DAPL, Cleveland, Bundys: The Native American Double Standard

As indigenous protesters faced down an increasingly militarized police force over the Dakota Access Pipeline today, an Oregon court found all members of the right-wing Bundy movement not guilty on all counts of illegally occupying federal land.

Just another example of how Native Americans are treated in America.

The videos from the DAPL protests today have been nothing short of shocking. Over one hundred heavily armed police officers, in full riot gear, advanced on the peaceful resisters of the pipeline. They were backed up with military-grade vehicles.

The protesters’ crime? Standing in front of a pipeline designed to go through the sacred Standing Rock burial ground.

The police response was described by Steven Salaita as an occupying army:

The current buildup of tremendous force at Standing Rock should be understood as a military invasion of a sovereign nation on behalf of a foreign oil company.

In contrast, the Bundys faced minimal police presence for the first month of their occupation of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge.

And they didn’t face a line of riot police when they were finally arrested — instead, Bureau of Land Management officers waited until the group was split up and took them into custody rather quickly (the arrests did result in one death after a member of the group drew a weapon).

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Image via NYT[/caption]

But this double standard shouldn’t be too surprising — Native American issues aren’t important in the US mainstream.

Today, for example, while the police were marching on the DAPL protests? The New York Times didn’t mention it once on their homepage. It wasn’t mentioned on any of the cable news networks on their highly rated commentary shows. And it has received scant national coverage in the national press.

In fact, the most exposure major networks and mainstream media have given to Native people over the past month has been to the highly offensive and racist mascot of Cleveland’s baseball team, named “Chief Wahoo.” Wahoo is bright red, with a toothy grin. His white fans dress up in “warpaint” and beat “tom tom drums” during games.

The entire spectacle is revolting.

Until the treatment of Native Americans changes — in the media, in the mainstream of American politics, by becoming visible as human beings — pipelines will be driven through their land, they will continue to be pushed aside for white gain, and their identities will continue to be used as caricature logos.

It’s the way it’s always been.