Tla-o-qui-aht Water Protector update: Dec. 13, 3:32 p.m.
By Denise Titian
Ha-Shilth-Sa Reporter
Standing Rock, North Dakota
Things have taken a turn for the worse for Tla-o-qui-aht water protector Catherine Frank. After living in tents in sub-zero temperatures since Nov. 27, the Tla-o-qui-aht mother has become sick.
Frank, who was on her way to the Canadian border to seek medical treatment, told Ha-Shilth-Sa that she is very weak and believes she has pneumonia.
To make matters worse, almost all businesses in the towns surrounding Standing Rock refused to sell her tire chains for her vehicle.
“All surrounding towns of standing rock are really racist. Napa wouldn't even order them in for me... only one store was willing to, but they won't be in until Friday,” said Frank.
Water protectors are living in tents, some with wood stoves, but even that wasn’t enough for Frank to warm up. She reports that temperatures at night drop to -30F.
In the morning people go around to check tents to make sure everyone is still alive. They mark tents with yellow ‘X’s’ to show that they’ve been checked.
Frank purchased the best health insurance she could get before crossing the border into the United States, but it still wasn’t enough to cover her needs.
She was able to make her way to the Canadian border thanks to a break in the weather. Too weak to drive, she is relying on a friend to get her to a hospital in Manitoba.
They will be checking in at stores along the route to see if they can find someone willing to sell them tire chains.
At last communication, Frank was passing through Spirit Lake Nation, about three hours from the Canadian Border.
Update with news from Catherine Frank
The Tla-o-qui-aht woman who has travelled to Standing Rock to be with the water protectors as they stand against the Dakota Access Pipeline has checked in with her daughter Marissa Amos with news of her journey. She was last heard from on Nov. 27.
Catherine Frank says she is doing well, but it’s terribly cold at the camp, with 12 to 14 inches of snow in just a day-and-a-half, with blizzard-like conditions. Catherine and her companion on the trip, Jade McTaggart, are being cared for, however.
“A woman named Sunny took them into her tent where she has a wood stove,” wrote Marissa on the NoDAPL Facebook page that Catherine’s uncle Francis Frank started. Catherine said the stove doesn’t keep them warm, but “it’s warmer than outside where they were sleeping.”
On the agenda for Catherine and Jade was a “decolonization meeting” last night, where she was to deliver the message of hope and prayers from Tla-o-qui-aht. She is also taking direct action training. Catherine told her daughter that she did not have any intention of being on the front lines, but the training was necessary in case she was needed. There was also paperwork that needed to be signed in case she is arrested. They promise they will get her out of jail in that event.
Catherine thanks everyone for their love and prayers. She says she is freezing cold, and was crying and shivering on the phone, wrote Marissa.
“Please keep her, Jade, the other water protectors and most importantly Standing Rock in your prayers,” wrote Marissa. “She’s there for a good reason and as cold and brutal as it is there, she’s not standing down.”
Original story:
Catherine Frank of the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation arrived in North Dakota Sunday, Nov. 27, carrying the prayers of her family with her to the water protectors camp, the site of an often violent stand-off over the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Tear gas, dogs, water cannons, rubber bullets and percussion explosives have been turned on the ‘protesters’, sending many to hospital with terrible injuries.
Catherine and her friend Jade McTaggart, who works at Tin Wis, were also carrying a donation from a fundraising event with them that will help purchase much needed supplies for the camp.
The winter has come to North Dakota, and people are digging in for a long cold stay, despite an executive order delivered last night, signed by the governor of North Dakota, demanding a mandatory, immediate evacuation of the #NoDAPL camps.
There has been no activity on Catherine Frank’s Facebook account since Nov. 27, but that’s not unusual. Communications from the camps have been blocked and water protectors are surrounded by a large military-style private security presence.
The last post from Catherine was that her progress was being slowed, having had to take an alternate route because of police blockades not allowing people in.... She said she would “update when we reach Sacred Stone Camp.”
Catherine’s uncle, Francis Frank, said the women were expected to stay at the camp for at least two weeks.
“She was inspired by a group I created called TFN and NTC Support NoDAPL…. The purpose was to create awareness and also plan to come together in solidarity to show our support,” Francis said.
The main plan of the group continues to be to send a caravan of supporters to the camp, but other individuals are heading out in advance of that caravan. Tla-o-qui-aht will continue to send donations down, including winter clothing and blankets, and to help with supplies of food.
“Water is such a precious commodity,” said Francis. “It’s very disconcerting to see how the protestors are being treated down in America. We worry if the North Dakota experience is a fore shadow of what's to come with Kinder Morgan. Canada has already approved Site C, and LNG against First Nations' wishes.
And today, the federal government is also set to announce its decision on other pipelines, including the much reviled Northern Gateway project.
