The Boone County Fairgrounds saw over 175 tribal members, landowners and farmers come together yesterday (Thursday) for the Midwest Mobilization to protest the Dakota Access Pipeline. The group formed a 60-car caravan to travel from the fairgrounds to an active construction site near Pilot Mound where the pipeline project is boring underneath the Des Moines River. Two of the caravan vehicles parked in front of the access road to the site, preventing trucks from entering or exiting. The group was conducting the active protest in an attempt to pressure the Obama administration to halt construction of the pipeline. Protestors included members of the Oceti Sakowi tribe from South Dakota, who traveled to Boone to show their solidarity. Sylvana Flute who took part in the protest said, “Over a hundred years ago, the Oceti Sakowi bands were separated and now we’re united in solidarity again at Standing Rock. We know that we are needed here in Boone too.” The mobilization also included three workshops in the morning to teach landowner resistance, non-violent civil disobedience and the need for a just transition to clean energy.
