.
“So I said, ‘I’ve got to stay here for the march,” she said. “I’ve got to stay here to help protect the water.”
Bassett, who also brought her sister and nephew along, isn’t sure how much she will be able to actually participate in the march. On Wednesday, she injured her foot while walking down hotel stairs, and was in the hospital that evening. She said she damaged the tendons in her foot.
Yakama Tribal Council member Ray Smartlowit is also there with Bassett.
“We’re trying to stand up for what they believe in and what we believe in because some day something could affect us on the Columbia River,” he said. “We’ve been trying to say we don’t want these things, like the coal trains coming through the Columbia Gorge.”
The Yakamas continue to oppose efforts to use the Columbia River Gorge as a storage and transport site for coal exports in fear that such operations could impact river water and fish.
More information about the march can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/events/1613602328655390.
