Local chiropractor, Dr. Michael Lande headed to North Dakota to the Standing Rock Indian Reservation with medical supplies and cold weather camping gear for the protestors standing against the Dakota Access Pipeline. Crystal interviewed Dr. Lande to find out more
Editor´s note: Just before we went to print, the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers announced it would seek alternative routes for the Dakota Access Pipeline that was originally planned to be installed near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation.
Playa’s beloved Dr. Michael P. Lande, local chiropractor for eight years, has begun a journey to Standing Rock Indian Reservation to help the water protectors there. The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) could affect millions of people by contaminating their drinking water. Michael will fly to Washington, D.C. and then drive the 1,500 miles to Standing Rock to deliver cold weather camping and medical supplies to the water protectors, as medical services have been cut off to the indigenous people.
For more information on the people of Standing Rock, please visit www.standingrock.org and visit their history section.
How did you first find out about the situation in Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North Dakota?
I first found out about standing rock in July through social media.
Can you sum up briefly what is going on up there for our readers who do not know?
They are trying to put an oil pipeline through the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation and through the Missouri River without the consent of the people who live there. The river is their only source of water, and they and their children depend on it. That is why they say Mni Wiconi, ‘water is life’!
Tell us about your project, Journey to Standing Rock, and what your goals are with it.
I am going to Standing Rock to work with the Medical and Healers Council and support the water protectors in this way.
You have been meeting with Maya elders here in the Riviera Maya. Please, tell us more about their connection to Standing Rock.
We interviewed a Maya woman just after Day of the Dead, who spoke of the prophecies and that we all need to unite hearts and minds at this time. We are bringing copal and sacred tools to Standing Rock to help the power of peace overcome the violence.
How do you feel the impact of Standing Rock is affecting the world?
This will be a precedent for other situations. So many of the environmental situations are being hidden from public view. Thanks to social media, Standing Rock can no longer be hidden. The people are making a stand, and this could definitely affect future situations similar to this one.
How can our readers support your project and the Water Protectors in Standing Rock?
You can help to support us at our Go Fund Me account, as well the Standing Rock medic and healers council page. All of this can be found on Facebook/Journey to Standing Rock.
