BY: CHARLOTTE LEFAVE
Okay, you can be proud of humanity again. Oregon volunteers have helped the Dakota Access Pipeline Protestors by bringing them life-saving shelter and supplies for the winter. Pulling up with a 35-foot truck full of food, clothing, stoves and solar panels, the volunteers of the group called ‘Shelter for the Storm’ rolled in and installed three miniature homes for protestors’ use.
To spread some happiness on an otherwise glum situation, the volunteers decorated the newly built homes with vibrant paintings of sunshine and rolling hills. More so, to equip the homes and further help the volunteers through the cold winter days, they brought three donated woodstoves, an independent solar energy system, 100 loaves of organic bread and 1,000 pounds of organic meat, fish and produce.
The main providers of the tiny homes were Matt Musselwhite, the carpenter that not only manufactured them, but drove for 3 days from Oregon to North Dakota to deliver the homes, and a metalworker who donated strong metal sheets for the rooftops to prevent leakage into the residences. The homes are well-structured, insulated with straw and powered with sustainable solar energy.
The trees used to build the homes, delivered from southwestern Oregon by The Yale Creek Community, who are devoted to aiding the cause, were cut down and processed from volunteers’ personal properties and dedicated to the protestors.
This act of kindness has provided a well-needed source of relief for the dedicated protestors of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) installment, who have put up with everything from horrifying acts of police brutality to hypothermia in order to save their water supply and the inhabitants of a thriving natural habitat. The DAPL Water Protectors had previously requested the necessary supplies and the volunteers jumped to action, hoping to save the brave Standing Rock locals from enduring any further harm.
One house in particular has been specifically dedicated to the newest recruit of the DAPL Water Protectors, one-month-old Mni Wiconi born in the midst of the conflict. Her name translates in English to ‘Water is Life,’ an ode to the Standing Rock protest that began in April. She and her family will soon be moving into their personally selected home.
Since the temperatures in Standing Rock have dropped well past freezing, the cabins were welcomed with open arms and a deeply felt gratitude.
