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Veterans of DAPL Protests Continue to Stand with Tribes, Clearing Flood Damage on Cheyenne River

By Cory Allen Heidelberger on 2019-03-31

Here’s how they’re clearing BIA Highway 3 between Promise and Whitehorse on the Cheyenne River Reservation—by hand, with pickaxes:

I drove that highway last summer, wondering at the Moreau River valley and the irony of driving between places named Promise and Whitehorse on rattling pavement a good decade behind on engineering-spec maintenance. It looks like we’re several sunny days from getting any wheeled vehicle through that stretch of BIA 3… but I’ll bet what’s left of the pavement won’t be VW passable for some time.

Chris Duesing tweeted the above video of Veteran Service Corps volunteers clearing foot-thick ice sheets heaved up on the road by the Moreau. Duesing leads Veteran Service Corps, which grew out of the veterans who came to Standing Rock to stand alongside the tribes in protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline. Duesing and other veterans are still here, now working with the Cheyenne River Lakota Nation, chipping away….

According to another Duesing video, that ice completely cut off the property of one Sharon Smith. Duesing and his volunteers were trying to clear a path for Sharon to get out:

One step at a time, fellas…

Ice like that blocking my road to town would have me cussing, too. Ice like that blocking Kristi Noem’s express lane from Pierre to Castlewood would have the Governor scrambling every available National Guard bulldozer.

Published in South Dakota

16 Comments

  1. Debbo 2019-03-31 22:22

    Racism much, SD?
    I say SD state government is guilty of Riot Boosting.

  2. Roger Cornelius 2019-03-31 22:59

    This is a fact: Cory’s report, Debbo’s comment, my comment, or any of the video’s said nothing about state/tribal jurisdiction over BIA roads.
    Jason just told a whopper lie that Trump would be proud of.
    Apologize to no one Debbo.

  3. Roger Cornelius 2019-03-31 23:07

    On to a more relevant topic, I have been paying close attention to the rescue and recovery efforts on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
    The efforts of so many of the young Lakota have impressed me immensely, riding by horseback and broken down boats they are delivering water and food to reservation residents that have stranded for several weeks now
    The number of volunteers from Rapid City turning out to help anyway they can is heartwarming.

  4. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2019-03-31 23:12

    Roger, it’s good to hear Rapid City is sending people to help on Pine Ridge. Do Cheyenne River and Standing Rock have similar connections with either Rapid or Bismarck?

  5. Roger Cornelius 2019-03-31 23:20

    I don’t really know if Standing Rock is getting help from Rapid City, but from a few Facebook postings from Cheyenne River friends it looks like Rapid City is helping there.
    State Senator Peri Pourier has been doing a superb job assisting volunteer coordination and delivering needed supplies throughout the reservation.

  6. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2019-04-01 00:21

    Senator Pourier sounds like a real mover and shaker. Dare we compare her activity in coordinating flood relief on the reservations with that of Governor Noem?

  7. Roger Cornelius 2019-04-01 00:31

    Ha! Senator Pourier compared to Governor Noem, Not even.
    Senator Pourier and her volunteers actually get their boots and clothes wet.

  8. cibvet 2019-04-01 01:49

    Noem will show up for pictures when the work is done.

  10. Chris Duesing 2019-04-02 21:11

    Noem came out to Promise a few days before this. Got her picture taken. I saw her on the Moreau River Bridge but declined to speak with her.

    Thanks for picking this up, Dakota Free Press.

    If you’d like to come to Promise Ranch to learn more about VSC, let me know.

  11. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2019-04-02 21:34

    Just her picture? She couldn’t send hubby Bryon out there with a pickaxe for an hour or two?

  12. Chris Duesing 2019-04-02 21:38

    Honestly I didn’t see her take a picture. Tribal leadership where on one end of the bridge and Noem and her crew were on the other side.

    I spoke to the Tribal Chairman for a few minutes and then slowly drove across the bridge with my window down. When I got to the Governor, she started walking towards me and started to say something and I just press on the accelerator.

  13. Debbo 2019-04-03 01:13

    Chris, you’re my hero. 🙂

  14. mike from iowa 2019-04-03 08:27

    Rude Pundit has a good article about the flooding and Drumpf . but the link has profanity in it so I will not copy/paste it here.

  15. mike from iowa 2019-04-03 08:30

    Last comment about Drumpf, the head birther told the UN Secretary General that his dad Fred was born in Germany, when in reality Fred was born in New York. There is nothing Drumpf won’t lie about. OT but so is Drumpf, always!

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