Black Snake Killaz
The Dakota Access Pipeline is designed to run from North Dakota to Illinois, a 1,200-mile stretch of oil transport that could potentially impact many millions of lives. An impassioned protest movement began to grow once the construction of the pipeline was announced in early 2016. Leading the charge was the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, an indigenous tribe located in North and South Dakota. The feature-length documentary Black Snake Killaz follows the tribe and the tens of thousands they inspired to join them as they fight to protect their basic human rights against the cancer of unregulated corporate greed.
"Our children deserve to have clean water," one protestor insists. The resistance understands that such a pipeline will tread upon sacred ground, and make vulnerable the precious natural resources that have been lovingly preserved for further generations.
The filmmakers stand right beside these protestors on the front lines of a standoff that captures the world's attention. Between April of 2016 and March of the following year, the water protectors work to block the path of construction vehicles, render digging equipment inoperable, and expose the tyranny of institutions that suppress the voice of the people. In a show of national solidarity, activists from other states including Rhode Island and New York join together to protest the banks that finance the pipeline operation.
During this tumultuous period, members of law enforcement are encouraged to regard the protestors as criminal combatants. The Governor of North Dakota withdraws supplies from the growing masses who have gathered to join the protest from all across the country, and orders a mandatory evacuation of their campgrounds. Attack dogs are deployed, hundreds are arrested and many injuries are sustained. Mainstream media outlets cover the growing tensions during their 24-hour news cycles while both parties accuse the other of escalating an atmosphere of violence.
Blessed with extraordinary access, Black Snake Killaz places viewers in the thick of these perilous events, and introduces us to the brave figures who fight for their homes, heritage and traditions. While construction of the pipeline has ultimately not been thwarted, many victories have been won along the way; perhaps none greater than the hordes of activists who have coalesced from every region of the United States and beyond.
the documentary was shocking for its depictions of police brutality but I would have liked to hear more facts such as the efforts made in courts to stop the pipeline because as poetic as it to go stand in the way of a bulldozer, it will never work long term. As much as I hate to say it, Trump has a point when he said they should have objected & protested at the banks while it was still in the planning stages. Of course, it still would have been approved but following due course would have lent more legitimacy to their actions. I also thought the elders who wanted the protestors to leave should have been interviewed, a lot more people should have been interviewed including reps from the oil companies. I got really sick of that woman saying water is life, we need water. What she needed was facts about leakages, she probably had them we just didn't see it. It was basically just raw footage of protesters getting beat up. And as far as I understood, the people who had limbs blown up & bones broken was the same girl. I was tossing up whether to to watch Vice's Rise or this & I wish I went with the Vice show (about same subject). I have seen part 1 a while back & it does a much better job of explaining stuff, not just emotive footage.
It seems far too many who have never had the threat of a leaky pipeline routed near their place, simply cannot comprehend that pipelines LEAK. The main reason for pipeline leakage is because the owners, promoters, and builders of it are not forced to live on top of it. Often the cheapest corner cutting lackey hiring contractor wins the job. Far too often the authorities allow them to run roughshod over the landowners.
Once the pipeline is in, you cannot build over it or within so many feet of it. No houses, no barns, no sheds, etc. So the value and usefulness of your property just dropped for two BIG reasons. 1. Who would want to buy your place that has a potentially leaking pipeline. 2. Can't build.
The weasel pipeline companies only want to compensate for the land they disturb and a tiny pittance for even that.
@B Sinn: For the clueless people who think it was just about them getting their money. Please go live downhill from a pipeline leak, have that get into your well water, and then get back to me. Leaks are common. The only time you hear about a pipeline is when a catastrophe occurs, typically Gas pipeline that kills people. The major news media in the usa is a farce.
It is an easy bet that The Powers That Be are the violent ones. One only look at recent history for many instances of that. They murdered Lavoy Finnicum and tried to kill the other 3 in his vehicle. The guy was a hero, saving the lives of the others (incl 2 women, one of which was about 18yrs old) by directing all the thugs with badges attention onto him. It was nothing short of evil, what the feds and OSP did.
