On Tuesday afternoon, Boone Stands with Standing Rock led a march from Sanford Mall on Appalachian State University campus to Wells Fargo, one of the financial institutions funding the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). Around seventy people attended the march, including students, professors, and community members.
Quoting LaDonna Brave Bull Allard, founder of the Sacred Stone Camp Ricki Draper said during the teach-in outside the bank: “Protecting water means no negotiation. Protecting water means no pipelines.”
Upon arrival at 4:00 pm, a smaller subset of the group of seventy entered the bank to deliver a letter and a list of signatures demanding that Wells Fargo cease bankrolling DAPL. When the group returned, they conducted a teach-in in front of the bank to provide information on how Wells Fargo is supporting the construction of the pipeline and how Boone can best support the water protectors’ efforts. Calls were made for supporters to move their money to a local credit union.
The march and teach-in were part of a National Day of Action in solidarity with the water protectors in Standing Rock. Marchers declared #MniWiconi #WaterisLife as they demanded that financial institutions stop bankrolling the DAPL. There were also public demonstrations held on the 15th in Asheville, NC; Charlotte, NC; Greensboro, NC; Raleigh, NC; Johnson City, TN; Knoxville, TN; and across the country.
Wells Fargo is one of the 17 financial institutions that have loaned Dakota Access LLC $2.5 billion to construct the pipeline. Wells Fargo has invested $467 million in the Dakota Access Pipeline and has also committed substantial resources to the Energy Transfer Family of companies in order to construct more oil and gas infrastructure.
Since April, over 200 indigenous nations have come together to block the construction of DAPL, a $3.8 billion 1,172 mile fracked-oil pipeline.
See more photos here: https://www.facebook.com/boonestandswithstandingrock/
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