AMHERST — Several student groups at the University of Massachusetts Amherst will show support for a growing movement against the planned Dakota Access pipeline with a fundraiser on Friday.
The Native American Students Association and Divest UMass are joining forces to sell student-made arts and crafts during a fundraising event on the campus’ Goodell lawn. The event kicks off at noon. All proceeds go to the Standing Rock Sacred Stone Camp Fund, which one organizer said will support activists on the front lines of the fight against the pipeline.
For months, opponents of the $3.8 billion pipeline have been camping in the area about 50 miles south of Bismarck.
They worry the pipeline will disturb cultural artifacts and threaten drinking water sources on the Standing Rock Sioux’s nearby reservation and downstream.
The pipeline’s operator, Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners, insists the project is safe.
Divest UMass organizer Mica Reel said the pipeline is an extension of centuries of land grabs and erasure directed at Native American groups.
“Climate injustice affects them disproportionately and they have a sovereign right to defend their lives as people,” Reel said.
Friday’s fundraising rally will also entail music from Native American drummers Urban Thunder and speakers, including indigenous professors Sonya Atalay and Paulette Steeves.
The Student Union Craft Center and Student Farmers’ Market are also supporting the effort.
Amanda Drane can be contacted at adrane@gazettenet.com.