Paraphrased from a pipeline Engineer: Preventable pipeline incidents are common. They are due to the fact that it is more profitable to let the pipeline leak than to shut the pipeline down to repair it.
They got their money. That's what it was really about.
who got what money?
I would love to be able to buy a few dvds of black snake killaz. Does anyone know how or where to get it?
Yes Jay Steff, let a small group decide what the rest gets?? hmmm. I'm sure the ruling elite like that idea.
Powerful documentary. Watched the entire thing straight through. I admire very much the personal courage of all those people that stood against the gun-toting, faceless cowards. Why do you think you're just doing your job by beating on the people that stand up for what's right? Or are you too afraid of walking away from your brothers-in-arms, your group, your security, your uniform even when you begin to realize that you're in the wrong camp? Think for yourself.
I commend the First Peoples for their willingness to stand up and fight for what they believe. Actually, they are doing something that most of the rest of us are to afraid to do..and anyone who doesn't realize that they do this for everyone, not just themselves, needs to pay closer attention to whats happening on our planet. They are not one small group making decisions for others, they are trying to enact change that will affect everyone. If the government and the oil barons running these corporations keep doing what they are doing, we will ALL suffer in the end. It.s not like they have our best interests at heart, for them its about money and power. The coal and oil and natural gas that we rely so heavily upon is stealing the lifeblood of our Mother, and the water they use and poison and then discard doesn't just clean itself, it poisons everything that comes in contact with it, just like the oil that spills from those pipelines. There is NO need for any of it.. Perhaps most people aren't aware of this, but there are technologies that have existed since the the early 1900's that could completely end mankind's reliance on fossil fuels, and I'm not talking solar power or wind generators..I'm talking unlimited wireless transmission of energy. FREE ENERGY. the great mind of Nickola Tesla invented wireless generators that would electrify a whole city just using electrical current from the air around us, and the ground beneath us. No fuel needed. EVER. He tried to share this with the people, but was sabotaged, stolen from, vilified and plagiarized. Sound Familiar??
Theres no money in free energy, why would the corporations that run our country give anything away? So, instead of creating a world where there was no need to destroy our natural resources, men like JP Morgan and Thomas Edison made sure that Tesla's work would never be used by the people. And Tesla died penniless and broken, all but forgotten... and so here we are today, surrounded not by trees and clean water, but rather by toxic land, dirty air, and poisonous water. How sad is that? This is the only planet we have and we can't undo this damage, only try to stop it.... So I say GOOD FOR THE WATER PROTECTORS, and i thank them for their bravery, their compassion, and for all they have done, and will do, for all of us. Many Blessings!!
Ever wonder what the US is doing in other countries around the world.....it has now come home to roost once again....this has been going on since Columbus "discovered" America....learn the real history!
Jay do you not know about the ELECTRIC REVOLUTION.The world does not need oil Check out what Elon MUsk is doing !!
There are approx 300 open legal cases from Standing Rock. 6 are federal defendants facing outrageous charges and decades in prison. Two of those water protectors are currently incarerated. Don't forget the Standing Rock movement is far from over. Free Little Feather, Free Dion Ortiz!
And so so what, never get more oil? Kill all the folks who use oil? Only get foriegn oil?
Been there and tried all that.
This is all the global warming crap all over again. So let a small group decided what the rest gets?
Right......
Idea. Since Standing Rock is no longer physically there. We can enter into the Standing Rock in our hearts and in solidarity use our energy to create whatever we can that speaks to love and human rights in the place where we are. And of course the most challenge is to "become the change you desire," Ghandi
I stand In Love for all people, for our planet, our water. I spoke to the Oldenburg Franciscan Catholic sisters who I had worked with and they told me that they went to Standing Rock in solidarity in the camp was prayerful peaceful and an amazing show of what humans are capable of