Standing Rock Sioux in North Dakota have been protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline for months, fearing its impact on their water supplies.

There is another side to the story that the Morton County Sheriff’s Department has put out.

Not once have the water protectors ever had weapons of any kind. Yet the sheriff’s deputies and National Guard troops are suited up in riot gear with guns and armored vehicles.

Last Saturday, on the videos, I saw that deputies attacked people, including children. One man was lying on the ground being Maced in the face.

Last Sunday, the deputies and National Guard troops were on a hill overlooking a group that was doing nothing, except for one person flying a drone. Law enforcement officials aimed at and shot down the drone.

Of course, when people are taken to jail, they are strip searched. One woman who was arrested was taken to jail, strip searched and put in a cell naked. A deputy took the drum one man uses for singing and praying.

Why have water protectors attached themselves to pipeline construction equipment? Because pipeline crews dug up a burial site. Not one media outlet like NBC, ABC or CBS has said a word about that.

It makes me sad that, in this day and age, Native Americans are so disrespected on their own land and treaties are being broken.

Margo Lodge-Seven Oakes

Peaks Island