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Groups Host Rally And Native American Dance For Standing Rock Protesters

Photo by Cqfx via CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

The Keepers of the Fire, a Native American organization at the University of Wyoming, is hosting a rally and dance performance on campus Tuesday to educate the community about the pipeline protest in North Dakota. The Standing Rock Sioux tribe has been blocking the completion of the pipeline for months because of fears that leaks would contaminate their water source.

Taylor Albert is the co-chair of the United Multicultural Council, another university group collaborating on the rally. She says Wyomingites could learn a lot from the Standing Rock protests.

“This is an oil university which has a big stake in oil and how it gets distributed” said Albert. “So if we can align ourselves with a cause in support of people rather than oil, I think that sends a really big statement. And I think it also supports a community that could really use our support right now.”

Keepers of the Fire will also be collecting donations of camping gear and food at the rally to deliver to protesters during a trip there next week.

The rally takes place at the Wyoming Union at noon. Native American dancers from the Wyoming Indian High School will perform and Micah Lott from the Wind River Native Advocacy Center will speak. 

Melodie Edwards is the host and producer of WPM's award-winning podcast The Modern West. Her Ghost Town(ing) series looks at rural despair and resilience through the lens of her hometown of Walden, Colorado. She has been a radio reporter at WPM since 2013, covering topics from wildlife to Native American issues to agriculture.
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